Lifeboat Foundation

Google Maps can now calculate rooftops’ solar potential, track air quality, and forecast pollen counts.

The platform recently launched a range of services like Solar API, which calculates weather patterns and pulls data from aerial imagery to help understand rooftops’ solar potential. The tool aims to help accelerate solar panel deployment by improving accuracy and reducing the number of site visits needed.

As seasonal allergies get worse every year, Pollen API shows updated information on the most common allergens in 65 countries by using a mix of machine learning and wind patterns. Similarly, Air Quality API provides detailed information on local air quality by utilizing data from multiple sources, like government monitoring stations, satellites, live traffic, and more, and can show areas affected by wildfires too.

A battery built for satellites brings grid-scale storage down to Earth.

Starlink is upgrading its satellite constellation to rev up its internet service. The company launched 8,000 upgraded space lasers capable of transmitting data at speeds up to 100 Gbps.

On September 26, Starlink posted a look at the improved V2 Mini satellites, which will enhance the constellation’s speed, reliability, and reach.

“Our next generation Starlink optical space lasers (pew pew!) were launched to orbit on Monday,” Starlink tweeted on X (formerly Twitter).

The 2 SOPS or 2nd Space Operations Squadron commander, Lt Col Robert Wray… More.

Of all the missions the Space Force performs daily for a grateful nation, there is none more ubiquitous and essential than GPS. Today’s soldiers and sailors depend on reliable, accurate, and secure GPS as much as they do any weapon they employ. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is just as dependent on GPS to enable basic mobility and underpins every other sector of the modern global economy. The criticality of secure global navigation and timing to both warfighting and the national economy makes it unique – we simply could not go a day without space. In so few words, GPS’ future is ground zero for the new space race.

The 2 SOPS or 2^nd Space Operations Squadron commander, Lt Col Robert Wray reminds me that “14 of the 16 critical infrastructures designated by the Department of Homeland Security rely on 24/7 GPS to operate for the country.” But the newest GPS satellites in use today are the same school bus sized ones Gen. Hyten has lamented are, “juicy targets” for our adversaries – marvels of modern engineering, yes, but no longer sufficient to meet modern needs.

Continue reading “A Day Without Space: GPS Is Ground Zero For The New Space Race” »

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (WFLA) — SpaceX will attempt to launch 22 Starlink satellites from Florida on Friday evening, but weather threatens to postpone the launch.

According to the SpaceX website, the company plans to send up its Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10 p.m.

The latest forecast from the 45th Weather Squadron at Patrick Space Force Base indicates the launch has an 80% chance of being scrubbed or delayed due to weather. If that happens, SpaceX has three backup opportunities available until 10:15 p.m., but conditions are only expected to be slightly more favorable.

David Imbaratto / Stellar Exploration / The Planetary Society.

Solar sails were first demonstrated in space by the Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 mission, which raised a small CubeSat’s orbit by 1.9 miles (3.2 km) using only the propulsive force of photons, or light beams, from the Sun.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has received its first contract from the US Space Force to provide customized satellite communications for the military under the company’s new Starshield program, extending the provocative billionaire’s role as a defense contractor.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is competing with 15 companies, including Viasat Inc., for $900 million in work orders through 2028 under the Space Force’s new “Proliferated Low Earth Orbit” contracts program, which is tapping into communications services of satellites orbiting from 100 miles to 1,000 miles (160 kilometers to 1,600 kilometers) above Earth.

The Starshield service will be provided over SpaceX’s existing constellation of Starlink communications satellites.

Wildfires fueled by climate change have ravaged communities from Maui to the Mediterranean this summer, killing many people, exhausting firefighters and fueling demand for new solutions. Enter artificial intelligence.

Firefighters and startups are using AI-enabled cameras to scan the horizon for signs of smoke. A German company is building a constellation of satellites to detect fires from space. And Microsoft is using AI models to predict where the next blaze could be sparked.

With wildfires becoming larger and more intense as the world warms, firefighters, utilities and governments are scrambling to get ahead of the flames by tapping into the latest AI technology—which has stirred both fear and excitement for its potential to transform life. While increasingly stretched first responders hope AI offers them a leg up, humans are still needed to check that the tech is accurate.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will perform 14 launches for Telesat, taking 18 satellites each to the low-earth orbit.

Aerospace seems to be the new buzzword in the technological arena, with multiple new entrants aiming to make a mark in the industry.

To that extent, Canadian satellite operator Telesat and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which designs and manufactures rockets and spacecraft, have agreed to deliver the former’s Lightspeed constellation to low-earth orbit.