Archive for December, 2013

WBMSAT Satellite Industry News Bits 12/27/2013

Tuesday, December 31st, 2013



Russian Proton-M rocket puts Russian government communications satellite Express-AM5 into orbit.
[Space Fellowship – 12/27/2013]

U.S. Air Force selects Raytheon’s high-bandwidth AEHF satellite terminal for secure, protected communications to aircrews during nuclear and non-nuclear missions.
[Yahoo Finance – 12/27/2013]

Global VSAT Forum (GVF) emphasizes importance of blanket licensing for countries to ensure the coexistence of satellite in the marketplace, and help developing countries attract foreign investment.
[Via Satellite – 12/26/203]

NASA’s 30-day Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD), with record-breaking data download and upload speeds, showed the system could operate as well as any NASA radio system.
[R&D Magazine – 12/26/2013]

Three Russian military satellites launched December 25 reach their target orbit.
[Space News – 12/26/2013]

Russia and Kazakhstan agree on three-year Baikonur roadmap.
[Space Daily – 12/26/2013]

ISRO targets January 5th launch window for GSAT 14 satellite.
[Via Satellite – 12/26/2013]

Storm system caught by NASA satellite – Christian Science Monitor

Set to launch in February, the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellite will gather data that can help with efforts to monitor the effects of global warming on precipitation.
[The Christian Science Monitor – 12/26/2013]

Azerbaijan’s first telecom satellite reaches $10 million in revenue for 2013, with more than 50% of payload sold.
[Via Satellite – 12/26/2013]

Sea Launch rocket with JSAT-9 – Space News

U.S. federal court grants in part and denies in part a motion by Boeing to dismiss counterclaims filed by Russian space giant Energia in Boeing’s lawsuit against the Russian company.
[Space News – 12/26/2013]

National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) purchases assets of the Satellite Communications Conference and Expo (SATCON) as well as Content and Communications World (CCW) from JD Events.
[SatNews – 12/26/2013]

The Atlas 5. Photo: ULA – Via Satellite

NASA selects United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Atlas 5 to launch planned 2016 Mars mission.
[Via Satellite – 12/24/2013]

Congress says Russia must use U.S. citizens to manage construction, operation, and maintenance of any satellite monitoring ground stations it builds in the U.S.
[NextGov – 12/23/2013]

Two-way ground station in Uganda – MIT Technology Review

Emerging data-coding technology could more than double bandwidth on satellite Internet connections, boosting service to developing countries, planes, and cruise ships and fixing jerky live video news feeds.
[MIT Technology Review – 12/23/2013]

Green satellite propulsion nears industry breakthrough with development of competitive propellant called Hydroxyl Ammonium Nitrate (HAN) fuel/oxidizer blend, or AF-M315E.
[Via Satellite – 12/23/2013]

Falcon 9 v1.1 launch – Space News

U.S. Air Force considering whether Falcon 9 v1.1 maiden launch will count toward certification qualifying the company to launch national security assets.
[Space News – 12/23/2013]

Panasonic and China Telecom partner to offer in-flight internet.
[telecompaper – 12/23/2013]


WBMSAT Satellite Industry News Bits 12/20/2013

Saturday, December 21st, 2013

Chinese rocket launches Bolivia’s first telecommunications satellite, with the president of Bolivia, who traveled to China for the launch, declaring it a success.
[7 News – 12/21/2013]

Launch Pad 39 – Space News

SpaceX had edge in competition to lease NASA pad in Florida because of its firm backlog.
[Space News – 12/20/2013]

Alcatel-Lucent to sell U.S. satellite unit LGS for $200 million.
[Bloomberg Business Week – 12/20/2013]

XTAR wins $5.6 million renewal of U.S. Army satellite telecom contract.
[Space News -12/20/2013]

Turksat and Eutelsat announce an agreement whereby Eutelsat will redeploy its EUTELSAT 33A satellite in May 2014 from 33 degrees East to 31 degrees East, where it will be operated by Turksat under its satellite network filings.
[SatNews – 12/20/2013]

Gaia satellite – R&D Magazine

Europe launches star-surveying satellite Gaia, in mission to map 1 billion stars.
[R&D Magazine – 12/19/2013]

ViaSat demonstrates full mesh MF-TDMA DAMA multi spot beam networking over the WGS satellite network for the U.S. Army.
[Via Satellite – 12/19/2013]

