Satellite Archives - Marlenemourreau

SpaceX, L3Harris win missile-warning satellite contracts from US military

October 9, 2020 | technology | No Comments

The U.S. military has picked SpaceX and L3Harris Technologies to build up a new missile-warning satellite system in space.

In separate contracts, SpaceX and L3Harris will each provide four infrared satellites devoted to missile tracking as part of the larger National Defense Space Architecture program. The contract, awarded by the Department of Defense’s Space Development Agency (SDA), gives $193.5 million to L3Harris and $149 million to SpaceX. The satellites should be ready by the end of fiscal year 2022.

“The satellites will be able to provide missile tracking data for hypersonic glide vehicles, and the next generation of advanced missile threats,” Derek Tournear, SDA director, said in a statement.

Related: What is a ballistic missile and how does it work?

SpaceX, originally a launch provider using its Falcon rockets, has entered the satellite construction market with its Starlink constellation of internet satellites. The company has launched more

By iwano@_84

GHGSat lauds performance of methane-monitoring satellite

October 8, 2020 | technology | No Comments

SAN FRANCISCO — GHGSat, the Canadian firm preparing to launch a constellation of methane-monitoring satellites, announced Oct. 8 that the sensor on its Iris satellite launched in early September detects methane emissions five times as well as Claire, its predecessor.

GHGSat tested the Iris sensor by flying the satellite over a controlled methane release in Alberta, Canada. The company compared the sensor data with measurements captured by sensors on the ground and in an aircraft, according to an Oct. 8 news release.

“Satellites are complex devices and it takes time to fully characterize instruments and optimize processing software to filter out noise from the signal,” GHGSat CEO Stephane Germain said in a statement. “We have just begun that process with Iris. We expect Iris to attain 10 times better performance than Claire and are now even more confident that we will validate that performance in the coming weeks.”

GHGSat launched

By iwano@_84

Space debris a frequent topic at Satellite Innovation 2020

October 6, 2020 | technology | No Comments

SAN FRANCISCO – Tracking and avoiding the growing debris field in low Earth orbit was clearly on the minds of speakers on the first day of the Satellite Innovation 2020 conference.

“Today, unfortunately, there is a lot of debris up there,” said Tony Gingiss, OneWeb Satellites CEO. “We have to be able to track it and avoid it. But fundamentally, we also have to change the landscape in terms of … the responsibilities of the parties operating up there to actually make sure that we’re not creating more debris.”

As OneWeb, SpaceX and Amazon begin as a group to send tens of thousands of satellites into broadband constellations, industry and government officials acknowledge the growing risk of collisions.

The Federal Communications Commission is considering changing its rules for orbital debris mitigation, which have been in force since 2004.

“It’s pretty clear that the large constellation operators recognize that they’re going

By iwano@_84

Elon Musk: Public Beta for SpaceX’s Satellite Internet Will Start Soon

October 6, 2020 | internet | No Comments

(Credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX has successfully launched another 60 satellites into orbit, clearing the way for the public beta of its Starlink satellite broadband network to begin.

“Once these satellites reach their target position, we will be able to roll out a fairly wide public beta in northern US and hopefully southern Canada,” CEO Elon Musk tweeted today.

Tweet

The Starlink satellite broadband network can currently deliver 100Mbps download speeds with latency at around 30 milliseconds, which is on par with ground-based internet services.

However, Starlink’s main selling point is that SpaceX will theoretically be able to deliver fast broadband to anyone on Earth with a satellite dish outside their home. As a result, customer interest in the upcoming broadband network has been high, especially among users based in rural areas or small towns, who lack access to fast internet speeds.

With today’s successful launch, SpaceX now has about 770 satellites

By iwano@_84

Boeing wins $298 million Space Force contract for jam-resistant communications satellite

October 2, 2020 | technology | No Comments

The contract is for the Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications program, known as Evolved Strategic Satcom

WASHINGTON — Boeing received a $298 million contract to build a satellite payload prototype and develop a secure communications architecture for the U.S. Space Force’s Evolved Strategic SATCOM (ESS) program, the company announced Oct. 1.

The ESS will replace the existing Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellites made by Lockheed Martin.

Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin will be developing competing designs for the ESS program.

Each company is building prototypes to be completed by 2025. Like AEHF, the new ESS program is intended to provide secure, jam-resistant communications for high-priority military operations and national command authorities.

Boeing is a longtime supplier of military communications satellites. It is the prime contractor for the Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) constellation, and is also working on the Protected Tactical Enterprise Service and Protected Tactical Satcom programs. These programs

By iwano@_84

SpaceX Is Providing Satellite Internet Service to Towns Hit by Wildfires

September 29, 2020 | internet | No Comments

(Credit: Washington Emergency Management)

Residents in Washington state recovering from the wildfires are remaining online, thanks to SpaceX’s satellite broadband network.

