NASA Archives - Page 4 of 19

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NASA — Love Letters from Space

ALTLove is in the air, and it’s out in space too! The universe is full of amazing chemistry, cosmic couples held together by gravitational attraction, and stars pulsing like beating hearts.Celestial objects send out messages we can detect if we know how to listen for them. Our upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will help us scour the skies for all kinds of star-crossed signals.ALTCelestial Conversation HeartsCommunication is key for any relationship – including our relationship with space. Different telescopes are tuned to pick up different messages from across the universe, and combining them helps us learn even more. Roman is designed to see some visible light – the type of light our eyes can see, featured in the photo above from a ground-based telescope – in addition to longer w...

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Rocket Lab launches fourth set of Kinéis satellites

WASHINGTON — Rocket Lab launched a fourth set of satellites for French company Kinéis Feb. 8 as it extends its lead in the small launch sector.A Rocket Lab Electron lifted off from the company’s Launch Complex 1, Pad A, at 3:43 p.m. Eastern. The vehicle’s kick stage deployed its payload of five satellites a little more than an hour after liftoff in orbits with planned altitudes of 646 kilometers and inclinations of 97 degrees.The launch was the four of five Rocket Lab is performing for Kinéis, a French company developing a constellation for Internet of Things services, after launches in June, September and November of 2024. The companies signed a contract for five Electron launches in 2021 to deploy the full Kinéis constellation.Kinéis executives said last fall that they expected to...

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Japan launches Michibiki 6 navigation satellite with fifth H3 rocket

HELSINKI — Japan’s flagship H3 rocket successfully launched the Michibiki 6 navigation satellite early Sunday, enhancing the country’s regional GPS capabilities.The Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) H3 rocket lifted off at 3:30 a.m. Eastern (0830 UTC) Feb. 2 from Tanegashima Space Center. Aboard was the 1,900-kilogram Michibiki 6 satellite, also known as the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZS-6), for Japan’s navigation satellite system. The system aims to provide Japan with positioning, navigation and timing services, while increasing the accuracy and reliability of GPS services in the region. Michibiki 6 will be placed at 90.5 degrees East in the geostationary belt, 35,786 kilometers above the equator.The first Michibiki spacecraft for a four-satellite system was launched in 2010. ...

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Array Labs, Raytheon, Umbra form partnership focused on 3D mapping from space

WASHINGTON — Defense contractor Raytheon is partnering with satellite imaging startups Array Labs and Umbra Space to develop advanced three-dimensional Earth observation technologies for the commercial and government markets.The companies announced Jan. 27 they will jointly offer a new product called Site3D, which combines synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology with specialized mapping algorithms to create detailed 3D models of the Earth’s surface.SAR technology, which can capture images regardless of weather conditions or time of day, has gained increasing commercial adoption as satellite companies seek to provide continuous monitoring capabilities to customers.Santa Barbara-based Umbra Space currently operates SAR satellites for Earth observation, while Palo Alto startup Array ...

NASA — All-Star Moments in Space Communications and…

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NASA — All-Star Moments in Space Communications and…

We’re set to launch ICESat-2, our most advanced laser instrument of its kind, into orbit around Earth on Sept. 15. The Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 will make critical observations of how ice sheets, glaciers and sea ice are changing over time, helping us better understand how those changes affect people where they live. Here’s 10 numbers to know about this mission:One Space LaserThere’s only one scientific instrument on ICESat-2, but it’s a marvel. The Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System, or ATLAS, measures height by precisely timing how long it takes individual photons of light from a laser to leave the satellite, bounce off Earth, and return to ICESat-2. Hundreds of people at our Goddard Space Flight Center worked to build this smart-car-sized instrument to exacting ...