Lifeboat Foundation

A new, cheap, easily manufactured device could lead to improved satellite communication, high speed data transmission, and remote sensing, scientists say.

A team of engineers led by researchers from the University of Glasgow have developed an ultrathin 2D surface that harnesses the unique properties of metamaterials to manipulate and convert radio waves across the frequencies most commonly used by satellites.

Metamaterials are structures that have been carefully engineered to imbue them with properties that don’t exist in naturally occurring materials.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Two SpaceX-built satellites successfully exchanged data using optical communications terminals in a milestone for the U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA), the agency’s director Derek Tournear said Sept. 4.

The satellites, part of SDA’s Tranche 0 experimental spacecraft in low Earth orbit, used laser terminals manufactured by Tesat-Spacecom to communicate. This marks the first time the agency has demonstrated laser communications in space using optical terminals compliant with military standards required for SDA satellites.

“We had not previously demonstrated laser communications,” Tournear said at a DefenseNews conference. He reported that the data exchange occurred on September 3, with the satellites establishing a connection in under 100 seconds and maintaining it for several hours.

Today, SpaceX took a short break from Starlink flights and launched a national security mission.

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket with an undisclosed number of satellites on behalf of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The spacecraft, which are believed to be Starshield satellites, make up the third batch of what the NRO calls its “proliferated architecture.”

Continue reading “SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket on national security mission for the NRO” »

NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have signed an interagency agreement to collaborate on a satellite servicing demonstration in geosynchronous Earth orbit, where hundreds of satellites provide communications, meteorological, national security, and other vital functions.

Under this agreement, NASA will provide subject matter expertise to DARPA’s Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) program to help complete the technology development, integration, testing, and demonstration. The RSGS servicing spacecraft will advance in-orbit satellite inspection, repair, and upgrade capabilities.

TAMPA, Fla. — European small satellite maker Aerospacelab announced the opening of its first manufacturing facility in the United States Sept. 5 amid efforts to break into the lucrative U.S. government market.

The company sees the potential for contracts that would enable the 3,300 square-meter facility in Torrance, California, to reach a capacity to produce an average of two satellites a week in a single shift.

“With Space Force recently announcing its plans for not only a commercialization strategy, but [also the Space Development Agency] signaling their desire to diversify their supply base, we see potential not only for U.S. commercial customers,” said Tina Ghataore, group chief strategy and revenue officer at Aerospacelab and its CEO for North America.

This team is on a roll.

Launching aboard Firefly’s Alpha vehicle in 2024, this mission will demonstrate the responsive on-orbit capabilities of our Elytra vehicle. As the first of many missions utilizing multiple Firefly vehicles, the demonstration will lay the groundwork for Firefly’s end-to-end mission solutions, proving our capabilities to rapidly launch, maneuver, and deploy satellites at a time and place of our customers’ choosing.

In support of Xtenti’s follow-on study contract with the NRO, the mission will demonstrate a rapid payload reconfiguration utilizing Xtenti’s FANTM-RiDE payload dispenser prior to launching on Firefly’s Alpha vehicle. Upon launching on Alpha, Firefly’s Elytra vehicle will utilize the FANTM-RiDE dispenser to first deploy commercial rideshare payloads in Sun-Synchronous Orbit, and then perform an on-orbit maneuver and stand ready to deploy U.S. government payloads on-demand.

Continue reading “Elytra Mission 1” »

NASA’s goal of building a space plane might at last come true. Should one company succeed in its mission, spaceplanes might actually become a reality. Unlike multi-stage rockets, Radian’s model has the potential to be a less expensive means of space travel.

A company is bringing back to life a NASA concept from decades ago to construct a reusable space plane that could affordably transport humans and small payloads into space. NASA investigated building a space plane prototype known as the X-33 in the 1990s, but the project was shelved in 2001 due to technical problems. With Radian One, a space plane that can carry up to five astronauts at a time and is fully reusable up to 100 times, Seattle-based Radian Aerospace is currently attempting to complete what NASA started.

The company’s chief technology officer, Livingston Holder, oversaw NASA’s X-33 program and is in charge of the new endeavor. Holder told CNN that since 2001, enough has changed to make building a space plane a more feasible objective. They’ve got composite materials that are lighter, tougher, and can take a larger thermal range than they had back then. And propulsion is better than anything they had, in terms of how efficiently it burns propellant and how much the systems weigh. The business informed CNN that it intends to test a scale model this year and that it has raised nearly $28 million to build Radian One in 2022.

SpaceX satellite internet service Starlink said it will comply with court orders to block social network X in Brazil.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Saturday that T-Mobile US Inc. TMUS subscribers in the U.S. will get direct to mobile phone internet with the help of Starlink satellites first and other telecom service providers later.

What Happened: “Starlink direct to mobile phone Internet is exclusively with Tmobile in the US for the first year, then other carriers thereafter,” Musk wrote on X. “We are starting off working with one carrier in each country, but ultimately hope to serve all carriers.”

Musk’s comment comes on the heels of SpaceX launching 26 Starlink satellites with direct-to-cell capabilities to low-Earth orbit on Saturday.