SSL celebrates 50th satellite built for Intelsat, and CEO discusses future satellite opportunities for the company.
[Via Satellite – 12/19/2013]

Inmarsat signs Astrium services as Global Xpress distributor.
[Space News – 12/19/2013]

Rio Urubamba an Amazon tributary, winding through the Sacred Valley, Peru. Photo: World Water Forum – Via Satellite

Gilat to connect remote areas near the Amazon river in Peru to enable Internet and telephone services for 70 communities in the Loreto region.
[Via Satellite – 12/19/2013]

AeroMexico 737 postcard photo – Via Satellite

Aeromexico to install Gogo Vision on at least 75 aircraft.
[Via Satellite – 12/19/2013]

Top 10 quotes from January issue of Via Satellite, as the magazine celebrates the winners of the first edition of the Via SAtellite Excellence Awards.
[Via Satellite – 12/18/2013]

SES, SpeedCast and AsiaSat donate satellite capacity and ground infrastructure services to Philippines following Typhoon Haiyan.
[Wall Street Journal – 12/18/2013]

An artist’s impression of a Mars One base – getSurrey

Surrey Satellite Technology to develop interplanetary communications system between Mars and Earth for Mars One.
[getSurrey – 12/18/2013]

Military communication improved as 6th Boeing-built Wideband Satellite enters service.
[Space Daily – 12/18/2013]

Geoforce GT1 satellite GPS tracker becomes world’s first to receive IECEx/ATEX Zone 0 certification, the highest satellite tracking device safety rating.
[Via Satellite – 12/18/2013]

Comtech EF Data demonstrates 10% roll off functionality for DM240XR video broadcast modulator.
[Via Satellite – 12/18/2013]

Brazilian workers working on CBERS satellite inside re-inforced chamber – Phys.org

Brazil and China to launch new joint environmental monitoring satellite in 2014. [Phys.org – 12/17/2013]

Arianespace orders two Vega launchers for unidentified commercial customer for launches in 2017 and 2018.
[Space News – 12/17/2013]

SES-8 launch by SpaceX – Aurora Media Group

45th Space Wing provided vast network of radar, telemetry, optical and communications instrumentation to support successful launch by Space X of the SES-8 satellite.
[Aurora Sentinel – 12/17/2013]

Inmarsat acquires U.S. maritime service provider Globe Wireless in bid to transform its 6,000 ship customer base into future Inmarsat Global Xpress broadband users.
[Space News – 12/17/2013]

New Zealand plans to enhance naval communications capabilities, procuring ground infrastructure to operate on the WGS satellite network.
[IHS Jane’s 360 – 12/17/2013]

Space walk – R&D Magazine

ISS Astronauts undertake massive repair job that could stretch to Christmas day, with series of spacewalks.
[R&D Magazine – 102/17/2013]

Kymeta successfully tests flat panel Ka-band antenna on Anik F2 and moves toward product development.
[Via Satellite – 12/17/2013]

ViaSat Exede Evolution is first satellite internet plan to offer unlimited, full-speed access for web pages and email.
[Yahoo Finance – 12/17/2013]

Exelis to use ENVI software for Skybox imaging data analysis, supporting data analysis of images from SkySat 1, the first in a planned constellation of 24 satellites from Skybox Imaging.
[Via Satellite – 12/17/2013]

Astrium and GeoNorth sign multi-satellite receiving station agreement, working together to build the first multi-mission Direct Receiving Station (DRS).
[Via Satellite – 12/17/2013]

Astrium signs agreement to provide 18 additional Ariane 5 ECA launchers to Arianespace.
[Via Satellite – 12/16/2013]

SSL is selected to build new replacement satellite for AsiaSat, AsiaSat 9.
[Via Satellite – 12/16/2013]

U.S. Air Force awards Lockheed Martin more than $200 million in contract options to complete production of its fifth and sixth next-generation Global Positioning System satellites, known as GPS 3.
[Via Satellite – 12/16/2013]

Avanti Communications takes over ownership of the ARTEMIS satellite.
[IFA Magazine – 12/16/2013]

Arianespace to launch SGDC satellite for Brazil in 2016.
[Via Satellite – 12/06/2013]

GATR terminal in Phillipines – SatNews

GATR terminals among first high-bandwidth satellite communications terminals deployed in key areas of Phillipines after typhoon.
[SatNews – 12/16/2013]

