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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (WFLA) — SpaceX will attempt to launch 22 Starlink satellites from Florida on Friday evening, but weather threatens to postpone the launch.

According to the SpaceX website, the company plans to send up its Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10 p.m.

The latest forecast from the 45th Weather Squadron at Patrick Space Force Base indicates the launch has an 80% chance of being scrubbed or delayed due to weather. If that happens, SpaceX has three backup opportunities available until 10:15 p.m., but conditions are only expected to be slightly more favorable.

David Imbaratto / Stellar Exploration / The Planetary Society.

Solar sails were first demonstrated in space by the Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 mission, which raised a small CubeSat’s orbit by 1.9 miles (3.2 km) using only the propulsive force of photons, or light beams, from the Sun.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has received its first contract from the US Space Force to provide customized satellite communications for the military under the company’s new Starshield program, extending the provocative billionaire’s role as a defense contractor.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is competing with 15 companies, including Viasat Inc., for $900 million in work orders through 2028 under the Space Force’s new “Proliferated Low Earth Orbit” contracts program, which is tapping into communications services of satellites orbiting from 100 miles to 1,000 miles (160 kilometers to 1,600 kilometers) above Earth.

The Starshield service will be provided over SpaceX’s existing constellation of Starlink communications satellites.

Wildfires fueled by climate change have ravaged communities from Maui to the Mediterranean this summer, killing many people, exhausting firefighters and fueling demand for new solutions. Enter artificial intelligence.

Firefighters and startups are using AI-enabled cameras to scan the horizon for signs of smoke. A German company is building a constellation of satellites to detect fires from space. And Microsoft is using AI models to predict where the next blaze could be sparked.

With wildfires becoming larger and more intense as the world warms, firefighters, utilities and governments are scrambling to get ahead of the flames by tapping into the latest AI technology—which has stirred both fear and excitement for its potential to transform life. While increasingly stretched first responders hope AI offers them a leg up, humans are still needed to check that the tech is accurate.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will perform 14 launches for Telesat, taking 18 satellites each to the low-earth orbit.

Aerospace seems to be the new buzzword in the technological arena, with multiple new entrants aiming to make a mark in the industry.

To that extent, Canadian satellite operator Telesat and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which designs and manufactures rockets and spacecraft, have agreed to deliver the former’s Lightspeed constellation to low-earth orbit.

The Exploration Company chose to fly its upcoming Moon mission aboard an Indian rocket following delays to the debut launch of Ariane 6.

European space startup The Exploration Company has signed an agreement with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) with a view to reaching the Moon by 2028, a report from The Next Web.

The Bordeaux and Munich-based company will partner with ISRO’s commercial arm, New Space India Limited (NSIL), and will use ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

Designed to manoeuvre the smallest classes of satellite, the operation of this Iridium Catalysed Electrolysis CubeSat Thruster (ICE-Cube Thruster) developed with Imperial College in the UK is based on electrolysis.

This tiny fingernail-length space thruster chip runs on the greenest propellant of all: water.

Avoiding any need for bulky gaseous propellant storage, an associated electrolyser runs a 20-watt current through water to produce hydrogen and oxygen to propel the thruster.

The problem of space debris would worsen even if we sent nothing else into orbit.

ESA’s Space Environment report 2023 was published last August and highlighted a key problem: space debris. “Our planet is surrounded by spacecraft carrying out important work to study our changing climate, deliver global communication and navigation services and help us answer important scientific questions,” noted the report.

“But some of their orbits are getting crowded and increasingly churning with deadly, fast-moving pieces of defunct satellites and rockets that threaten our future in space.”

Continue reading “Stop crowding earth’s orbital environment: ESA report” »

Source: Imperial College/ESA

The engine called the Iridium Catalysed Electrolysis CubeSat Thruster (ICE-Cube Thruster) is based on electrolysis, a process that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using an electric current. The hydrogen and oxygen are then fed into a combustion chamber and nozzle less than 1mm in length to produce thrust.