Lifeboat Foundation

Relativity Space, a growing startup that aims to almost entirely 3D-print rockets, on Wednesday announced it struck another major launch deal, as well as an agreement with the U.S. Air Force, to build a launchpad on the California coastline.

The Los Angeles-based rocket builder signed an agreement with satellite operator Iridium Communications, to launch up to six satellites as needed as early as 2023. Over the course of more than half a dozen launches with SpaceX, Iridium completed its second-generation satellite constellation in January 2019, with 66 operational satellites and 9 spares in orbit.

The Iridium deal means Relativity now has agreements to launch for five different companies, having previously announced contracts with Canadian satellite communications operator Telesat, California-based Momentus, Thai satellite broadband company mu Space and Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc. All the contracts have remarkably come before Relativity’s first launch, which is scheduled to happen before the end of 2021.

China launched the last satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System on Tuesday, marking the completion of the deployment of its own global navigation system. The mission, the 336th by the Long March rocket series, was a “complete success” http://xhne.ws/qCGPZ

– China launched the last BDS satellite on Tuesday, marking the completion of the deployment of its own global navigation system.

— The three GEO satellites, including the newly launched one, feature two distinctive creations of the BDS system — active positioning and short message communication.

Continue reading “Xinhua Headlines: China launches last BDS satellite to complete global navigation constellation” »

My hero my love.

The SpaceX CEO now has 500 satellites orbiting earth, and primed for internet broadband trials in the northern hemisphere this summer.

The weather forecast appears to be trending slightly toward favorable conditions for the Space Coast’s next launch from Kennedy Space Center.

If schedules hold, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will likely encounter 60% “go” conditions for its 5:22 p.m. Tuesday liftoff from pad 39A, the Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron said Saturday. The 230-foot rocket will carry about 60 Starlink satellites for the company’s tenth internet constellation mission.

Showers and thunderstorms are expected Tuesday but should move mostly inland just before the launch time.

NASA is inviting additional teams to compete in the Cube Quest Challenge. You can still participate in the in-space phase of the challenge and be eligible to win part of a $4.5 million prize purse.

The Cube Quest Challenge, NASA’s first in-space competition, incentivizes teams to design, build and deliver small satellites capable of advanced operations near and beyond the Moon. To compete, new teams meeting the eligibility criteria must obtain a ride to deep space for their CubeSats – either through commercial launch opportunities or programs like NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative.

“We welcome new teams to join us in this challenge in pursuit of advancing space exploration,” said Monsi Roman, program manager for NASA’s Centennial Challenges. “When we established the Cube Quest Challenge in 2015, commercial flight opportunities weren’t as available. Now that technology has advanced and commercial partners are flying payloads, it is a great time to make potential participants aware of the opportunity.”

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has applied to offer high-speed internet to Canadians living in remote areas by beaming it to them via satellites.

The Globe and Mail newspaper first reported that space exploration company SpaceX applied with Canada’s telecom regulator, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), for what’s known as a Basic International Telecommunications Services, or BITS, licence.

A new visualization shows the SpaceX Starship releasing new Starlink satellites.

Its performance is equally microscopic, only generating anywhere between 10 to 400 micronewtons — a tiny fraction of the power of a toy rocket.

But in space, even that low amount of power can allow satellites to hold their positions, and even gradually deorbit to make sure they’re out of harm’s way and don’t become space debris.

Continue reading “This Mini Ion Thruster Is Adorably Tiny” »

A similar glow is sometimes seen by astronauts on the space station when they look to the Earth’s limb.

The glow comes from oxygen atoms when they’re excited by sunlight.

The phenomenon has long been predicted to occur on other planets, but the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) — a joint European-Russian satellite at Mars — is the first to make the observation beyond Earth.