Boat in Phang Nga – AsiaOne

Boats and aircraft passing through Andaman Sea region warned to watch out for falling parts of India’s GSLV-D5-II satellite launch vehicle.
[Asia One – 12/14/2013]

Research and Markets adds “Global Satellite Communication Market in the Oil and Gas Industry 2014 – 2018″ to their offering; number of UDW rigs expected to reach 220 – 230 units by 2018.
[Satellite Spotlight – 12/13/2013]

Sea Launch plans to focus on the heavy lift launch market, focusing on its strength to stay afloat as SpaceX enters its waters with a successful launch of SES-8.
[Via Satellite – 12/13/2013]

Lockheed Martin to re-enter the commercial satellite business, building and launching satellites.
[Via Satellite magazine January 2014]

 WBMSAT satellite communications consulting services


WBMSAT Satellite Industry News Bits 12/13/2013

Monday, December 16th, 2013

NASA negotiating pad lease with SpaceX after GAO rejects Blue Origin protest.
[Space News – 12/13/2013]

Brazil selects Thales to play a key role in its space development plans as it establishes SGDC Government Communications Satellite System.
[Defense World – 12/13/2013]

Arianespace and Visiona Tecnologia Espacial S.A. sign launch contract for the next Brazilian government satellite, the Geostationary Defense and Strategic Communications Satellite (SGDC).
[SatNews – 12/13/2013]

Mexican flag – Space News

Mexican government to award licenses for two orbital slots in Ku- and extended C-band frequencies at two orbital positions it has long held.
[Space News – 12/13/2013]

The sixth WGS satellite, funded by Australia, enters service.
[Via Satellite – 12/13/2013]

Chinese lunar rover – Space Daily

China’s first lunar rover to land on moon December 14.
[Space Daily – 12/13/2013]

Comtech reports increased commercial orders and expects downward revenue spiral following loss of Army contract and U.S..budget freeze to end this year.
[Space News – 12/13/2013]

EchoStar Corp. and Vivendi end talks on a joint venture to develop a pay-television service in Brazil using EchoStar’s orbital slot at 45 degrees west longitude.
[Space News – 12/13/2013]

RAVAN cubesat – Space Daily

New, low-cost cubesat mission led by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory will demonstrate technology needed to measure the absolute imbalance in the Earth’s radiation budget for the first time.
[Space Daily – 12/13/2013]

Federal budget crunch leads U.S. Air Force to decommission an experimental missile warning sensor hosted aboard a commercial satellite after 27 months on orbit.
[Space News – 12/12/2013]

Proton M launcher – Space Daily

Russian official plays down concerns on the future of Proton launches from Baikonur, saying that during a recent meeting with Kazakhstan’s president “we came to a mutual understanding about resuming Proton launches from Baikonur.”
[Space Travel – 12/12/2013]

Northrup Grumman satcom system aboard Fireberd – Primezone

Northrup Grumman re-purposes satellite communications system normally used in space as high-functioning low cost system for aircraft in one year.
[msn money – 12/12/2013]

Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (Melco) to build Japan’s GOSAT-2 environmental satellite.
[Space News – 12/12/2013]

Research and Markets announces addition of “2013 Report on the US Machine-to-Machine Communications Market – Includes Forecasts to 2018″ report to their offering.
[Satellite Spotlight – 12/12/2013]

Team of researchers, mainly Valencian, win contract with ESA to conduct research on use of new materials for reduction of the Multipactor effect in effort to improve space communications systems in ESA’s satellites.
[Product Design and Development – 12/12/2013]

British government deepens ties to China’s space sector with bilateral agreements on future joint projects and a fund to promote British industry’s search for a foothold in China.
[Space News – 12/12/2013]

Spacecom mulls over possible sale or merger.
[Globes – 12/12/2013]

Telespazio recently linked-up with Eutelsat to market broadband services using its Ka-Sat satellite and hopes satellite broadband can make a big impact in Italy, as well as other countries in Europe.
[Via Satellite – 12/12/2013]

ATK and Hughes successfully demonstrate LEO-based weather sensing technology to US Air Force.
[Via Satellite – 12/12/2013]

Avanti secures deal to connect libraries in South Africa.
[Via Satellite – 12/11/2013]

Contribution & Occasional Use TV Markets to Require over 700 Transponders and 1.4 Gbps of HTS Capacity by 2022.
{NSR – 12/11/2013]

