- A top Chinese carmaker is launching satellites into low-Earth orbit for real-time communication anywhere—giving Elon Musk’s SpaceX some company Fortune
- China’s Geely launches 11 low-orbit satellites for autonomous cars Reuters
- Launch Roundup: NASA’s PACE mission, Chinese art satellites, and more Starlink missions – NASASpaceFlight.com NASASpaceflight.com
- Geely unit Geespace launches 2nd batch of 11 satellites for services including autonomous driving CnEVPost
- China launches 11 new Geely-02 satellites for future travel ecosystem CGTN
Tag Archives: orbit
Northrop, Lockheed win combined $1.5B for SDA low Earth orbit data network – Breaking Defense
- Northrop, Lockheed win combined $1.5B for SDA low Earth orbit data network Breaking Defense
- Pentagon space arm awards $1.5 billion contract to Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman for communications satellites CNBC
- Space Development Agency awards contracts to Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman for 72 satellites SpaceNews
- Space Development Agency awards $1.5 billion for transport satellites C4ISRNET
- Northrop Grumman Selected to Build Tranche 2 Transport Layer-Beta Data Transport Satellites | Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Newsroom
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Chandrayaan-3 Attains Intended Orbit! Lander Vikram to Separate From Spacecraft Tomorrow | Weather.com – The Weather Channel
- Chandrayaan-3 Attains Intended Orbit! Lander Vikram to Separate From Spacecraft Tomorrow | Weather.com The Weather Channel
- Chandrayaan-3 successfully undergoes final lunar orbit manoeuvre; lander to separate on Aug 17 The Economic Times
- What is the current status of Chandrayaan-3? Latest updates explored as spacecraft prepares for separation PINKVILLA
- ‘High five from Chandrayaan-3’: Spacecraft completes fifth and final lunar bound manoeuvre The Tribune
- India’s Chandrayaan-3 moves closer to moon, lander to separate tomorrow Gulf News
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Chandrayaan-3: ISRO’s lunar mission progresses with orbit circularisation completed – Times of India
- Chandrayaan-3: ISRO’s lunar mission progresses with orbit circularisation completed Times of India
- ‘High five from Chandrayaan-3’: Spacecraft completes fifth and final lunar bound manoeuvre The Tribune
- News Today: Chandrayaan-3 Landing Date On Moon, Himachal Pradesh Heavy Rains, And Dangers Of AI Telangana Today
- Chandrayaan-3 successfully undergoes final lunar orbit manoeuvre; lander to separate on Aug 17 The Economic Times
- What is the current status of Chandrayaan-3? Latest updates explored as spacecraft prepares for separation PINKVILLA
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Chandrayaan-3 Spacecraft Achieves ‘Near-Circular Orbit’ Around Moon After Performing Another Manoeuvre – Gadgets 360
- Chandrayaan-3 Spacecraft Achieves ‘Near-Circular Orbit’ Around Moon After Performing Another Manoeuvre Gadgets 360
- Chandrayaan-3 is just 150km above the Lunar surface, what does that mean? | Trending on WION WION
- Chandrayaan-3 Completes Another Lunar Manoeuvre; Aditya L1 Mission Readying For Launch | Weather.com The Weather Channel
- Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft undergoes another maneuver, achieves near-circular orbit around moon: ISRO The Economic Times
- Chandrayaan-3 gets closer to 100km circular orbit; 1 move away before Vikram separation IndiaTimes
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Chandrayaan-3 gets closer to Moon after fourth orbit reduction manoeuvre – The Hindu
- Chandrayaan-3 gets closer to Moon after fourth orbit reduction manoeuvre The Hindu
- Chandrayaan-3 is just 150km above the Lunar surface, what does that mean? | Trending on WION WION
- Chandrayaan-3 gets closer to 100km circular orbit; 1 move away before Vikram separation IndiaTimes
- Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft undergoes another maneuver, achieves near-circular orbit around moon: ISRO The Economic Times
- Chandrayaan-3 Completes Another Lunar Manoeuvre; Aditya L1 Mission Readying For Launch | Weather.com The Weather Channel
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Watch SpaceX launch 49 Starlink internet satellites to orbit on Jan. 30
Update for 11 am ET: SpaceX has delayed the launch of its next Starlink mission to Jan. 30, a one-day delay, to allow extra time for prelaunch checks. Liftoff is now set for Monday, Jan. 30, at 11:34 a.m. EST (8:34 a.m. PST, 1634 GMT).
