Lifeboat Foundation

For its 2018 finale, A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the U.S. Air Force’s first third-generation navigation satellite for the Global Positioning System (GPS 3–01) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Liftoff window begins at 8:51 a.m. EST (1351 GMT).

Continue reading “WATCH LIVE: SpaceX to Launch Falcon 9 Rocket #GPS III-1 #2018Finale @8:51am EST” »

With no less than FOUR rocket launches by four different companies, today promised to be an epic one for space fans. But by mid-morning, two of the most anticipated launches, by SpaceX and Blue Origin, were scrubbed by glitches, while weather forced another launch delay in South America.

SpaceX and Blue Origin kicked off the launch attempts today (Dec. 18). A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was set to launch GPS III SV01, the first of an advanced new navigation satellite system for the U.S. military. At first the mission, initially scheduled for 9:11 a.m. EST (1411 GMT), slipped a few minutes to 9:34 a.m. EST as SpaceX prepared for launch at its Cape Canaveral Air Force Station pad in Florida. But seven minutes before liftoff, the Falcon 9’s onboard computer triggered an abort, forcing SpaceX to stand down for the day.

“We did have an abort,” SpaceX Firmware Engineer Tom Praderio said during live commentary. “This abort was triggered by the onboard Falcon 9 flight computer. The unfortunate part is that it has pushed us past our launch window today.” SpaceX had a 26-minute window for the launch attempt. The company will try again Wednesday (Dec. 19), with liftoff set for 9:07 a.m. EST (1407 GMT).

Continue reading “SpaceX and Blue Origin Just Scrubbed Near-Simultaneous Rocket Launches (Arianespace and ULA, Too!)” »

WATCH LIVE: SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is attempting to launch a U.S. Air Force navigation satellite from Cape Canaveral, FL.

DENVER, United States — After months of delays, the U.S. Air Force is about to launch the first of a new generation of GPS satellites, designed to be more accurate, secure and versatile.

But some of their most highly touted features will not be fully available until 2022 or later because of problems in a companion program to develop a new ground control system for the satellites, government auditors said.

The satellite is scheduled to lift off Tuesday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. It’s the first of 32 planned GPS III satellites that will replace older ones now in orbit. Lockheed Martin is building the new satellites outside Denver.

Continue reading “Next-generation of GPS satellites are headed to space” »

An MIT team is working on a new aiming system that will allow CubeSats to use lasers for high-bandwidth communications with Earth. The new laser-pointing platform uses a second directional beam to keep the primary data beam on focus, allowing the CubeSat to transmit large amounts of data without the need for heavy antennae or wasting propellant.

The launch of thousands of new satellites will boost the space economy.

Indigo Ag, known for its microbe-coated seeds, is acquiring geospatial data startup TellusLabs to use satellites to learn every last thing about its farmers’ fields.

GEO Satellites business globally make roughly 80% of the overall Space market business with $270B revenues claimed in 2017. How a Space Industry of such kind level of business can disappear is not an argument for many years to come but how a transformation of the Satellite configuration can impact the Space Industry this represents a real topic.

I already discussed in my previous article of how the advancement of A.I. bringing to autonomous missions for satellites, 3D printing permitting on-orbit Manufacturing and Robotic Assembly are not far away technologies, with the mature advancements achieved in on-Ground applications, to be applied to Space Satellites. Already today recently born Startups are working on Satellites on-board software/hardware permitting more autonomous tasks with decision making capability without being piloted from remote on-Ground Stations, significantly reducing operative costs.

Arriving to build fully autonomous Satellites is just a matter of time, with remotely controlled operations to be applied only for safety contingencies. The foreseen growth in the number of small satellites by order of magnitudes push the market this way.

Continue reading “The end of GEO Satellites as we know today” »

The California-based startup Rocket Lab will launch 10 tiny satellites into orbit for NASA tonight, and you can watch it all live online.

A Rocket Lab Electron booster is scheduled to launch NASA’s ElaNa-19 mission from the company’s private Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand’s North Island. Liftoff is scheduled for 11:07 p.m. EST (0407 Dec. 13 GMT) during a 4-hour launch window that closes at 3 a.m. EST (0800 GMT). You can watch live via Rocket Lab’s website, beginning about 20 minutes before liftoff. You can also watch the launch here on Space.com, courtesy of Rocket Lab. Bad weather may be a concern for the launch, company officials said.

Tonight’s launch will mark Rocket Lab’s first flight for NASA and the fourth orbital flight of the company’s Electron booster over all. After two test flights (nicknamed “This Is A Test” and “Still Testing”), the company successfully launched its first commercial mission (dubbed “It’s Business Time”) last month.

Continue reading “Watch Rocket Lab Launch a Cubesat Fleet for NASA Tonight!” »