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Space Archive

Archives for December 2024

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Global leaders are warming up to Elon Musk’s Starlink.

With Musk cozying up to President-elect Donald Trump, more countries, including South Africa, are considering loosening requirements to allow Starlink to operate, Bloomberg reports:

Until recently, many governments had explicit bans or other policies that kept Starlink from operating legally in their markets. In some cases like South Africa, rules requiring SpaceX to share equity with local partners got in the way...

Now many of the regulators and politicians who fought Starlink’s rise are removing those obstacles, cementing the company’s dominance and further extending Musk’s global influence.

Elon Musk-Trump Bond Fuels Starlink's Expanding Global Reach

[Bloomberg]

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has survived the closest-ever Sun flybyNASA’s Parker Solar Probe has survived the closest-ever Sun flyby
Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
NASA’s Apollo missions inspired this $800 calculator watch.

A British startup has miniaturized the interfaces Apollo astronauts used aboard the command and lunar modules to create the DSKY Moonwatch. In addition to basic calculator functions the watch has GPS waypoint navigation and a battery good for 24 hours of use between charges with a USB cable.

You can preorder it now for £649 (around $814) and delivery is expected sometime in Q1 of 2025.

The Apollo Instruments DSKY Moonwatch against an image of the moon’s surface.
The Apollo Instruments DSKY Moonwatch against an image of the moon’s surface and a person pressing its buttons.
The Apollo Instruments DSKY Moonwatch worn on a person’s wrist.
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The DSKY Moonwatch’s design is inspired by the Apollo guidance computers.
Image: Apollo Instruments
Starlink’s first nationwide satellite texting service launches in New ZealandStarlink’s first nationwide satellite texting service launches in New Zealand
Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Taiwan considers Amazon’s Project Kuiper.

Taipei wants to make its communications networks less vulnerable to Chinese attack. Starlink isn’t an option because of Musk’s business ties to China and his company’s refusal to relinquish control in a joint venture. And Eutelsat’s OneWeb constellation of low Earth satellites isn’t up to snuff, according to technology minister Wu Cheng-wen:

“We found that their bandwidth is too small for real applications,” the minister said about OneWeb. “So far as I know, the company is in financial problems at this moment, so they have a [delay] in developing the second generation satellites.

Bezos’ Kuiper is still just a promise but is expected to begin offering service from its constellation of low Earth orbit satellites next year.

Taiwan in talks with Amazon’s Kuiper on satellite communications amid China fears

[Financial Times]

Astronaut Don Pettit shows how to take long-exposure photos from the ISSAstronaut Don Pettit shows how to take long-exposure photos from the ISS
Europe’s Starlink competitor is goEurope’s Starlink competitor is go
Thomas Ricker
T-Mobile is looking for Starlink satellite-to-cell beta testersT-Mobile is looking for Starlink satellite-to-cell beta testers
NASA thinks it’s figured out why the Mars helicopter crashedNASA thinks it’s figured out why the Mars helicopter crashed
Wes Davis
Wes Davis
Solar eclipses rock the atmosphere.

Specifically, NASA says more than 800 students observing the April 2024 solar eclipse over North America found that the Earth’s ionosphere rises as the Moon blocks the Sun, then returns to normal as it moves on, creating “atmospheric gravity waves.”

They figured that out by bouncing high-frequency radio waves off the ionosphere, according to NASA’s blog post detailing early results of experiments from that day.

Wes Davis
Wes Davis
Jeff Bezos is dining with Donald Trump.

Trump mentioned his dinner with the billionaire Amazon founder and Washington Post owner during his interview with Kristen Welker for Meet the Press today, according to NBC News.

He’s heard from Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post: “We’re having dinner,” he said.

Bezos, who didn’t get along with the President-elect before, recently said he feels “optimistic” about his second term.

Trump details sweeping changes he’ll carry out on day one and beyond in an exclusive interview

[NBC News]

SpaceX and Virgin Galactic: countdown to the era of commercial space flightSpaceX and Virgin Galactic: countdown to the era of commercial space flight
The end of the ISS will usher in a more commercialized future in space

Can privately owned space stations replace the ISS? And what becomes of the research?

Georgina Torbet
Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Starlink is bringing its protected internet service to more terminals in Ukraine.

The satellite internet company received a Pentagon contract that will give 2,500 Starlink terminals access to Starshield, its secure satellite service for governments, according to Bloomberg. With this contract, Ukraine will have a total of 3,000 terminals connected to Starshield.

Elon Musk's SpaceX Gets US Contract to Expand Ukraine’s Access to Starshield

[Bloomberg]

NASA’s mission to return humans to the Moon has been delayed again until 2026NASA’s mission to return humans to the Moon has been delayed again until 2026

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