SpaceX plans to launch another set of its Starlink broadband satellites to orbit on Monday (Jan. 30), and you can watch the action live.
A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 49 Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to lift off Monday from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base at 11:34 a.m. EST (1634 GMT; 8:34 a.m. local California time).
Watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX, or directly via the company (opens in new tab). Coverage is expected to start about five minutes before launch.
Related: 10 weird things about SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites
If all goes according to plan, the Falcon 9’s first stage will come back to Earth 8.5 minutes after liftoff for a touchdown on SpaceX’s Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast.
It will be the seventh launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description (opens in new tab).
The rocket’s upper stage will continue carrying the 49 Starlink spacecraft to low Earth orbit, deploying all of them one hour and 17 minutes after launch.
SpaceX has already launched nearly 3,800 Starlink satellites (opens in new tab), and the huge constellation will continue to grow for quite some time: The company has permission to loft 12,000 of the internet spacecraft and has applied for approval to deploy about 30,000 more on top of that.
Monday’s liftoff will be the seventh of the year already for SpaceX, and the third Starlink mission of 2023. Though it’s still very early, Elon Musk’s company is on pace to break its single-year record of 61 orbital launches, which it set last year.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 11:10 a.m. ET on Jan. 29 with the new launch date of Jan. 30. Liftoff had been scheduled for Jan. 29, but SpaceX pushed things back a day to finish prelaunch checkouts (opens in new tab).
Mike Wall is the author of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).
Classified Chinese satellite releases small object in orbit
A classified Chinese technology verification satellite that launched earlier this month has apparently released an object into orbit alongside it.
China launched (opens in new tab) Shijian 23 on a Long March 7A rocket on Jan. 8, sending the satellite into an initial transfer orbit to reach its intended geostationary orbit (GEO), around 22,236 miles (35,786 kilometers) above Earth.
Data released by the U.S. Space Force‘s 18th Space Defense Squadron (18 SDS), which focuses on space domain awareness, shows that Shijian 23 reached geosynchronous orbit around Jan. 15, drifting toward its intended position in the GEO belt. Cataloging by the 18 SDS has further revealed that Shijian 23 released an object on Jan. 16.
Related: The latest news about China’s space program
The Shi Jian 23 experimental satellite reached geostationary drift orbit around Jan 15, and at about 2100 UTC Jan 16 it released a subsatellite, cataloged today as 55180 / 2023-002CJanuary 20, 2023
18 SDS lists the object as an “AKM” or apogee kick motor, which is used in some launches to help a satellite reach its destination orbit. However, it is possible that the object is a subsatellite, possibly to be used together with the parent satellite for on-orbit testing.
China’s Shijian 21 satellite, which launched in 2021, also reached GEO and released a satellite, which was then used for tests. Shijian 21 then proceeded to dock (opens in new tab) with the defunct Chinese navigation and positioning satellite Beidou-2 G2 and towed it away to an orbit out of the way of the active spacecraft in GEO.
The geostationary belt is very useful for a range of applications, as satellites orbiting there move in sync with Earth’s rotation, making them appear fixed in the sky over the planet. This orbit is thus very useful for providing constant communications, meteorological data and surveillance over chosen areas. Removing dead satellites and debris from this belt will help to keep the orbit available for use.
What China has planned for Shijian 23 has not been revealed, however. The satellite was described tersely as “mainly used for scientific experiments and technical verification” by Chinese state media. Ongoing tracking may provide clues to the activities of the satellites.
Further complicating matters is the fact that initial reports after launch from both China’s main space contractor and state media Xinhua listed two additional satellites (opens in new tab), Shiyan 22A and 22B, as payloads aboard the launch. An updated story (opens in new tab) from Xinhua a day later omitted reference to the latter pair.
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earth: New Moon will be the closest to Earth ‘Tonight’; Heavenly miracle to happen after 993 years
The New Moon will be in the closest proximity to Earth on January 21, 2023, since the Middle Ages. Reportedly, this astronomical event is occurring for the first time in 993 years and is most likely to reoccur after another 345 years.
Due to its closeness to the Earth, the New Moon will be in its biggest appearance in the sky since December 3, 1030, CE. ‘Timeanddate.com’ has revealed the information after a review from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA. Today, the moon will be 356,568 kilometres or 221,561 miles from Earth. Those who will miss the incident today will have to wait till January 20, 2368, to experience it.
