ELON MUSK PROVIDES MORE DETAILS ABOUT SPACEX’S PLAN TO REDUCE STARLINK SATELLITE VISIBILITY - During a virtual conference briefing this week, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk provided more details about a new plan that his company has to mitigate the impact of their Starlink satellite constellation on night sky observation. Musk first revealed on Twitter the intent to build a “sun visor” to lower their visibility, but we didn’t know much about how it would work or how it compared to the test dark paint job that SpaceX tried previously.   More
(Source: TechCrunch - Apr 29)

AMATEUR RADIO SLEUTH REDISCOVERS A COLD WAR-ERA 'ZOMBIE SATELLITE' - An amateur radio hobbyist has zeroed in on the signal of a U.S. military satellite abandoned nearly fifty years ago. The LES-5 satellite, launched in 1967, was an early experiment in satellite-based communications broadcasting continuously since it was launched in 1967. It was decommissioned and placed in a “graveyard orbit” in 1972. But incredibly it’s still working and is transmitting to anyone able to listen.    More
(Source: Ppopular Mechanics - Apr 29)

GET OUT OF THE WAY: THE 1ST RESTARTABLE SOLID ROCKET FUEL COULD HELP REDUCE SPACE JUNK - In the 2013 movie "Gravity," space junk nearly killed Sandra Bullock. While that story was most definitely fiction (and sensational fiction at that), the threat of space junk is real — so real that NASA has a whole office devoted to tracking and mitigating it. And last year marked the first international conference focused entirely on orbital debris. There's good reason to be concerned. Currently, about 2,000 operational satellites orbit the Earth — not to mention another 3,000 non-operational ones — and that number is expected to skyrocket. This year, more than 1,500 satellites are scheduled for launch. (Compare this to 2018, when only 365 were launched.)    More
(Source: Space.com - Apr 28)

A SATELLITE LOOK BACK AT 50 YEARS OF EARTH DAY - Last week on Wednesday, April 22 was the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Taking a step back and viewing the Earth from above not only can spark awe, it also can inspire change. Case in point—in 1969, Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson witnessed an 800-square-mile oil spill in the Santa Barbara Channel as his plane flew over the disaster. What he saw inspired him to create the first Earth Day the following year.   More
(Source: WeatherNation - Apr 28)

THE AIR FORCE WANTS YOU TO HACK ITS SATELLITE IN ORBIT. YES, REALLY - When the Air Force asked hackers to break into a F-15 fighter jet at last year’s DEF CON security conference, the results were both eye-opening and eye-watering. It was the first time hackers were allowed to work on the system to look for bugs. In just two days, a team of seven hackers found a ton of vulnerabilities, which if exploited in the real world could have crippled a critical aircraft data system, causing untold and potentially catastrophic damage. It was also proof that the Air Force desperately needed help.   More
(Source: TechCrunch - Apr 27)

IRAN'S MILITARY SATELLITE A 'TUMBLING WEBCAM IN SPACE,' SPACE FORCE COMMANDER SAYS - The first satellite launched into space by Iran last week that revealed the country's secret military space program is nothing but “a tumbling webcam in space," the head of the U.S military's newest service said Saturday. Iran's Revolutionary Guard said Wednesday it put up a “Noor," or "Light," satellite into a low orbit circling the Earth after using a mobile launcher at a new launch site.    More
(Source: Fox News - Apr 27)

AN ASTRONAUT SPOTTED SPACEX’S STARLINK INTERNET SATELLITES FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - An astronaut on the International Space Station last week captured a unique view of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites – photographing a group of the satellites in space, from space. Starlink is SpaceX’s plan to build a network of about 12,000 small satellites to provide high-speed internet to anywhere in the world. The company has launched 360 Starlink satellites in the past year and aims to begin offering early, limited service later in 2020.   More
(Source: CNBC - Apr 26)

PROGRESS MS-14 CARGO CRAFT DOCKS WITH ISS - The Progress MS-14 cargo craft, launched on April 25 at 04:51 Moscow time from the Baikonur cosmodrome, has docked successfully with the International Space Station (ISS). The Russian space agency Roscosmos has transmitted the docking on its website. The cargo craft will deliver the Victory Day (the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Second World War) paraphernalia to the ISS, as well as data on the war fighters within the "Immortal Regiment on the ISS" project.   More
(Source: TASS - Apr 26)

SOYUZ LAUNCHES FROM KAZAKHSTAN WITH SPACE STATION SUPPLY SHIP - A Soyuz rocket decorated to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe fired into space Friday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, sending a Progress supply ship on a fast-track, three-hour pursuit of the International Space Station. The Soyuz-2.1a booster ignited its kerosene-fueled engines at climbed away from Launch Pad No. 31 at Baikonur at 9:51:41 p.m. EDT Friday (0151 GMT Saturday) to kick off a nine-minute climb into orbit.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 25)

Previous Next