Lifeboat Foundation

WASHINGTON — The startup Muon Space announced Jan. 9 it will explore the use of climate-monitoring satellites to capture cloud characterization data for the U.S. Air Force.

The Mountain View, California-based company, founded in 2021, is developing small satellites to monitor Earth’s climate and ecosystems.

Under a Small Business Innovation Research Phase 1 contract from the U.S. Air Force, Muon Space “will perform a feasibility study to determine the benefit of modifying its multispectral electro-optical infrared (EO/IR) instrument to support the Department of Defense’s cloud characterization observation capability,” the company said.

The Centaur upper stage has a rich legacy of launches and will add a lunar lander to the list, with the first Vulcan launch.

The first launch of the Vulcan Centaur has been delayed by five years. Missions ahead include a lunar lander and a constellation of Kuiper satellites.

2023 was a landmark year in space exploration for the European Space Agency (ESA), marked by significant missions like Juice’s journey to Jupiter, the launch of the Euclid space telescope for dark matter research, and the decommissioning of ESA’s Aeolus mission.

The year also saw advancements in Earth observation technologies, initiatives to address space debris, and collaborative efforts in asteroid impact studies. Notably, the Galileo satellite system’s new high-accuracy service and the first hardware tests for its second generation of satellites were significant milestones.

Advances in AI and satellite imagery allowed researchers to create the clearest picture yet of human activity at sea, revealing clandestine fishing activity and a boom in offshore energy development.

New maps show how much more crowded the sea is than previously known.

Elon Musk Discusses AI, Longevity, and Bots with Peter Diamandis.
Technology, innovation, and optimism are crucial for solving global challenges and crafting a better future for humanity.

Questions to inspire discussion.

Continue reading “The Coming Age of Abundance w/ Peter Diamandis and Elon Musk” »

Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched its first six satellites capable of offering mobile phone service as the company races to bring more connectivity to remote areas.

NASA space debris expert Don Kessler observed that, once past a certain critical mass, the total amount of space debris will keep on increasing: collisions give rise to more debris and lead to more collisions, in a chain reaction. So Clean Space is seeking not just to cut debris production from future ESA missions but to reduce the total mass of current debris, such as the robotic salvage of derelict satellites. The task is an urgent one: debris levels have increased 50% in the last five years in low orbit.

Rocket propulsion technology has progressed leaps and bounds since the first weaponized rockets of the Chinese and Mongolian empires. They were nothing more than rocket-powered arrows and spears but they set the foundations for our exploration of space. Liquid propellant, ion engines and solar sails have all hit the headlines as we strive for more efficient methods of travel but a team has taken the next leap with a palm-sized thruster system that could boost future tiny spacecraft across the gulf of space.

Palm-sized thrusters are quite different from the gargantuan rockets we are used to, for example the Saturn V rocket that took the Apollo astronauts to the moon that stood 110 m tall. The difference for the ATHENA thrusters is that they are designed for maneuvering and propelling cubesats and small satellites once they are in space rather than propelling rockets from the surface of the Earth.

The team led by Daniel Perez Grande, CEO and Co-Founder of IENAI Spain, have called their palm-sized thruster “Athena,” not the most catchy title but neatly represents what it does—the Adaptable, THruster based on Electrospray powered NAnotechnology. The technology has been developed for ESA and, following a successful design stage and, if all goes to plan, a prototype will be available by the end of 2024.

The first satellites capable of providing direct-to-cellular service via SpaceX’s Starlink network and T-Mobile’s cellular network have been sent into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Six of the cell-capable satellites were among a batch of 21 Starlink satellites launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 7:44 p.m. PT Tuesday. The satellites were deployed successfully, and the rocket’s first-stage booster made a routine landing on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean.

Continue reading “SpaceX launches the first set of Starlink satellites for T-Mobile’s direct-to-cell plan” »