Satellites – Lifeboat News: The Blog

This Is How The Genius Elon Musk Will Give Free WiFi To The Entire Planet

Posted by Nicholi Avery in Elon Musk, internet, satellites, sustainability

Nov 12
2018

The very same guy, who invented PayPal, created the Tesla Cars, plans to create “SolarCities” and developed cars that will make money for you when you don’t use them, has ANOTHER brilliant idea. Elon Musk plans to launch 4,000 low-orbit satellites in order to give free internet access worldwide, two of them has already been launched a month ago.

The billionaire’s company, SpaceX, revealed the initial framework of the plan in January, with the official request being submitted to the Federal Communications Commission.

Rocket Lab Completes First Commercial Launch of Its Electron Rocket

Posted by Genevieve Klien in satellites

Nov 11
2018

U.S.-based aerospace manufacturer Rocket Lab completed its first successful commercial launch on Saturday, sending seven spacecraft including “six tiny satellites and a drag sail demonstrator” into orbit aboard a relatively small Electron rocket designed primarily for smallsats and cubesats, Spaceflight Now reported.

Quantum ‘compass’ could allow navigation without relying on satellites

Posted by Genevieve Klien in quantum physics, satellites

Nov 11
2018

The UK’s first quantum accelerometer for navigation has been demonstrated by a team from Imperial College London and M Squared.

Most navigation today relies on a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), such as GPS, which sends and receives signals from satellites orbiting the Earth. The quantum accelerometer is a self-contained system that does not rely on any external signals.

This is particularly important because satellite signals can become unavailable due to blockages such as tall buildings, or can be jammed, imitated or denied – preventing accurate navigation. One day of denial of the satellite service would cost the UK £1 billion.

From the vantage point of our NASA Earth satellites in space, the fast-moving #CampFire threatening several towns in California can be seen in this natural-color image

Posted by Michael Lance in satellites

Nov 9
2018

Take a closer look: https://go.nasa.gov/2FewzZ5

New Satellites Will Use Radio Waves to Spy on Ships and Planes

Posted by Genevieve Klien in satellites

Nov 7
2018

This month, HawkEye 360 will send up satellites that track the radio transmissions of ships, planes and other things on Earth, allowing them to be tracked by their communications.

Airglow in Earth’s upper atmosphere shines in red, green, purple and yellow in this view from the International Space Station

Posted by Michael Lance in particle physics, satellites

Nov 6
2018

Turbulence in this sea of charged particles can interfere with satellites 🛰 as well as communication 📡 and navigation 📶 signals. When it launches tomorrow, our #NASAICON mission will watch and image airglow, helping scientists better understand the extreme variability of the region where Earth meets space.

Researchers Can Now Monitor Whales Via Satellite

Posted by Genevieve Klien in satellites

Nov 5
2018

The latest high resolution satellites can pick out whales surfacing in huge swaths of ocean, which will aid in conservation.

Quantum Navigation Could be as Accurate as GPS, Without Satellites

Posted by Genevieve Klien in quantum physics, satellites

Nov 2
2018

Where in the world is Quantum Sandiego?

There’s a region over South America where NASA shuts down its satellites

Posted by Michael Lance in satellites

Nov 1
2018

It’s called the South Atlantic Anomaly.

The closest radiation belt to Earth roams above South America. It is called the South Atlantic Anomaly and gives off high levels of radiation that has been known to destroy satellites.

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Diwata-2 successfully launched to space, makes first contact

Posted by Michael Lance in energy, satellites

Oct 31
2018

Contact successful!

Diwata-2 was successfully launched to space on October 29, 2018 at 12:08 GMT+08 from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan via H-IIA F40 rocket. It is one of the small satellites piggybacked with the main payloads IBUKI-2, also known as GOSAT-2 (JAXA’s Second Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite), and KhalifaSat, a remote sensing Earth observation satellite developed by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in the United Arab Emirates. The other small satellites are the Japanese-made Tenkou, PROITERES-2, Stars-AO, and AUTcube-2. Diwata-2 was inserted into the Sun-Synchronous Orbit at an altitude of 621 km, 43 minutes and 20 seconds after rocket lift-off.

On Oct 29, 2018 at 13:52 GMT+08, initial contact was established between Diwata-2 and the Ground Receiving Station (GRS) located at the Department of Science and Technology Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI). Short telemetry data was received from the satellite on that day. Diwata-2 was initially tracked using pre-launch orbital parameters. As of 12:40 PM yesterday, October 31, 2018, the GRS can now read the satellite’s status, including vital signs such as fully charged batteries, normal power consumption, and good communication link. Commands were successfully sent and initial check procedures will continue throughout the first week from launch. Initial image captures from the cameras can be expected in the coming days.

Another milestone for Philippine space initiatives

The team, program collaborators and stakeholders celebrated in two major simultaneous events: one at the Tanegashima Space Center together with the Japanese partners, and one at the GT Toyota Auditorium in Quezon City with the public. Pocket viewing sessions were also held at the DOST Region VI office in Iloilo, Bicol State University, Cebu Technological University, and Caraga State University. Simultaneously, Japanese professors Dr. Tetsuro Ishida (from Hokkaido University) and Dr. Yuji Sakamoto (from Tohoku University) and Filipino scholars Gerwin Guba, Leur Labrador, Julie Banatao, Leonard Paet, and Paolo Violan who were part of the team who built the Diwata-2 in Tohoku University, were also tuned in.