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Satellites

Atlas V launch with Amazon's Project Kuiper satellites
Video

Atlas V rocket launches prototype Amazon satellites to test Project Kuiper network

by Alan Boyle on October 6, 2023October 8, 2023 at 2:09 pm

Amazon’s first satellites were launched today on a mission aimed at testing out the hardware and software for the Seattle company’s worldwide Project Kuiper broadband internet constellation. Two prototype satellites… Read More

Amazon satellite payload arrives at ULA Vertical Integration Facility

Amazon satellites are placed atop Atlas V rocket for milestone launch on October 6

by Alan Boyle on September 29, 2023September 29, 2023 at 2:41 pm

United Launch Alliance says the first prototype satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband network have been placed atop their Atlas V rocket, with launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station… Read More

Satlas view of Earth land masses.

AI2 and Microsoft use satellite images plus artificial intelligence to monitor the planet

by Alan Boyle on September 12, 2023September 12, 2023 at 9:35 am

Geospatial data analysis promises to revolutionize the way agriculture, urban planning and disaster relief is done — and thanks to a variety of projects that make use of artificial intelligence,… Read More

Atlas V, New Glenn and Ariane 6 rockets
Video

Pension fund’s lawsuit questions Amazon’s decisions on Kuiper satellite launch deal

by Alan Boyle on September 1, 2023September 1, 2023 at 4:01 pm

An Ohio-based pension fund has filed a lawsuit alleging that Amazon didn’t give due consideration to SpaceX as a potential launch provider for its Project Kuiper broadband internet satellite constellation,… Read More

Illustration: Otter Pup in orbit
Video

Spin control: Starfish Space makes use of magnetism to stop satellite’s death spiral

by Alan Boyle on August 29, 2023August 29, 2023 at 10:16 am

Two and a half months after Starfish Space’s first orbital mission teetered on the edge of failure because its Otter Pup satellite docking system took a wild tumble, the Kent,… Read More

Illustration: Satellite rendezvous
Video

Starfish Space wins $1.8M to keep working on satellite guidance system for Air Force

by Alan Boyle on August 8, 2023August 8, 2023 at 4:15 pm

Kent, Wash.-based Starfish Space says it’s been awarded $1.8 million by AFWERX, the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force, to support continued development of the company’s Cephalopod… Read More

Atlas V launch for Amazon
Video

Plans for launch of prototype satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper revised … again

by Alan Boyle on August 7, 2023September 25, 2023 at 2:29 pm

Amazon’s plans to launch the first prototype satellites for its Project Kuiper broadband internet constellation have changed for the second time in a year — and once again, rocket development… Read More

Illustration: LeoStella's LS-300 satellite platform
Video

LeoStella super-sizes its platform for small satellites as it takes aim at new markets

by Alan Boyle on August 6, 2023August 6, 2023 at 1:18 am

Tukwila, Wash.-based LeoStella is unveiling its latest, greatest platform for small satellites, which should hit a sweet spot for future manufacturing contracts. LeoStella, which is a joint venture co-owned by… Read More

Illustration: Amazon Project Kuiper satellite processing facility
Video

Amazon’s Project Kuiper will build $120M satellite processing facility in Florida

by Alan Boyle on July 21, 2023July 21, 2023 at 4:50 pm

Construction is underway for a $120 million facility in Florida that will process Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites for launch — marking one more giant leap toward creating the company’s global… Read More

Clean-room team with Orbiter SN3 space tug and Otter Pup docking spacecraft
Video

Spinning spacecraft adds unwelcome twist to Starfish Space’s docking test mission

by Alan Boyle on June 21, 2023August 28, 2023 at 5:43 pm

Starfish Space’s ambitious mission to test its on-orbit satellite docking system has taken an unfortunate turn — or, more precisely, an unfortunate spin. The Kent, Wash.-based startup’s Otter Pup spacecraft… Read More

SpaceX Falcon 9 launch
Video

SpaceX launch gives a big sendoff to Starfish Space’s satellite docking craft

by Alan Boyle on June 12, 2023June 12, 2023 at 4:38 pm

A well-traveled SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket today launched dozens of satellites, including an experimental docking craft created by a Seattle-area startup called Starfish Space. Starfish Space’s Otter Pup spacecraft was… Read More

LeoStella CEO Tim Kienberger at factory
Video

LeoStella’s CEO works on the next phase of evolution for the satellite revolution

by Alan Boyle on June 6, 2023June 6, 2023 at 9:37 am

TUKWILA, Wash. — Will LeoStella go beyond LEO? It’s been four years since LeoStella, a joint venture created by BlackSky and Thales Alenia Space, opened the doors of its Tukwila… Read More

Illustration: Nuclear thermal propulsion system
Video

How power is blazing a trail for America’s space effort — and for nuclear startups

by Alan Boyle on April 5, 2023April 5, 2023 at 9:00 am

As more and more hardware goes into Earth orbit, and eventually to the moon and Mars, where will the power to run all those machines come from? That’s one of… Read More

SpaceX employees cheering at Redmond satellite facility

‘Redmond Space District’ celebrates the Northwest’s hotspot for satellite industry

by Alan Boyle on March 30, 2023March 31, 2023 at 8:46 pm

REDMOND, Wash. — This Seattle-area suburb has played a role in the space industry for more than a half-century, but the city of Redmond is shining brighter than ever on… Read More

Xplore Xcraft

NRO awards contracts to Xplore and five other hyperspectral imaging companies

by Alan Boyle on March 22, 2023March 22, 2023 at 8:22 pm

The National Reconnaissance Office awarded study contracts to six companies offering — or planning to offer — satellite images of Earth in multiple wavelengths, including Redmond, Wash.-based Xplore. Other companies… Read More

