Lifeboat Foundation

Amazon calls it “the largest commercial procurement of launch vehicles in history.” Amazon’s SpaceX-rivaling internet service Project Kuiper has made a major leap towards becoming operational and catching up with SpaceX’s Starlink, which is already populating our skies.

Amazon selects Arianespace, Blue Origin, and ULA as heavy-lift launch partners to deploy the majority of its Project Kuiper satellite constellation.

Starlink is a space internet project run by aerospace company SpaceX.

COLORADO SPRINGS – Lockheed Martin on April 4 released the technical specifications of a docking adapter that could be used by manufacturers to make satellites interoperable and easier to update on orbit with new technology.

The technical data for the Mission Augmentation Port (MAP) can be used by designers to develop their own docking adapters, said Lockheed Martin.

The company used the MAP standard to design its own docking device, called Augmentation System Port Interface (ASPIN).

Including one long-awaited and colossal German satellite. It’s never too late to join the party when you’re headed to space.

On Friday, April 1 at 12:24 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 launched Transporter-4, SpaceX’s fourth dedicated smallsat rideshare program mission, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This was the seventh launch and landing of this Falcon 9 stage booster, which previously supported launch of Crew-1, Crew-2, SXM-8, CRS-23, IXPE, and one Starlink mission. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Continue reading “Transporter-4 Mission” »

Geomagnetic storms occur when space weather hits and interacts with Earth. Space weather is caused by fluctuations within the sun that blast electrons, protons and other particles into space. I study the hazards space weather poses to space-based assets and how scientists can improve the models and prediction of space weather to protect against these hazards.

When space weather reaches Earth, it triggers many complicated processes that can cause a lot of trouble for anything in orbit. And engineers like me are working to better understand these risks and defend satellites against them.

UCLA scientists have discovered a new source of super-fast, energetic electrons raining down on Earth, a phenomenon that contributes to the colorful aurora borealis but also poses hazards to satellites, spacecraft and astronauts.

The researchers observed unexpected, rapid “electron precipitation” from low-Earth orbit using the ELFIN mission, a pair of tiny satellites built and operated on the UCLA campus by undergraduate and graduate students guided by a small team of staff mentors.

By combining the ELFIN data with more distant observations from NASA’s THEMIS spacecraft, the scientists determined that the sudden downpour was caused by whistler waves, a type of electromagnetic wave that ripples through plasma in space and affects electrons in the Earth’s magnetosphere, causing them to “spill over” into the atmosphere.

What happens when an old satellite is no longer in use but can still broadcast? Hacker shenanigans, that’s what.

WASHINGTON — Small launch vehicle company Virgin Orbit says it sees opportunities not just in satellite launch but also in hypersonics as it looks to increase its revenue.

In its first financial results since going public in December after a merger with a special purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC), Virgin Orbit announced March 29 a net loss of $157.3 million for 2021 on $7.4 million in revenue. That compared to a net loss of $121.6 million on $3.8 million in revenue in 2020.

Despite the significant loss, the company emphasized in an earnings call the increase in revenue, primarily from two LauncherOne missions conducted in 2021, as well as a slight improvement in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). Virgin Orbit reported an adjusted EBITDA of –$140.4 million in 2021 versus –$157.5 million in 2020.

TAMPA, Fla. — Indian startup Pixxel said March 28 it has raised $25 million for a hyperspectral imaging constellation that plans to deploy its first satellite this week.

Canadian early-stage investor Radical Ventures led the Series A round, bringing Pixxel’s total funding to $33 million to date.

Awais Ahmed, Pixxel’s CEO and co-founder, said proceeds will support plans to launch two satellites this year and six in early 2023 for the constellation.