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Archive for the ‘satellites’ category: Page 5

Jan 19, 2024

Germany demonstrates passive radar system using Starlink satellite radiation

Posted by in categories: internet, satellites

Germany has built a passive radar demonstrator that tracks targets using radiation from Starlink satellites opportunistically.

Jan 18, 2024

EU breakthrough laser beams could power nanosatellites in space wirelessly

Posted by in categories: energy, nanotechnology, satellites

The research project demonstrated a power output of 20 watts using a fiber-optic laser and aims to increase this to kilowatts in the future.


The main goal of the WiPTherm project was to create an innovative wireless energy transfer system that could recharge energy storage components on micro and nano-sized satellites.

The IFIMUP was tasked with developing thermoelectric sensors capable of absorbing light at 1,550 nm and using them to charge energy storage devices.

Continue reading “EU breakthrough laser beams could power nanosatellites in space wirelessly” »

Jan 17, 2024

Space Development Agency awards contracts worth $2.5 billion for missile-tracking satellites

Posted by in categories: military, satellites

WASHINGTON — The Space Development Agency announced Jan. 16 it selected L3Harris, Lockheed Martin and Sierra Space to build and operate 54 satellites equipped with infrared sensors capable of tracking hypersonic missiles in all phases of flight.

The satellites will be part of SDA’s Tranche 2 Tracking Layer, a network of satellites in low orbit 1,000 kilometers above Earth.

The three agreements are worth about $2.5 billion. Each company will produce and operate 18 satellites — the contract awarded to L3Harris is worth $919 million, Lockheed Martin’s is $890 million and Sierra Space’s is $740 million. The contracts include incentives for on-time delivery.

Jan 17, 2024

From Earth to Space: Insights and Discoveries from SSPD-1’s Mission

Posted by in categories: satellites, solar power, sustainability

Solar energy is traditionally known for using massive solar panels that collect sunlight and convert it into clean energy, but what if this same energy was instead beamed from satellites in orbit around the Earth, known as space solar power? This is the goal of Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD-1), which is a 110-pound (50-kilogram) project run by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). SSPD-1 was launched onboard the SpaceX Transporter-6 mission on January 3, 2023, and recently concluded its mission after conducting a series of experiments, including the ability to wirelessly beam solar power from space to Earth, which it accomplished in early 2023.

“Solar power beamed from space at commercial rates, lighting the globe, is still a future prospect. But this critical mission demonstrated that it should be an achievable future,” said Dr. Thomas F. Rosenbaum, who is the President of Caltech and the Sonja and William Davidow Presidential Chair and professor of physics.

SSPD-1 successfully demonstrated three experiments during its one-year mission: DOLCE (Deployable on-Orbit ultraLight Composite Experiment), ALBA, and MAPLE (Microwave Array for Power-transfer Low-orbit Experiment). DOLCE demonstrated the architecture necessary for developing space solar power, ALBA demonstrated how to harness solar energy in space, and MAPLE demonstrated how this energy could be wirelessly beamed to Earth.

Jan 17, 2024

Sierra Space joins Lockheed and L3Harris in $2.5B satellite deal for US missile defense

Posted by in category: satellites

The company behind the Dream Chaser spaceplane and the Orbital Reef space station has been selected by the space development agency to build 18 satellites for the tranche 2 tracking layer.

Jan 14, 2024

Face to Face with Sun-Eclipsing Proba-3

Posted by in categories: physics, satellites

Through exquisite, millimeter-scale, formation flying, the dual satellites making up ESA’s Proba-3 will accomplish what was previously a space mission impossible: Cast a precisely held shadow from one platform to the other, in the process blocking out the fiery sun to observe its ghostly surrounding atmosphere on a prolonged basis.

Ahead of the Proba-3 pair launching together later this year, the scientists who will make use of Proba-3 observations were able to see the satellites with their own eyes. Members of this team will test hardware developed for the mission during an actual terrestrial solar eclipse over northern America next April.

The two satellites are currently undergoing final integration in the premises of Redwire near Antwerp in Belgium. They were paid a visit by the Proba-3 Science Working Team, a 45-strong group of solar physicists coming from all across Europe and the wider world.

Jan 13, 2024

Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites are “leaking” signals

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, internet, physics, satellites

Thousands of satellites have been launched into Earth orbit over the past decade or so, with tens of thousands more planned in coming years. Many of these will be in “mega-constellations” such as Starlink, which aim to cover the entire globe.

These bright, shiny satellites are putting at risk our connection to the cosmos, which has been important to humans for countless millennia and has already been greatly diminished by the growth of cities and artificial lighting. They are also posing a problem for astronomers – and hence for our understanding of the universe.

Continue reading “Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites are ‘leaking’ signals” »

Jan 12, 2024

Japan joins neighborhood watch, launches spy satellite on Mitsubishi rocket

Posted by in categories: existential risks, satellites, surveillance

Recent regional space developments also include South Korea’s spy satellite launching aboard SpaceX amid North Korea’s surveillance satellites deployment.


Explore the latest in space tech – Japan’s spy satellite, South Korea’s success with SpaceX, and North Korea’s bold plans.

Jan 11, 2024

SpaceX: Starlink’s Direct to Cell satellites achieve first text exchange

Posted by in categories: internet, satellites

The first text exchange was achieved just six days after the satellite launch.


The Starlink team successfully sent and received their first text messages using T-Mobile network spectrum through their new Direct to Cell satellites launched six days prior.

Jan 9, 2024

Space Development Agency confirms Rocket Lab will produce 18 satellites for U.S. military network

Posted by in categories: military, satellites

WASHINGTON — The Space Development Agency confirmed on Jan. 8 that it awarded Rocket Lab a $515 million contract to build and operate 18 spacecraft that will be part of a low Earth orbit network of military satellites.

SpaceNews first reported on this contract award on Dec. 23 after the agreement was disclosed in a regulatory filing.

Rocket Lab becomes the third supplier of SDA’s Transport Layer Tranche 2 Beta satellites — projected to launch in mid-2027 — that will carry radios using the UHF (Ultra High Frequency) and S-band frequencies that military and intelligence units rely upon for voice and low-speed data transmissions.

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