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Archive for the ‘satellites’ category: Page 89

Aug 21, 2021

SpaceX wants to give Starship lead role in revised second-gen Starlink plan

Posted by in categories: internet, satellites

TAMPA, Fla. — SpaceX is proposing to use Starship to rapidly deploy its second-generation Starlink constellation, providing denser rural coverage without needing more than the 30,000 satellites it previously envisioned for the follow-on network.

The proposal is one of two revised configurations that SpaceX filed Aug. 18 with the Federal Communications Commission for Starlink Gen2, updating a plan submitted in 2020.

The other configuration envisages continuing to use Falcon 9 rockets for launching Starlink satellites, and also does not involve a larger constellation or require more spectrum than what SpaceX outlined last year.

Aug 19, 2021

Anti-satellite weapons push military to rethink where it puts missile sentinels in space

Posted by in categories: military, satellites

An increase in counterspace weapons is challenging the military’s approach of placing all of its billion-dollar eggs (exquisite satellites) in one basket (far-out geosynchronous orbit).

Aug 19, 2021

SpaceX’s giant Super Heavy rocket spotted from space in satellite photo

Posted by in category: satellites

There are actually two Super Heavy boosters in the shot.


SpaceX’s Super Heavy rocket looks big, even from space.

On Aug. 9 Maxar Technologies’ WorldView-3 satellite snapped a great shot of SpaceX’s “Starbase” facility in South Texas, where the company is building and testing its Starship deep-space transportation system.

Aug 19, 2021

Silicon Valley Neologisms: The Palantir Edition

Posted by in categories: climatology, robotics/AI, satellites, sustainability

https://youtube.com/watch?v=3zLFLotBFbA

Do you remember the Zuckerland metaverse? (Yes, I know he borrowed the word, but when you are president of a digital country, does anyone dare challenge Zuck the First, Le Roi Numérique?)

Palantir Technologies (the Seeing Stone outfit with the warm up jacket fashion bug) introduced a tasty bit of jargon-market speak in its Q22021earnings call:

Continue reading “Silicon Valley Neologisms: The Palantir Edition” »

Aug 19, 2021

SpaceX Starlink satellites responsible for over half of close encounters in orbit, scientist says

Posted by in categories: internet, satellites

SpaceX’s Starlink satellites are involved in about 1,600 close encounters between two spacecraft in low Earth orbit every week. That’s about 50% of all such incidents. As the constellation grows, that proportion is expected to rise up to 90%, experts say.

Aug 16, 2021

How Do Starlink Satellites Navigate To Their Final Operational Orbits

Posted by in categories: internet, mapping, satellites

When SpaceX deploy batches of Starlink satellites they drop them off in lower orbits and expect the satellites themselves to navigate towards their final operational orbits. This is quite a complex process and one that’s worth discussing, the satellites need to be able to reach the target orbital plane, raise the orbit to operational altitude, and then finally maneuver to a specific slot within that plane before they become operational.

Satellite Orbital Maps by Celestrak.
https://celestrak.com/

Continue reading “How Do Starlink Satellites Navigate To Their Final Operational Orbits” »

Aug 15, 2021

Martian Crust Could Sustain Life through Radiation

Posted by in categories: chemistry, computing, satellites

Deep below the ground, radioactive elements disintegrate water molecules, producing ingredients that can fuel subterranean life. This process, known as radiolysis, has sustained bacteria in isolated, water-filled cracks and rock pores on Earth for millions to billions of years. Now a study published in Astrobiology contends that radiolysis could have powered microbial life in the Martian subsurface.

Dust storms, cosmic rays and solar winds ravage the Red Planet’s surface. But belowground, some life might find refuge. “The environment with the best chance of habitability on Mars is the subsurface,” says Jesse Tarnas, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the new study’s lead author. Examining the Martian underground could help scientists learn whether life could have survived there—and the best subsurface samples available today are Martian meteorites that have crash-landed on Earth.

Tarnas and his colleagues evaluated the grain sizes, mineral makeup and radioactive element abundance in Martian meteorites and estimated the Martian crust’s porosity using satellite and rover data. They plugged these attributes into a computer model that simulated radiolysis to see how efficiently the process would have generated hydrogen gas and sulfates: chemical ingredients that can power the metabolism of underground bacteria. The researchers report that if water was present, radiolysis in the Martian subsurface could have sustained microbial communities for billions of years—and perhaps still could today.

Aug 10, 2021

10 out-of-this-world images of Earth taken by Landsat satellites

Posted by in category: satellites

These amazing aerial shots provide a unique perspective of our planet.

Aug 9, 2021

‘Life-saving warning’: How Space Force detected missile launch

Posted by in category: satellites

Russia, China and other adversaries are launching attacks designed to damage or destroy US satellites and interfere with that critical infrastructure. CNN’s Jim Sciutto gets an exclusive look into how Space Force is fighting every day to defend against these technologies.

#CNN #News

Aug 8, 2021

SpaceX Launching Satellite to Display Billboard Ads in Space

Posted by in categories: energy, satellites

SpaceX is reportedly partnering with Canadian tech startup Geometric Energy Corporation to launch a billboard into orbit around Earth.

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