Illustration: Lynk Global satellite coverage footprint for Mongolia demostration
Video

FCC plans to set up a new framework for connecting satellites with smartphones

by Alan Boyle on March 16, 2023March 17, 2023 at 10:02 am

The Federal Communications Commission plans to set up a new regulatory framework to facilitate hookups between satellite operators and wireless companies, with the objective of connecting smartphone users in remote… Read More

Amazon's Dave Limp with Kindle and Kuiper antenna

‘Open for business’: Amazon shows off antennas for its Kuiper satellite network

by Alan Boyle on March 14, 2023March 14, 2023 at 10:26 am

After years of development, Amazon is showing off the antennas it plans to use for its Project Kuiper satellite broadband network — and says it plans to begin offering beta… Read More

Kymeta team with flat-panel antennas for OneWeb

Satellite plans move ahead for Kymeta and OneWeb — and for SpaceX and T-Mobile

by Alan Boyle on March 13, 2023March 13, 2023 at 8:02 pm

Redmond, Wash.-based Kymeta Corp. says it has completed its first shipment of electronically steered flat-panel antennas to OneWeb for that company’s satellite-based data network. In a news release timed to… Read More

Illustration: Otter servicing vehicle docked to larger satellite in orbit
Video

Starfish Space raises $14M to advance development of satellite servicing vehicles

by Alan Boyle on March 8, 2023March 8, 2023 at 10:32 am

Starfish Space, a Seattle-area startup founded by two veterans of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture, has raised $14 million in funding to support its plans to develop spacecraft capable… Read More

Video

Study highlights concerns over satellite interference with Hubble observations

by Alan Boyle on March 2, 2023March 3, 2023 at 8:00 pm

An analysis of more than 100,000 images from the Hubble Space Telescope, conducted with the aid of artificial intelligence and hundreds of human volunteers, confirms that satellites including SpaceX’s Starlink… Read More

Illustration: Vulcan-Centaur rocket with Kuiper satellites
Video

Amazon’s Kuiper satellites are good to go after FCC’s approval of orbital debris plan

by Alan Boyle on February 9, 2023February 9, 2023 at 11:29 am

The Federal Communications Commission says Amazon’s 3,236-satellite Project Kuiper constellation is fully cleared for deployment after the company filed an acceptable plan for dealing with the risks of orbital debris.… Read More

Viasat constellation
Video

Microsoft teams up with Viasat to spread satellite internet access across Africa

by Alan Boyle on December 14, 2022December 14, 2022 at 5:13 am

Over the past five years, Microsoft’s Airband Initiative has helped bring internet access to more than 51 million people in rural America and around the world — and now a… Read More

Illustration: D-Orbit ION in orbit
Video

The cloud in orbit: Amazon Web Services demonstrates data analysis on a satellite

by Alan Boyle on November 29, 2022November 29, 2022 at 8:24 am

For the past 10 months, Amazon Web Services has been running data through its cloud-based software platform on what’s arguably the world’s edgiest edge: a satellite in low Earth orbit.… Read More

Otter Pup satellite
Video

Starfish Space reveals ambitious plan to demonstrate satellite docking

by Alan Boyle on November 9, 2022November 10, 2022 at 2:04 pm

Just three years after it was founded, a Tukwila, Wash.-based startup called Starfish Space is putting the pieces in place to demonstrate how a low-cost satellite can hook up with… Read More

Earth with satellites
Video

Microsoft and Amazon take on new roles in Pentagon’s space communication plans

by Alan Boyle on November 2, 2022November 4, 2022 at 1:29 pm

Microsoft Azure Space, Amazon Web Services and Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellite network are now among the Pentagon’s partners in a campaign to upgrade space- and ground-based communications infrastructure for national… Read More

Worker at Project Kuiper facility
Video

Amazon readies 172,000-square-foot Kirkland factory to build Kuiper satellites

by Alan Boyle on October 27, 2022October 29, 2022 at 11:37 pm

Amazon says it’ll open a 172,000-square-foot production facility in Kirkland, Wash., to manufacture thousands of satellites for its Project Kuiper broadband internet constellation. The factory will eventually turn out one… Read More

Illustration: Vulcan liftoff with Amazon satellites
Video

Amazon switches Project Kuiper prototype satellites to ULA’s first Vulcan launch

by Alan Boyle on October 12, 2022October 12, 2022 at 11:46 am

The first two prototype satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband internet network are now due to launch on the first-ever flight of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket early next… Read More

Starlink antenna and Azure Stack Edge device set up in forest

Microsoft Azure ramps up access to cloud computing via SpaceX’s Starlink satellites

by Alan Boyle on September 14, 2022September 14, 2022 at 9:47 am

With SpaceX’s help, Microsoft is taking the next step toward merging cloud computing with available-anywhere satellite connectivity. Today Microsoft announced the start of a private preview for Azure Orbital Cloud… Read More

Apple emergency SOS
Video

For Apple and other companies, satellites plus cellphones add up to a new frontier

by Alan Boyle on September 7, 2022September 7, 2022 at 3:36 pm

Today’s big iPhone reveal adds Apple to the list of companies aiming to combine the power of satellite communications with the power of everyday cellphones — a list that includes… Read More

T-Mobile's Mike Sievert and SpaceX's Elon Musk at Starbase
Video

T-Mobile’s coverage will get a big boost from SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, starting with texts

by Alan Boyle on August 25, 2022August 27, 2022 at 8:05 am

T-Mobile subscribers will be getting a satellite upgrade to their wireless service, thanks to a newly announced partnership that takes advantage of SpaceX’s Starlink constellation. But don’t expect to start… Read More

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