NSR’s new report “Land Mobile and Handheld Satellite Markets” points out that traditional growth in this part of the satellite communications market accounted for 97% of global revenues in 2012; is expected to drop to 82% by 2022; growth in the consumer market is making significant impact.
[Via Satellite – 12/11/2013]

KVH is chosen by BW, a worldwide leader in maritime energy transportation, as the satellite communications solution for its Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) fleet.
[Wall Street Journal – 12/11/20103]

NIGCOMSAT decries annual capital flight due to unchecked penchant of Nigerian organisations to purchase bandwidth from abroad.
[National Mirror – 12/11/2013]

Reuters photo – msn news

Chinese-Brazilian satellite launched by China Monday failed to reach planned orbit and likely fell back to Earth.
[msn news – 12/10/2013]

Russian Glonass satellite – Nextgov

Obama administration reviews Russian proposals for satellite monitoring stations on U.S. soil.
[Nextgov – 12/10/2013]

Lt. Gen Ellen Pawlikowski says USAF needs innovative approaches to procuring satellite capacity; tells interviewer “A different strategy would be for us to go out and leverage the bargain basement aspects of the (commercial) satcom business.”
[National Defense – 12/10/2013]

Astronaut – Nextgov

6-year-old donates life savings and starts on-line petition to save NASA.
[Nextgov – 12/10/2013]

Russian DTH provider Tricolor discusses satellite capacity demands.
[Via Satellite – 12/10/2013]

Private Mars One venture engages Lockheed Martin and Surrey Satellite Technology to work on hardware concepts for robotic Mars mission.
[nbc news – 12/10/2013]

Mars One accepting applications – CNN

200,000 people apply to live on Mars.
[CNN – 12/10/2013]

SkyWave and Garmin solution enables integrated vehicle tracking, navigation, driver communication and dispatch capabilities regardless of cellular service availability.
[Satellite Spotlight – 12/10/2013]

Honeywell and Inmarsat advance global wireless in-flight connectivity program.
[Via Satellite – 12/10/2013]

Globecast, Measat and Mezzo partner to bring new HD channel to Asia-Pacific region.
[Via Satellite – 12/10/2013]

NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite arrives at Kennedy Space Center.
[Yahoo News – 12/09/2013]

ABS-2 – PR Newswire

SSL delivers ABS-2 satellite to launch base in Kourou.
[Yahoo Finance – 12/09/2013]

Spacecom has kept all five of its satellites working at close to full capacity from DTH operators, TV channels, and North American agencies, and ultimately hopes to use its brand of Amos satellites to become a global operator.
[Via Satellite – 12/10/2013]

Recent Gooch & Housego acquisition Constelex Technology Enablers announced its participation in new European Union R&D projects and European Space Agency (ESA) space photonics contracts.
[LaserFocusWorld – 12/09/2013]

First Global Xpress®Satellite Launch and 7th ILS Proton Launch of 2013, Inmarsat-5 goes into orbit.
[Hispanic Business – 12/08/2013]

[MarketResearchReports.biz announces addition of new report “Global Satellite Communication Market in the Oil and Gas Industry 204 – 2018” to its database.
[WatchList News – 12/08/2013]

December 2013 issue of the Satellite Executive Briefing Features: Europe Gets Universal Broadband Coverage by Elisabeth Tweedie DTH Services Boost the Asia-Pacific Market by Peter Galace The Importance of Latency in the Mobile Market by Virgil Labrador Enterprise-Class HTS Servicees by Martin Jarrold
[Satellite Markets & Research – December 2013]

 WBMSAT satellite communications consulting services


Increase NASA Funding

Friday, December 13th, 2013

Great petition on WhiteHouse.gov.

Increase NASA funding. So we can discover new worlds, protect us from danger and to make dreams come true. CJ, Age: 6.5

Increase the funding for NASA so that children can dream of exploring the universe. Science funding is the future of our country.

space_suite

Go ahead and sign it! Then get your kids a space suit.


