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Category: satellites

Ultra-flat optic pushes beyond what was previously thought possible

Cameras are everywhere. For over two centuries, these devices have grown increasingly popular and proven to be so useful, they have become an indispensable part of modern life.

Today, they are included in a vast range of applications—everything from smartphones and laptops to security and to cars, aircraft, and satellites imaging Earth from high above. And as an overarching trend toward miniaturizing mechanical, optical, and electronic products continues, scientists and engineers are looking for ways to create smaller, lighter, and more energy-efficient cameras for these technologies.

Ultra-flat optics have been proposed as a solution for this engineering challenge, as they are an alternative to the relatively bulky lenses found in cameras today. Instead of using a curved lens made out of glass or plastic, many ultra-flat optics, such as metalenses, use a thin, flat plane of microscopic nanostructures to manipulate light, which makes them hundreds or even thousands of times smaller and lighter than conventional camera lenses.

The Space Economy In 2025 | Namrata Goswami

An interesting & apposite article on a vital aspect of the Space-Race not normally covered.

Nearly 15,000 satellites in 432 constellations are driving today’s $570 billion dollar space economy. Dr. Namrata Goswami explains recent predictions for over 60,000 satellites and $2 trillion in space by 2040.

Dr. Namrata Goswami is a Professor of Space Security at Johns Hopkins University and co-author of the book “Scramble for the Skies”. She joins us today to discuss the current state of the emerging space economy and the Great Powers Competition for control of Earth orbit and beyond.

Dr. Namrata Goswami, Professor of Space Security at Johns Hopkins University and co-author of the book “Scramble for the Skies”. She joins us today to discuss the current state of the emerging space economy and the Great Powers Competition for control of Earth orbit and beyond.

Disclaimer: “The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official guidance or position of the United States Government, the Department of Defense, the United States Air Force, or the United States Space Force.”

Continue reading “The Space Economy In 2025 | Namrata Goswami” | >

Elon Musk on DOGE, Optimus, Starlink Smartphones, Evolving with AI, Why the West is Imploding

Questions to inspire discussion.

🧠 Q: What improvements does Tesla’s AI5 chip offer over AI4? A: AI5 provides a 40x improvement in silicon, addressing core limitations of AI4, with 8x more compute, 9x more memory, 5x more memory bandwidth, and the ability to easily handle mixed precision models.

📱 Q: How will Starlink-enabled smartphones revolutionize connectivity? A: Starlink-enabled smartphones will allow direct high bandwidth connectivity from satellites to phones, requiring hardware changes in phones and collaboration between satellite providers and handset makers.

🌐 Q: What is Elon Musk’s vision for Starlink as a global carrier? A: Musk envisions Starlink as a global carrier working worldwide, offering users a comprehensive solution for high bandwidth at home and direct to cell through one direct deal.

🚀 Q: What are the expected capabilities of SpaceX’s Starship? A: Starship is projected to demonstrate full reusability next year, carrying over 100 tons to orbit, being five times bigger than Falcon Heavy, and capable of catching both the booster and ship.

AI and Compute.

Continue reading “Elon Musk on DOGE, Optimus, Starlink Smartphones, Evolving with AI, Why the West is Imploding” | >

Tiny metamaterial lenses could transform imaging for smartphones, drones and satellites

A new approach to manufacturing multicolor lenses could inspire a new generation of tiny, cheap, and powerful optics for portable devices such as phones and drones.

The design uses layers of metamaterials to simultaneously focus a range of wavelengths from an unpolarized source and over a large diameter, overcoming a major limitation of metalenses, said the first author of the paper reporting the design, Joshua Jordaan, from the Research School of Physics at the Australian National University and the ARC Center of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems (TMOS).

“Our design has a lot of nice features that make it applicable to practical devices.”