The company’s Starlink system has been supplying the emergency internet to residents in Malden, a town of about 200 people, where an estimated 80 percent of the homes have been destroyed by the wildfires.

On Monday, Washington’s Emergency Management Department tweeted a photo of a Starlink satellite terminal acting as a public Wi-Fi hotspot. “Malden, WA is an area where fiber and most of the town burned down. Without this equipment, it would have been much harder for folks to get internet in that area,” the department added in a follow-up tweet.

Tweet

“SpaceX provided seven terminals for our agency to use for free, where we saw the most need,” the state’s Emergency Management Department told PCMag. Other Starlink terminals are supplying emergency broadband around Bonney Lake, Washington, where

By iwano@_84

Washington emergency responders use SpaceX Starlink satellite internet

September 29, 2020 | internet | No Comments

Washington Emergency Management Division

The Starlink satellite internet network that SpaceX is developing has been used in the field by Washington state emergency responders in recent weeks, the first early application of the company’s service to be disclosed.

Washington’s state military, which includes its emergency response division, began employing Starlink user terminals in early August to bring internet service to areas devastated by wildfires. User terminals are the small devices on the ground that connect to the satellites. The emergency division has seven Starlink user terminals, which it is deploying with early success.

“I have never set up any tactical satellite equipment that has been as quick to set up, and anywhere near as reliable” as Starlink, Richard Hall, the emergency telecommunications leader of the Washington State Military Department’s IT division, told CNBC in an interview Monday.

How Washington’s using Starlink

Starlink is the name for SpaceX’s ambitious plan to

By iwano@_84

Billionaire Elon Musk Teases IPO For Starlink, SpaceX’s Satellite Internet Business

September 29, 2020 | internet | No Comments

Topline

Elon Musk on Monday hinted at his plans to take SpaceX’s space internet venture, Starlink, public in several years when revenue growth is “smooth and predictable” as the firm, which eventually aims to provide broadband around the world, is servicing towns in Washington ravaged by wildfires along the U.S. West Coast.

Elon Musk gestures to the sky — Billionaire Elon Musk Teases IPO For Starlink, SpaceX’s Satellite Internet Business

AFP via Getty Images

Key Facts

The Tesla CEO revealed his plans on Twitter, saying small retail investors will “get top priority” when the company is listed: “You can hold me to it.”

Investors may be waiting a while — Musk said he will only take the company public in several years when revenue growth is smooth and predictable, adding: “Public market does *not* like erratic cash flow.”.

Last year, Musk said he believed Starlink would be an important revenue stream for SpaceX, with ambitions to provide

By iwano@_84

Elon Musk says he’s planning to take his satellite internet business public in ‘several years’ once ‘revenue growth is smooth & predictable’

September 29, 2020 | internet | No Comments

Elon Musk wearing a suit and tie: SpaceX founder and chief engineer Elon Musk attends a post-launch news conference to discuss the SpaceX Crew Dragon astronaut capsule in-flight abort test at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. January 19, 2020. REUTERS/Steve Nesius

© Provided by Business Insider
SpaceX founder and chief engineer Elon Musk attends a post-launch news conference to discuss the SpaceX Crew Dragon astronaut capsule in-flight abort test at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. January 19, 2020. REUTERS/Steve Nesius

Elon Musk tweeted on Monday that Starlink, an satellite-based internet initiative within his privately held company SpaceX, will “probably IPO” in “several years.”
Musk said that Starlink likely would wait to go public until “revenue growth is smooth & predictable” and that he would prioritize “small retail investors” when taking the business public.
SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell had previously floated the idea in February.
Starlink is aiming to start offering space-based internet services to customers this summer, but the company has already drawn criticism over its environmental impact and regulatory approval.
Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced in a

By iwano@_84

You can watch a US spy satellite launch on a giant Delta IV Heavy rocket tonight. Here’s how.

September 26, 2020 | technology | No Comments

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A new U.S. spy satellite will launch into space early Saturday (Sept. 27) on the mightiest rocket built by the United Launch Alliance (ULA): the massive Delta IV Heavy.

The booster is set to blast off overnight at 12:10 a.m. EDT (0410 GMT) from Pad 37 here at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to carry the classified NROL-44 satellite into orbit for the the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). You can watch all the fiery action live online, courtesy of ULA. Launch coverage will begin about 20 minutes prior to liftoff, and you can watch the launch live here and on the Space.com homepage or directly via the ULA webcast.

The mission has been delayed nearly a month after a rare, last-second abort on the launch pad on Aug. 29. According to ULA, the launch window lasts about 94 minutes.

Declassified: Vintage US spy satellites and

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Tag Archive : Satellite

How Washington’s using Starlink

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