WBMSAT Satellite Industry News Bits 12/06/2013

Saturday, December 7th, 2013

Arianespace commercial launch consortium agrees to spend 36.5 million euros to build fueling facility at Europe’s South American spaceport to reduce time needed between Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega launches.
[Space News – 12/06/2013]

Constelex Technology, recently acquired by Gooch & Housego, to participate in new European Union R&D projects and European Space Agency Space Photonics contracts.
[StockMarketWire – 12/06/2013]

Boeing’s CST-100 above. Credit: Boeing artist’s concept. – Space News

FAA rules that NASA astronauts will fly as “space flight participants” aboard commercial spaceships being developed to taxi crews to and from the International Space Station.
[Space News – 12/06/2013]

U.S. House approves one-year launch indemnity extension for U.S. commercial launch companies.
[Space News – 12/06/2013]

Satellite industry officials say the same terrestrial wireless broadband interests that covet C-band spectrum now occupied by satellite systems are eyeing Ka-band for next-generation cellular networks.
[Space News – 12/05/2013]

WTA publishes top teleport operators for 2013.
[Satellite Markets & Research – 12/05/2013]

PhoneSat cubesat – softpedia

NASA cubesat weighing just 1 kilogram, measuring 10 centimeters on one side, PhoneSat 2.4 gets in touch with Earth from its low-Earth orbit.
[Softpedia – 12/05/2013]

ESA’s billion-star surveyor, Gaia, is set to embark on a five-year mission to map the stars with unprecedented precision, scheduled for December 19 launch from French Guiana.
{Satellite Evolution Group – 12/05/2013]

Scientists and engineers at the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center (ATC) have developed the lightest satellite cryocooler (cooling system) ever built.
[Satellite Evolution Group – 12/05/2013]

Land O’Lakes acquires Geosys, a global technology firm that provides satellite imaging and insights to agribusiness.
[Satellite Evolution Group – 12/05/2013]

An EOMAP 3-D Image from the Great Barrier Reef. Photo: EOMAP – Via Satellite

Recently released 3-D map of the Great Barrier Reef created by German company EOMAP in conjunction with James Cook University in Australia covers approximately 350,000 square kilometers at 30 meter horizontal resolution.
[Via Satellite – 12/05/2013]

Society of Satellite Professionals International announces the launch of global campaign to change global discussion about the satellite industry, focusing on striking contributions to human welfare, safety and prosperity around the world.
[Satellite Markets & Research – 12/04/2013]

NSR predicts net gains in satellite industry revenue over the next 10 years due to the advent of HTS, in spite of some migration from C and Ku-band capacity to Ka-band.
|NSR – 12/04/2013]

Satellite Interference Reduction Group (IRG) launches campaign to achieve Carrier Identification (CID) implementation on all video carriers for the Football World Cup in 2014.
[SatNews – 12/04/2013]

An artist’s rendering of the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration hosted aboard a Space Systems Loral commercial communications satellite. Image Credit: NASA Goddard – Space Fellowship

NASA’s next laser communication mission passes Preliminary Design Review (PDR) on the way to a scheduled 2017 launch.
[Space Fellowship – 12/04/2013]

Australian satellite operator NewSat gets teleport customer contract to support the U.S. government’s Custom Satcom Solutions (SC2).
[SatNews – 12/04/2013]

Technitel selects Avanti Communications to provide satellite connectivity across the Polish utilities sector.
[Business Wire – 12/04/2013]

Wyless and Iridium join the International M2M Council (IMC), a global organisation that promotes the benefits of machine-to-machine communications.
[IT Business Net – 12/04/2013]

Third time IS the charm, as SpaceX Falcon 9 successfully launches SES-8, its first commercial payload.
[Forbes – 12/03/2013]

Ball Aerospace completes primary structure for first Joint Polar Satellite System spacecraft, JPSS-1, on schedule for 2017 launch.
[Market Watch – 12/03/2013]

Teal Group space analysts identify 3,164 space payloads proposed to be built and launched to earth or deep space orbits between 2013 and 2032.
[Aerospace Manufacturing and Design – 12/03/2013]

Image: EPFL – R&D Magazine

Researchers in Switzerland manage to combine antennas and solar cells to work together with unprecedented efficiency in the near future, promising more compact and lightweight satellites.
[R&D Magazine – 12/03/2013]

Harris CapRock gets $46 million FAA contract to support the Alaskan Satellite Telecommunications Infrastructure.
[Satellite Spotlight – 12/03/2013]

Intelsat provides update on satellite capacity and other critical connectivities being used in restoration initiatives in Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan.
[Yahoo Finance – 12/03/2013]

