Author: starpathwp-production
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Solestial’s 20-Kilowatt Solar Blanket to Power Atomos’s Orbital Transfer Vehicles
Solestial, the solar energy company for space, and in-space logistics provider Atomos Space announced a multi-mission sales agreement for a minimum of 20 kilowatts of Solestial’s ultrathin, low-mass, radiation-hardened solar blankets. Solestial’s photovoltaic system will be demonstrated on Atomos’s first mission, scheduled for February 2024, and then will provide primary power for Atomos’s solar-electric orbital…
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Satellite operators poised for $9 billion payday after clearing C-band spectrum
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched early Thursday with the last of a dozen new C-band video relay satellites purchased by Intelsat and SES to help clear spectrum for the rollout of 5G wireless services in the United States. Intelsat and SES, two of the world’s largest geostationary communications satellites operators, are on track to…
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Trans-Atlantic joint venture aims to build new “international” space station
Voyager Space, one of several US companies formulating concepts for new commercial space stations, has established a joint venture with Airbus to co-develop an Earth-orbiting research outpost called Starlab. The companies announced the joint venture Wednesday, saying they plan to field a successor to the International Space Station. “The US-led joint venture will bring together…
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Intelsat Announces the Successful Launch of Galaxy 37/Horizons-4 Communications Satellite
Intelsat, an operator of one of the world’s largest integrated satellite and terrestrial networks and provider of inflight connectivity, announced the successful launch of Galaxy 37/Horizons-4 (G-37/H-4), setting a new record for the commercial satellite industry by sending eight geostationary satellites into space within 10 months. The Maxar-manufactured satellite launched aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket…
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IBM and NASA Release Open Source Geospatial AI Foundation Model
IBM announced this week that IBM’s geospatial foundation model watsonx.ai, which is built from NASA‘s satellite data, will now be openly available on AI platform Hugging Face. IBM says this will be the largest geospatial foundation model on Hugging Face and the first-ever open-source AI foundation model built in collaboration with NASA. The model was…
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Orbit Adds Cybersecurity to its Ground Solutions
Orbit Communications Systems has unveiled cybersecurity enhancements for its Gaia100 Earth observation (EO) systems. The company announced Aug. 3 that it is introducing NetShroud+ for these systems. The NetShroud+ solution protects the remotely located ground stations from potential local or remote cyber-attacks in order to guarantee that the antenna will point to the Low-Earth Orbit…
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Solar Arrays Successfully Installed on NASA’s Psyche Spacecraft
Robotically unfurling in a clean room near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Psyche spacecraft’s jumbo solar arrays were tested and permanently installed on the orbiter in preparation for its 2.5 billion-mile (4 billion-kilometer) journey to study a metal-rich asteroid. The launch period opens on Oct. 5. After passing the deployment test, the twin…
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Cygnus cargo ship berthed at space station
The International Space Station’s robot arm captured the Cygnus cargo ship before attaching it to a docking port. Image: NASA TV. An unpiloted Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo ship carrying four tons of supplies and equipment caught up with the International Space Station early Friday to wrap up a smooth two-and-a-half-day rendezvous. As the two spacecraft…
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Firefly Hires Blue Origin Exec Bretton Alexander as Chief Revenue Officer
Firefly Aerospace has named former Blue Origin executive Bretton Alexander as chief revenue officer (CRO) to lead business development planning to drive revenue growth. Alexander will oversee all sales and customer relationships across the company’s launch, lunar, and on-orbit services. Alexander was with Blue Origin for nearly 12 years and served as both vice president…
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FCC Starts Inquiry Into Spectrum Usage and Data
The FCC is kicking off an inquiry into non-federal spectrum usage, particularly how new data sources and technologies like AI can aid with spectrum management. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement she hopes the result of the inquiry could “turn spectrum scarcity into abundance.” The FCC said it does not typically collect spectrum…