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Category: satellites – Page 52

SpaceX Launches Upgraded Starlink Satellites After Issues with First Batch

SpaceX just did their second launch of V2 Mini satellites. Their first launch was two months ago and some satellites were lost as their new tech didn’t work on all satellites. Well, SpaceX has solved the bugs, and launched a second batch. Once the bugs are 100% solved, all future Starlink launches will only contain these new satellites.

These higher capacity satellites service about 33% more customers per pound of satellite than the V1.5 Starlink satellites.

SpaceX launched its second batch of upgraded Starlink satellites after some of the first version 2 (v2) buses deorbited earlier than planned. Liftoff aboard a Falcon 9 rocket occurred April 19 at 10:31 AM EDT (14:31 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

This mission launched 21 of the Starlink v2 satellites into low Earth orbit. In December 2022, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gave SpaceX approval to launch up to 7,500 next-generation Starlink satellites, known as Gen 2. That’s still a much smaller number than the original 29,988 the company originally requested.

These upgraded satellites will eventually be operating in circular orbits with altitudes of 525,530, and 535 km and inclinations of 53, 43, and 33 degrees, respectively, using frequencies in the Ku-and Ka-band.

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Researchers develop a four-legged robot capable of walking on a balance beam

Researchers use a reaction wheel actuator system to make a quadruped robot walk on a narrow balance beam.

A team of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute (RI) has created a method that enables a quadruped robot to walk on a narrow balance beam.

Their solution involves implementing a Reaction Wheel Actuator (RWA) system, which is mounted on the back of the quadruped robot. Through a novel control technique, the RWA system enables the robot to balance independently, irrespective of the position of its feet. To enhance the robot’s balancing capabilities, the team leveraged hardware that is commonly used to control satellites in space.

Kenya launches first operational satellite into space

NAIROBI, April 14 (Reuters) — Kenya launched its first operational earth observation satellite on Saturday onboard a SpaceX rocket from the United States, a live feed from Elon Musk’s rocket company showed.

The satellite, developed by nine Kenyan engineers, will collect agricultural and environmental data, including on floods, drought and wildfires, that authorities plan to use for disaster management and to combat food insecurity.

The Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Taifa-1 satellite, took off at about 648 GMT without incident from Vandenberg Base in California, after three postponements due to bad weather.

FAA gives OK for SpaceX’s Starship test flight from Texas

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX has cleared the final hurdle for launching its new giant Starship from Texas as early as next week on a first test flight.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued the long-awaited license on Friday. SpaceX announced that Starship — the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket — could soar as soon as Monday.

No people or satellites will be aboard the 394-foot (120-meter) rocket. SpaceX will attempt to send the spacecraft atop the colossal booster around the world, from the southern tip of Texas all the way to Hawaii. The first stage will be discarded in the Gulf of Mexico and the spacecraft into the Pacific. No landings will be attempted for this debut.

SpaceX to launch Sateliot space base stations to provide satellite communications from smartphones

The Spanish company Sateliot plans to send its first base station into orbit, which will enable satellite communications directly from smartphones. SpaceX will help it do so. A SpaceX rocket will naturally be used to launch the telecom satellite into orbit.

Here’s What We Know

The company from Spain wants to launch five satellites into orbit by the end of this year. According to representatives of the startup, this first phase of the project will be completed. Sateliot wants to have 64 satellites in orbit next year, and the company plans to increase the number to 256 in 2025.

The most elusive black holes in the universe could lurk at the Milky Way’s center

— What’s the biggest black hole in the universe?

LISA will consist of a trio of satellites orbiting the sun that will constantly monitor the distances among them. When a gravitational wave comes by, the satellites will detect the telltale signature, like buoys in the ocean recognizing a passing tidal wave.

To search for IMBHs, the astronomers have to hope for a lucky break. If an IMBH in the galactic center happens to capture a wandering dense remnant (like a smaller black hole, a neutron star, or a white dwarf), the process will emit gravitational waves that LISA can potentially detect. Because the IMBH itself will be orbiting around the central supermassive black hole, these gravitational waves will undergo a Doppler shift (like the shifting in frequencies from a passing ambulance) due to the IMBH’s motion.

H.E. Salem Humaid Al Marri — Director General, Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center — Dubai, UAE

Incubating The UAE National Space Program — H.E. Salem Humaid Al Marri — Director General, Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center

H.E. Salem Humaid Al Marri, is Director General, Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC), in Dubai, UAE, which is an advanced scientific and technological hub, responsible for making the UAE a world leader in space services and exploration.

Established in 2006, MBRSC started out with five engineers but since then, the center has significantly expanded on a journey to be the incubator of the UAE National Space Program, building, developing, and operating a number of Earth observation satellites, providing imaging services and analysis, as well as producing relevant data to scientific communities and research centers around the world. Among the satellites that the center operates are DubaiSat-1 & DubaiSat-2. The MBRSC is also responsible for KhalifaSat, celebrated as the first satellite that was fully built by Emiratis in 2018. Recently, the center revealed its plan to develop the new satellite MBZ-SAT, which is expected to be launched at the end of 2023 and to be the latest in the field of high-resolution imaging from outer space.

Mr. Al Marri’s role is centered on ensuring that the vision and mission of MBRSC are achieved through the different technical and scientific programs being run at the Center and has previously held the same position at the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST) before it was integrated into the Center. He is currently overseeing the expansion of the Center in different scientific and technical fields along with the center’s continued development in the space field, and working towards ensuring all initiatives at MBRSC serve the stakeholders with useful value added services, with one of his major goals ensuring the achievement of domestic satellite development through Emirati engineers.

Mr. Al Marri’s has over 10 years experience in the Space Field, was part of the team which setup EIAST and MBRSC, was formally the Director of the Space Program Department at (EIAST), and he was the Project Manager for MBRSC’s earlier satellite projects DubaiSat-1 and DubaiSat-2.

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SpaceX shows off Falcon Heavy ahead of massive rocket’s sixth launch

Both SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy and Starship could take to the skies next week in an action-packed few days for Elon Musk’s space firm.

SpaceX showed off its Falcon Heavy rocket ahead of its next launch, scheduled for April 18.

SpaceX prepares for the next Falcon Heavy launch.

SpaceX / Twitter.

The private space firm, which is also gearing up for the first orbital launch of its massive Starship rocket, will launch a ViaSat-3 broadband communications satellite to orbit aboard Falcon Heavy next week. The mission will take off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

Report: U.S. military satellite antennas overdue for upgrades

WASHINGTON — The ground terminals used to operate U.S. military and intelligence satellites are running out of capacity and in dire need of upgrades, warns a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

GAO auditors spent more than a year investigating the state of the Satellite Control Network, operated by the U.S. Space Force. The network of 19 parabolic antennas, first established in 1959, is distributed across seven locations around the world.

The SCN is facing “obsolescence challenges and potential capacity gaps as DoD and other agencies launch more satellite systems that will rely on the network,” says GAO in the report released April 10.