The Moon’s orbit across the Earth is far from the shape of a perfect circle. In reality, it is elliptical in shape and represents a barely stretched circle. Because of its shape, the distance between the Moon and Earth keeps changing over a month. The point of the Moon’s orbit closest to Earth is called ‘perigee,’ while the point farthest from the planet is known as ‘apogee.’ The longest Earth-to-Moon distance is witnessed when the Earth is in the closest proximity to the Sun. This happened on January 4. Nearly 2000 years ago, three New Moons occurred at distances lower than 356,570 KM.
Venus and Saturn will be aligned on the day following the New Moon. The New Moon today holds great importance as it signifies the start of the Chinese Lunar New Year, also known as the ‘Spring Competition.’ According to the Chinese calendar, this year is called the ‘Year of the Rabbit.’ The Chinese calendar integrates the lunar and photovoltaic methodologies to ascertain dates. The total distance between the Moon and Earth through such incidents is crucial. On April 20, the world will witness a complete photo voltaic eclipse in Australia, Timor Leste, and West Papua. Also, in October, an annular photovoltaic eclipse will be seen in the US, Mexico, and South America.
FAQ
Q1. What is the distance between Earth and Sun?
Ans. The total distance between Earth and Sun is 147.21M km.
Q2. Which is the green planet?
Ans. Uranus is known as the green planet.
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Newly Launched Solar Sail Poised to Unfurl in Low Earth Orbit
A new spacecraft could soon be soaring through Earth’s orbit while gently being pushed by photons emitted from the Sun.
French aerospace company Gama launched its Gama Alpha solar sail mission to test out photonic propulsion technology, which keeps spacecraft in orbit without the need for fuel. The Gama Alpha cubesat was loaded on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and lifted off on Tuesday morning from Space Launch Complex 40 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
As the company’s first solar sail mission, Gama Alpha is an initial test of its technology. The cubesat is roughly the size of a shoebox, while its large solar sail is about the size of a tennis court. The plan is for the sail to unfurl in Earth orbit at an altitude of 340 miles (550 kilometers), according to a statement by Gama. “The first phase will be commissioning the satellite, establishing communications and checking all the vital signs are good,” Jordan Culeux, Gama lead system engineer, said in the statement. “The second phase will be the sail deployment.”
Solar sails collect photons from the Sun, causing small bursts of momentum that propel the spacecraft. As the photons hit the sails, the spacecraft is pushed farther away from the Sun. If a spacecraft is able to surpass the drag from Earth’s atmosphere, it could potentially reach very high altitudes.
“In space, the Sun’s radiative pressure allows constant acceleration. The result? Missions that are 10 to 20 times less expensive and no longer limited by a fuel budget,” Andrew Nutter, Gama co-founder, said in the statement. “A solar sail is poetic, inherently sustainable, and dramatically lowers the cost of access to deep space or unstable orbits.”
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The satellite will enter into a slow rotation once its solar sail is deployed. The main purpose of the Gama Alpha mission is to demonstrate that a large sail can be deployed and controlled by a small cubesat, in addition to collecting flight data to improve simulations of the solar sail technology, according to Gama.
Gama Alpha reached its orbit less than two months after LightSail 2, a pioneering solar sail mission, burnt up in Earth’s atmosphere to end its three-and-a-half year mission. LightSail 2 launched in 2019 to test controlled solar sailing in Earth orbit, inspiring a new generation of soaring spacecraft to follow.
There are several other solar sail missions currently in the works, including NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System to test out sail boom material in Earth orbit (scheduled for launch sometime this year) and NASA’s Solar Cruiser (scheduled for a 2025 launch). NASA’s NEA Scout solar sail mission launched aboard Artemis 1 in November 2022, but the team behind the mission has been unable to communicate with it ever since.
Gama Alpha will also be followed by a successor mission aptly named Gama Beta. For the follow-up mission, the main objective will be to demonstrate sustained navigation from an altitude twice as high as its predecessor. Should its solar sail missions prove successful, the Gama company is hoping to become a pioneer in the field with this unique, low-cost technology.
“We are building the space transportation infrastructure of tomorrow,” Louis de Goüyon Matignon, Gama co-founder, said in the statement. “While companies today are focused on low Earth orbit, we have decided to look further afield and prepare for the space operations of the future.”
More: LightSail 2, Pushed by Sunlight, Raises Its Orbit by 10,500 Feet in Just Two Weeks