A Chinese remote sensing satellite has captured stunning footage of a suborbital rocket launch taking place at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert.
The Jilin-1 satellite was orbiting at around 535 kilometres above the Earth as the OS-X1 rocket lifted off from Jiuquan at 12:10 local time (04:10 UTC) on Friday.
The video satellite managed to capture the early moments of the 200-second flight, which reached an altitude of around 35 kilometers, showing the solid-fuelled rocket quickly climbing.
In the beginning, big ideas required big rockets. Now, we can launch satellites that fit in the palm of our hand. Discover how by watching this video!
Space is all the rage, so it seems. The number of small spacecraft – including satellites – being manufactured has rocketed in recent years, and future forecasts are equally explosive. The first-ever internationally agreed requirements have just been published, enabling the industry to cruise even higher.
The small satellites industry is taking off. According to a recent report by SpaceWorks1), an aerospace company focused on delivering cutting-edge flight and space technologies, 2017 showed a 205 % increase in small satellite launches compared to 2016, with a record number still awaiting launch. What’s more, forecasts for future spacecraft production, often by new entrants to the industry, look equally celestial.
But producing these spacecraft involves some very specific requirements that newcomers to the market may not be aware of. To help harmonize the sector, ISO has just published the first-ever international technical specification for small spacecraft, which states the minimum requirements that every small spacecraft needs to comply with regardless of its mission.
Satellite Constellations to Bring Global Internet Coverage (SpaceX, OneWeb, Boeing,…):
In this video, we’ll be discussing global internet connectivity initiatives based in space, more specifically – low and mid-Earth orbit through the use of satellite constellations.
[0:35–2:30] Starting off we’ll discuss how these satellites will communicate with the ground and the internet providing satellites from Iridium and ViaSat, that act as a proof of concept and validate satellites as a means for internet connectivity.
[2:30–5:50] Following that we’ll take a look at, current satellite constellations in development from SpaceX, OneWeb, Boeing, and others.
[5:50–07:40] To conclude we’ll discuss, the manufacturing and economics of these satellite constellations.
The world just became a little bit safer tonight as Europe’s groundbreaking wind-monitoring satellite finally blasted into orbit — ridding the world of Michael Fish moments.
At exactly 10.20 BST the Jupiter mission control centre in French Guiana, South America, gave the final green light for lift-off following a nail-biting week which saw the launch delayed by 24 hours- ironically because of strong winds.
But with the name Aeolus, it was never going to be plain sailing for the European Space Agency’s latest Earth Observation satellite.
The US Congress wants the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to rapidly develop and demonstrate a boost-phase ICBM (and hypersonic weapon) intercept capability as soon as practicable.
Space-based laser weapons technology is one of the options.
According to updated regulatory documents and recent Aviation Week interviews with the US Air Force Research Laboratory, it can be all but guaranteed that the USAF has begun working with SpaceX to test the feasibility of using the company’s planned Starlink satellite internet constellation for military communications purposes.
In early August, SpaceX updated regulatory documents required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the company to be permitted to experimental test its two prototype Starlink internet satellites, named Tintin A and B. Launched roughly six months ago as a copassenger on one of SpaceX’s own Falcon 9 rockets, the satellite duo has been quietly performing a broad range of tests on orbit, particularly focused on general satellite operations, orbital maneuvering with SpaceX’s own custom-built electric propulsion, and – most importantly – the experimental satellites’ cutting-edge communications capabilities.
The orbit histories of @SpaceX’s Tintin A/B Starlink prototype satellites, launched in February! Some thoroughly intriguing differences in behavior over the six months they’ve spent on-orbit. Data and visualizations generated by the lovely http://CalSky.com. pic.twitter.com/a8CfQaZJep