Archive for the ‘satellites’ category: Page 88
Sep 28, 2021
Cardiff space tech firm developing reusable satellites gets major funding boost
Posted by Kelvin Dafiaghor in category: satellites
Sep 28, 2021
SpaceX launched a record breaking 143 satellites in one launch! đ
Posted by Alberto Lao in category: satellites
Sep 27, 2021
Chinese KZ-1A returns to flight and lofts new remote sensing satellite into orbit
Posted by Alberto Lao in categories: government, satellites
A Chinese Kuaizhou 1A (KZ-1A) rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Inner Mongolia at 06:19 UTC on September 27 lofting a new high-resolution remote sensing satellite into orbit.
The rocket lifted off from Site 95 at Jiuquan, marking the 14th flight of a KZ-1 series rocket. This was also the first KZ-1 launch since the Jilin-1 Gaofen-02C launch in September 2,020 which ended in failure and the loss of its payload.
Chinaâs KZ-1A rocket is manufactured by the ExPace Technology Corporation, an aerospace company owned by the Chinese government, based out of Wuhan in Chinaâs Hubei province. The rocket is capable of delivering payloads of up to 200 kg into a Sun-Synchronous Orbit, and therefore is mainly marketed as a small satellite launch vehicle.
Sep 27, 2021
Spacecraft Could Make Their Own Landing Pads as They Descend onto the Lunar Surface
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: satellites
As part of the Artemis program, NASA is preparing to return astronauts to the Moon. However, before they get to put their boots on our natural satellite once again, the agency must make sure that the lander, together with the crew, can safely touchdown on the rugged surface filled with regolith.
Sep 26, 2021
SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch internet satellite to serve Alaska in 2022
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: internet, satellites
Falcon Heavy is now scheduled to loft Astranisâ first commercial communications satellite to orbit next spring, the San Francisco-based company announced Thursday (Sept. 23).
Sep 26, 2021
SpaceX satellite signals used like GPS to pinpoint location on Earth
Posted by Kelvin Dafiaghor in categories: engineering, internet, satellites
Columbus OH (SPX) Sep 24 2021 â Engineering researchers have developed a method to use signals broadcast by Starlink internet service satellites to accurately locate a position here on Earth, much like GPS does. It is the first ti.
Sep 24, 2021
Northrop Grumman to launch new satellite-servicing robot aimed at commercial and government market
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: government, robotics/AI, satellites
WASHINGTON â Northrop Grumman today has two Mission Extension Vehicles in orbit providing station-keeping services for two Intelsat geostationary satellites that were running low on fuel.
The company meanwhile is preparing to launch a new servicing vehicle equipped with a robotic arm that will install propulsion jet packs on dying satellites.
Sep 24, 2021
Rocket Lab to launch Astroscale inspection satellite
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: satellites
WASHINGTON â Rocket Lab will launch an Astroscale mission to rendezvous with a spent rocket stage in low Earth orbit, a prelude to eventually deorbiting the stage.
Rocket Lab announced Sept. 21 that it won a contract from Astroscale for the launch of its Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan (ADRAS-J) spacecraft. A Rocket Lab Electron will launch ADRAS-J from its Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand in 2023.
ADRAS-J will rendezvous with and inspect an upper stage left in orbit by a Japanese launch. The Japanese space agency JAXA awarded Tokyo-based Astroscale a contract in 2020 for the mission as part of its two-phase Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration project. The second phase, which will involve an attempt to deorbit the upper stage, has not yet been competed by JAXA.
Sep 23, 2021
IXPE nearing shipment to Florida for December 2021 launch
Posted by Alberto Lao in categories: cosmology, satellites
The launch of the Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) observatory is now targeting December 13 2021, onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The IXPE X-Ray observatory is the latest spacecraft in NASAâs historic Small Explorers (SMEX) program.
The IXPE mission was first selected as a part of the Explorers program in January 2017. NASA awarded the IXPE team $188 million for the spacecraft and mission, including the cost of the launch vehicle, post-launch operations, and data analysis. The spacecraft will be used to study Black Holes and other cosmic X-ray mysteries.
Built by Ball Aerospace at facilities in Boulder, Colorado, the IXPE spacecraft is based on the Ball Configurable Platform (BCP)-100 satellite bus. The BCP-100 is one of Ball Aerospaceâs offerings for a modular satellite bus for low-Earth orbit (LEO) operations. It was most recently used by NASAâs Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM) to test a new type of Green propellant for space operations.