Nine astronauts on the space station briefly moved to their docked return spacecraft late Wednesday (June 26) when a satellite in low Earth orbit disintegrated. The crew of Expedition 71 of the International Space Station (ISS) took off to their three spacecraft, including Boeing Starliner, shortly after 9:00 PM EDT (02:00 GMT), according to a … Read more
Low Earth orbit, a low superhighway that wraps around Earth’s thermosphere some 300 to 600 kilometers above our heads, is once again overloaded. Yet no one knows how the massive increase in the number of satellites orbiting the Earth will affect the atmosphere, and thus life below. With the rush to send up more and … Read more
Rocket Lab reached the milestone 50th launch of its Electron rocket in record time. A Electron lifted off from Pad B at Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand, at 2:13 PM EDT June 20 (1813 GMT; 6:13 AM local New Zealand time June 21). The rocket operated on an immediate launch window, but lifted … Read more
Communications companies such as Starlink plan to launch tens of thousands of satellites into orbit over the next decade. The growing shower is already causing problems for astronomers, but recent research has raised another question: What happens when they come down? When these satellites reach the end of their lifespan, they will fall into the … Read more
Thousands of satellites have been deployed in “mega constellations” to meet the growing need for global internet services, and many more are scheduled for launch soon. However, these compact satellites have a short operational life and are known to emit pollutants that can damage the ozone layer when they disintegrate upon re-entry. A recent study … Read more
Internet satellite networks entering the atmosphere en masse could damage the ozone layer, a study warns. Elon Musk’s Starlink is by far the largest player in this field. The effects could “interrupt ozone’s success story for decades to come,” the scientists said. Internet satellite networks like Elon Musk’s Starlink could contribute to the destruction of … Read more
Corner down icon An icon in the shape of a corner pointing downwards. Elon Musk near a Falcon 9 rocket at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California in 2018. David McNew/Getty Images Internet satellite networks entering the atmosphere en masse could damage the ozone layer, a study warns. Elon Musk’s Starlink is by far the largest … Read more
SpaceX has successfully launched a new batch Starlink Satellites on May 31, 2024, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This mission, called Starlink 6-64, saw a Falcon 9 rocket Delivering 23 broadband satellites into low Earth orbit. The launch is a significant milestone as it marked the 14th mission for SpaceX in May 2024 and … Read more
An innovative telescope design has proven successful for daytime sky observation, opening new doors for uninterrupted observation of the cosmos. Astronomers from Macquarie University in Australia have developed a new technique using light filters on the school’s multi-lens Huntsman telescope. Originally designed for ultra-sensitive night sky observations, the telescope has demonstrated the ability to accurately … Read more
A team led by glaciologists from UC Irvine used satellite radar data to reconstruct the impact of warm ocean water rising in a grounding zone extending several kilometers beneath the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica. The research, the subject of an article published in PNAS, will help climate modelers derive more accurate projections of sea … Read more