3rd Space Operations Squadron at Schriever AFB celebrates the Defense Satellite Communications System B10 satellite’s 20th anniversary on orbit.
[Global Security – 12/03/2013]

Harris deploys two mesh antenna reflectors on Lockheed’s MUOS satellite.
[Satellite Spotlight – 12/03/2013]

Hughes receives “Hazardous Locations Accreditation” for 9502 integrated antenna BGAN M2M terminal.
[The Wall Street Journal – 12/03/2013]

BringCom awarded GSA Schedule 70 additions, to provide transponded services including leasing of short and long-term satellite bandwidth.
[Hispanic Business – 12/03/2013]

Geostationary satellite to be provided by Visiona Technologia Espacial S.A. and Telebras to Brazilian Defense and Strategic Communications Geostationary Satellite (SGDC) system, to ensure security of Brazilian communications.
[Satellite Spotlight – 12/02/2013]

SkyWave and MCN expand satellite communications applications for land and sea, as the alliance makes IsatData Pro available in China for Maritime, SCADA and Vehicle Management System applications.
[Yahoo Finance – 12/02/2013]

Harris Corporation Falcon III(R) manpack radio successfully communicates with MUOS satellite constellation.
[Market Watch – 12/02/2013]

NovelSat signs 100th customer, offering increase in spectral efficiency above that of DVB-S2 of 30 to 60 percent, and transmission speeds from 100kbps to 730 Mbps.
[SatNews – 12/02/2013]

PPC of Nigeria selects EUTELSAT 10A satellite to boost C-band resources for Oil and Gas sector.
[The Wall Street Journal – 12/02/2013]

Global Gas Detection Equipment Market 2014-2018 and Global Satellite Communication Market in the Oil and Gas Industry 2014-2018 are new market research reports available at ReportsnReports.com store.
[PR Web – 12/01/2013]

 WBMSAT satellite communications consulting services


See Ya, ISON.

Wednesday, December 4th, 2013

Comet ISON’s Full Perihelion Pass, courtesy of NASA.

After several days of continued observations, scientists continue to work to determine and to understand the fate of Comet ISON: There’s no doubt that the comet shrank in size considerably as it rounded the sun and there’s no doubt that something made it out on the other side to shoot back into space. The question remains as to whether the bright spot seen moving away from the sun was simply debris, or whether a small nucleus of the original ball of ice was still there. Regardless, it is likely that it is now only dust.

Comet ISON, which began its journey from the Oort Cloud some 3 million years ago, made its closest approach to the sun on Nov. 28, 2013. The comet was visible in instruments on NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREO, and the joint European Space Agency/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO, via images called coronagraphs. Coronagraphs block out the sun and a considerable distance around it, in order to better observe the dim structures in the sun’s atmosphere, the corona. As such, there was a period of several hours when the comet was obscured in these images, blocked from view along with the sun. During this period of time, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory could not see the comet, leading many scientists to surmise that the comet had disintegrated completely. However, something did reappear in SOHO and STEREO coronagraphs some time later — though it was significantly less bright.

Whether that spot of light was merely a cloud of dust that once was a comet, or if it still had a nucleus — a small ball of its original, icy material — intact, is still unclear. It seems likely that as of Dec. 1, there was no nucleus left. By monitoring its changes in brightness over time, scientists can estimate whether there’s a nucleus or not, but our best chance at knowing for sure will be if the Hubble Space Telescope makes observations later in December 2013.

Regardless of its fate, Comet ISON did not disappoint researchers. Over the last year, observatories around the world and in space gathered one of the largest sets of comet observations of all time, which should provide fodder for study for years to come. The number of space-based, ground-based, and amateur observations were unprecedented, with twelve NASA space-based assets observing over the past year.


1st Commercial Launch for Falcon-9

Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013

Today’s launch of SES-8 into GTO made many rocket scientists very happy. Obviously, those who’ve worked at SpaceX for years are ecstatic. The entire launch vehicle community is happy for their success, as are those living on Florida’s Space Coast, who are expecting economic growth again.

The engineers who work on commercial satcom missions are happy to be back at the The Cape for launches. Let’s face it: compared to Kazakhstan or French Guiana, Florida is a better place for launches.

From a business perspective, satcom operators now have more options when it comes to launch vehicles. And with the SpaceX manifest of 50 launches, it seems this “crazy space business” is about to start making money.

We wish SpaceX and their commercial customers continuous success!

Here’s the full launch video…