Plasma propulsion system could help remove space debris without contact

Space has a trash problem, with defunct satellites, rockets, and smaller broken bits orbiting Earth at high speeds. The amount of space junk is only increasing, raising the risk of collision with active satellites and spacecraft, according to Kazunori Takahashi, associate professor in the Graduate School of Engineering at Tohoku University in Japan. Takahashi may have a solution, though.

“Owing to their uncontrolled motion and velocity exceeding that of bullets, orbiting around Earth pose a serious threat by significant increase in the potential risk of collisions with satellites that support sustainable human activity in space,” Takahashi said.

“Most current space debris removal methods are direct-contact approaches and carry the risk of becoming entangled in the uncontrolled motion of debris. More recent work has focused on using a to decelerate the debris, forcing it out of orbit.”

Can LLMs figure out the real world? New metric measures AI’s predictive power

In the 17th century, German astronomer Johannes Kepler figured out the laws of motion that made it possible to accurately predict where our solar system’s planets would appear in the sky as they orbit the sun. But it wasn’t until decades later, when Isaac Newton formulated the universal laws of gravitation, that the underlying principles were understood.

Although they were inspired by Kepler’s laws, they went much further, and made it possible to apply the same formulas to everything from the trajectory of a cannon ball to the way the moon’s pull controls the tides on Earth—or how to launch a satellite from Earth to the surface of the moon or planets.

Today’s sophisticated artificial intelligence systems have gotten very good at making the kind of specific predictions that resemble Kepler’s orbit predictions. But do they know why these predictions work, with the kind of deep understanding that comes from basic principles like Newton’s laws?

Spacecraft design gets a boost with new origami flower-like patterns

The ancient Japanese art of paper-folding, or origami, is already inspiring the design of the next generation of space vehicles, but now there’s a new family of origami shapes that could make them even more compact and reliable.

Larry Howell at Brigham Young University and his colleagues have developed a new class of origami structures called bloom patterns that fold up flat and unfold like flower petals. These clever folding designs could also be used for other structures in space, such as telescopes and solar arrays.

Origami-based designs are perfect for spacecraft because they can be made to fold up for launch and then unfold or deploy to their full size in space or when they arrive at their destination. This ability to pack tightly not only makes missions cheaper to launch but also allows smaller payloads to easily hitch a ride on a rocket carrying another satellite.

Starship IFT-10 & Starlink

SpaceX’s successful Starship IFT-10 test and advancements in Starlink technology are poised to significantly reduce launch costs and disrupt the broadband landscape, paving the way for a more efficient and cost-effective space travel and satellite internet service.

## Questions to inspire discussion.

Starship and Starlink Advancements.

🚀 Q: How does Starship improve Starlink satellite deployment? A: Starship enables deployment of V3 Starlink satellites that are 40-50X cheaper per unit bandwidth compared to Falcon 9, according to Mach33 research.

📡 Q: What advantages do larger satellites on Starship offer? A: Starship’s size allows for larger satellites delivering more bandwidth per mass, improving physics scaling laws and making it 50X more efficient than Falcon 9 for launching bandwidth per kilogram.

Cost and Capacity Improvements.

Continue reading “Starship IFT-10 & Starlink” | >

Can large language models figure out the real world? New metric measures AI’s predictive power

In the 17th century, German astronomer Johannes Kepler figured out the laws of motion that made it possible to accurately predict where our solar system’s planets would appear in the sky as they orbit the sun. But it wasn’t until decades later, when Isaac Newton formulated the universal laws of gravitation, that the underlying principles were understood.

Although they were inspired by Kepler’s laws, they went much further, and made it possible to apply the same formulas to everything from the trajectory of a cannon ball to the way the moon’s pull controls the tides on Earth—or how to launch a satellite from Earth to the surface of the moon or planets.

Today’s sophisticated have gotten very good at making the kind of specific predictions that resemble Kepler’s orbit predictions. But do they know why these predictions work, with the kind of deep understanding that comes from basic principles like Newton’s laws?

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