K2 SPACE, A STARTUP WITH SPACEX VETERANS BUILDING MONSTER SATELLITES, RAISES $50 MILLION - Los Angeles-based startup K2 Space raised $50 million in new funding as the company works to build monster satellites to match the massive rockets that are coming to market. Nearly two years since founding, K2 co-founders and brothers CEO Karan Kunjur and Chief Technology Officer Neel Kunjur expect to launch their first satellite on a demonstration mission later this year. More (Source: CNBC - Feb 14)
SPACEX IS TAKING AN UNPRECEDENTED NUMBER OF STARLINK SATELLITES OUT OF ORBIT - An unspecified defect in early model Starlink satellites has prompted SpaceX to preemptively deorbit the units before they potentially fail and become hazards in low Earth orbit. While the company remains confident that the deorbiting of these problematic units will prevent any issues, this incident underscores the challenges and uncertainties in navigating the realm of gigantic satellite networks. The deorbiting of Starlink satellites is a commonplace task for SpaceX; the Elon Musk-led company has already initiated the disposal of 406 units from the nearly 6,000 satellites launched to date. More (Source: Quartz - Feb 14)
WATCH CHINA LAUNCH SMART DRAGON-3 ROCKET FROM THE SEA - China has aced its 10th sea launch using a specially converted floating barge and a solid rocket. The Smart Dragon-3 solid rocket lifted off from a mobile sea platform off the coast of Yangjiang, a city in South China's Guangdong province, at 10:06 p.m. EST on Feb. 2 (0306 GMT and 11:06 a.m. Beijing time on Feb. 3). Exhaust billowed out from the rocket before it lifted off. Insulation tiles then fell from the payload fairing, which encased its payload of satellites, as the launcher climbed into the sky. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 13)
IT'S GOOD! SPACE STATION ASTRONAUTS TOSS FOOTBALL IN ZERO-G FOR SUPER BOWL 2024 - It's official, Super Bowl LVIII has reached outer space. Two NASA astronauts apparently geared up for the big showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas today (Feb. 11) by tossing the old pigskin around the International Space Station. "Getting some reps in before Super Bowl Sunday," NASA wrote on X (formerly Twitter) while sharing a short video of the Expedition 70 astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O'Hara tossing the football on the station on Feb. 10. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 12)
FIRST U.S.-INDIA JOINT SPACE MISSION WILL DELIVER HYPER-DETAILED VIEW OF EARTH - An upcoming satellite mission will provide a first-of-its-kind, hyper-detailed view of Earth — and a glimpse of how shifting geopolitics on the ground may play out in space. Why it matters: Earth-observing is now a key space capability for countries. The technology helps answer crucial questions about the impacts of climate change and guide officials in managing resources and disaster response. More (Source: Axios - Feb 12)
SMALL LAUNCH COMPANIES SEEK NICHES TO COMPETE WITH SPACEX RIDESHARE - Small launch vehicle developers are working to carve out niches in a market for smallsat launches that is increasingly dominated by SpaceX’s Transporter rideshare missions. The Transporter missions, which fill a Falcon 9 often with more than 100 smallsats, offer per-kilogram prices significantly below dedicated small launch vehicles. SpaceX has seen high demand for those missions and announced plans last year for a related line of missions called Bandwagon that will go to mid-inclination orbits. More (Source: SpaceNews - Feb 11)
A SLEUTHING ENTHUSIAST SAYS HE FOUND THE US MILITARY’S X-37B SPACEPLANE - It turns out some of the informed speculation about the US military's latest X-37B spaceplane mission was pretty much spot-on. When the semi-classified winged spacecraft launched on December 28, it flew into orbit on top of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, which is much larger than the Atlas V and Falcon 9 rockets used to launch the X-37B on its previous missions. More (Source: Ars Technica - Feb 10)
PRIVATE-SECTOR ASTRONAUTS RETURN TO EARTH AFTER EXTENDED SPACE STATION VISIT - A commercially chartered Crew Dragon spacecraft plunged into the atmosphere and splashed down off the east coast of Florida Friday, bringing four private astronauts back to Earth after an extended stay aboard the International Space Station. With commander Michael López-Alegría and Italian co-pilot Walter Villadei monitoring cockpit displays, flanked by Swedish flier Marcus Wandt and Turkey's Alper Gezeravci, the Crew Dragon's braking rockets fired at 7:42 a.m. EST, slowing the ship just enough to drop the far side of its orbit deep into the atmosphere. More (Source: CBS News - Feb 10)
US SPACE FORCE WANTS SATELLITE 'JETPACKS' TO KEEP OLD SPACECRAFT ALIVE IN ORBIT - The U.S. Space Force is eyeing a number of options to extend the life of satellites that have run out of fuel. One of those options, described as a "jetpack," is a small propulsion unit that can be added on to existing spacecraft already in orbit. Several of these ideas were presented at the Space Mobility Conference in Orlando, Florida in late January. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 10)
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