Lifeboat Foundation

HELSINKI — China sent the classified Yaogan-41 optical satellite towards the geostationary belt Friday using the country’s largest launch vehicle.

The sixth Long March 5 rocket lifted off from the coastal Wenchang Satellite Launch Center at 8:41 a.m. Eastern (1341 UTC) Dec. 15. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC) announced launch success around an hour later.

Continue reading “China launches large classified optical satellite towards geostationary orbit” »

WASHINGTON — Rocket Lab successfully launched a Japanese radar imaging satellite on the first flight of its Electron rocket since a failure nearly three months ago.

The Electron rocket lifted off from the company’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 11:05 p.m. Eastern Dec. 14. The vehicle deployed its payload, the QPS-SAR-5 or Tsukuyomi-1 satellite for Japanese company iQPS, nearly 57 minutes after liftoff into a 575-kilometer orbit.

The launch was the first for Electron since a Sept. 19 failure during a launch of another radar imaging satellite for Capella Space. On that mission, the first stage performed as expected but the engine of the second stage appeared to shut down immediately after ignition, preventing it from reaching orbit.

The launch marks the firm Electron rocket’s comeback after its failure in September, which resulted in the loss of a commercial Earth-observing satellite.

The 42nd mission signifies the return of Electron small rocket, bouncing back after a temporary pause prompted by a setback in September.

Continue reading “Space X Falcon 9-rival from Rocket Lab returns to Space after a setback” »

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is the vehicle that brings satellites, Dragon cargo spacecraft and Crew Dragon spacecraft to orbit.

Among its many uses, SpaceX regularly launches Falcon 9 to bring its Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station. Dragon made the first private spacecraft visit ever there in October 2012 and has run more than 25 cargo missions in the years since. Since 2020, SpaceX also used Falcon 9 for crewed missions to the ISS, on behalf of NASA and other customers.

SpaceX performs a Christmas themed roll out of the next Starship to fly and relativity fires up its most powerful engine, while Amazon tests a spacecraft inters satellite laser link communication system and Rocket Lab achieves a successful launch of the QPS SAR 5 satellite.

Questions to inspire discussion.

Continue reading “SpaceX Christmas Starship Roll Out & Rocket Lab QPS SAR 5 Launch” »

Project Kuiper seeks to deploy a swarm of small satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) to enhance global broadband access, particularly to remote locations of the planet.

Amazon’s Project Kuiper initiative has marked a significant achievement with the successful in-orbit testing of a critical technology known as optical inter-satellite links (OISL).

Continue reading “Amazon tests space laser to transmit internet, aims 3,236 satellite web” »

NASA’s Starling mission will test new technologies for autonomous swarm navigation on four CubeSats in low-Earth orbit. Credit: Blue Canyon Technologies/NASA

NASA ’s Starling spacecraft are getting in formation: the mission team has spent the last two months troubleshooting issues and commissioning the four spacecraft, nicknamed Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde.

Pinky, Inky, and Clyde have successfully completed their propulsion system commissioning and have executed maneuvers to get into their swarm operations configuration, maintaining a range between 50–200 km apart. The three have also successfully demonstrated two-way communications with their crosslink radios in this closer proximity.

According to a notice the agency posted on the government contracting portal SAM.gov on Thursday (Dec. 7), the technology was developed by researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia and has been studied for use in a simulated entry into Neptune’s atmosphere. A separate 2021 study of the same technology studied it for use in the atmosphere of Mars.

Related: Space Force wants ‘Foo Fighter’ satellites to track hypersonic missiles

The agency claims its MHD system is “simpler than conventional methods for control of hypersonic craft (e.g., chemical propulsion, shifting flight center of gravity, or trim tabs) and enables new entry, descent, and landing mission architectures.”

Starlink has around 5,000 satellites in orbit, far more than any other provider.

According to Cloudflare, Starlink’s internet traffic has nearly tripled in 2023 compared to 2022. In the US, the traffic has grown by 250%, while in Brazil, where Starlink launched last year, the traffic has surged by 1700%.

Bridging the divide, one satellite at a time

Continue reading “Starlink triples its internet traffic amid geopolitical tensions” »