Author: starpathwp-production
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SpaceX Transporter 9 rideshare features new OTV from Tom Mueller’s Impulse Space
On Saturday, Nov. 11 SpaceX launched the Transporter-9 rideshare mission from launch complex SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB). The rocket lifted off at 10:49 AM PST (18:49 UTC). Deployment of payloads from the second stage to a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) at an altitude of approximately 520 kilometers began almost an hour after launch,…
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SpaceX launches more than a hundred payloads on Falcon 9 mission from Vandenberg
A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on the Transporter 9 mission. Image: SpaceX. For the fourth time in 2023, SpaceX launched a smallsat rideshare mission to low Earth orbit with a multitude of payloads. The Transporter-9 mission lifted of at the opening of a 55-minute window at 10:49 a.m. PST…
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ESA reveals Euclid’s first five images
The European Space Agency (ESA) has released the first full-color images from Euclid, the agency’s latest space telescope designed to study the nature and distribution of dark matter and dark energy in the universe. During a video broadcast on Nov. 7, scientists, engineers, and agency officials unveiled the telescope’s first five images. The images reveal…
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Qualcomm Ends Direct-to-Device Deal With Iridium
Qualcomm is ending its direct-to-device relationship with Iridium because smartphone manufacturers are not adopting the satellite-compatible chips. Analysts say the price and the lack of technology standards were contributing factors. The partnership, unveiled at CES in January, was seen as the Android answer to Apple’s emergency messaging via satellite, with the potential to connect IoT…
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Starfish Space scrubs plan for a satellite rendezvous after thruster suffers anomaly
An artist’s conception shows Starfish Space’s Otter Pup spacecraft in orbit. (Starfish Space Illustration) Five months after a tilt-a-whirl spin spoiled the debut of Starfish Space’s first spacecraft, the Tukwila, Wash.- based startup has halted efforts to put its Otter Pup back on track to demonstrate an on-orbit satellite rendezvous. Starfish had to abandon its…
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Intelsat Awarded a Contract by U.S Army to Provide Multi-Orbit SATCOM Support
Intelsat, operator of one of the world’s largest integrated satellite and terrestrial networks, will soon provide the U.S Army with new, flexible, and fully managed multi-orbit satellite communications (SATCOM) support, following the award of the Army’s first-ever Satellite Communication (SATCOM) as a Managed Service (SaaMS) contract. “As the largest, most trusted provider of SATCOM services…
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Rocket Report: Tough times for Astra and Virgin; SpaceX upgrading launch pad
Welcome to Edition 6.19 of the Rocket Report! While we wait for SpaceX to launch the second full-scale test flight of Starship, a lot of the news this week involved companies with much smaller rockets. Astra is struggling to find enough funding to remain in business, and Virgin Galactic says it will fly its suborbital…
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SpaceX launches Dragon cargo ship to space station
A long-exposure from the beach at Cape Canaveral captures the first-stage and second-stage burns, plus the entry and landing burns of the first-stage. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now. Lighting up the night sky, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket streaked into orbit in spectacular fashion Thursday, kicking off a 32-hour rendezvous with the International Space Station to…
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Rocket Lab Announces Next Electron Launch Window and Provides Update on Anomaly Review
Rocket Lab USA, one of the global leaders in launch services and space systems, announced it has set a return to launch window for its Electron launch vehicle. Rocket Lab will return to the pad at Launch Complex 1 with a dedicated Electron mission for Japan-based Earth imaging company iQPS (Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of…
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Planet to Launch Pelican and 36 SuperDoves Satellites on SpaceX’s Transporter-9 Mission
Planet Labs PBC, one of the leading providers of daily data and insights about Earth, announced that its Pelican tech demonstration satellite, Pelican-1, along with 36 SuperDoves, Flock 4Q, will be launching on SpaceX’s Transporter-9 mission on November 11, 2023, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. SpaceX’s launch window will open at 10:49 a.m.…