August 1, 2016

The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 lands at Launch Complex 13 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on July 18. Credit: SpaceX

Shortly before 1 a.m. on the morning of July 18, a Falcon 9 first stage descended through the skies above Cape Canaveral, Florida, after launching a Dragon cargo spacecraft. A series of engine burns brought the...

The role small satellites play in enhancing global awareness was the theme of the 2012 AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites in Logan, Utah. Credit: AIAA/USA Conference on Small Satellites

Smallsats and the multi-trillion-dollar data set

Dylan Taylor

August 1, 2016, Capital Contributions

Much has been said about the revolution in small satellite technology and the copious number of constellations already in orbit or being prepared for launch. Certainly the amount of capital that has flowed int...

Time for smallsats to grow up and take responsibility

Jason Andrews

August 1, 2016, Commentary

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Small Satellite Conference, sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Utah State University. For 30 years, we as an industry have been ...

More than Meets the Eye

Debra Werner

August 1, 2016, Feature

Non-visual data could be the next big thing  in small satellitesHawkEye 360, a startup backed by a Boston venture capital firm and a former U.S. government intelligence official, is raising money to build...

Builders of satellites large and small  must work together to benefit science

Marco Villa

August 1, 2016, Commentary

In recent years, large satellite and small satellite companies have made groundbreaking technology advancements for the benefit of industry. Today, however, there is a divide between the two due, I believe, to ...

A "Hexagon" spy satellite on display at the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum in Virginia. Credit: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

Small satellites, big expectations

Robert Zitz

August 1, 2016, My Take

If you watch enough spy movies, you’ll eventually see a large satellite whiz by and, on command, zoom in on a street hundreds of miles below, providing a view of events unfolding on the ground. Hollywood may b...

FCC chairman to satellite industry: Shut Up

Peter B. de Selding

August 1, 2016, The Bottom Line

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s July 14 Spectrum Frontiers decision to make spectrum above 24 gigahertz available to future 5G terrestrial networks will be a subject of debate for years as 5G’s exa...

An Orion ground test article completed its first swing splash test at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia in early June. Credit: NASA

Quick Takes (08-01-2016)

SpaceNews

August 1, 2016, Quick Takes

“From orbit, I saw our planet as a perfect blue marble, just floating there in the blackness of space. But I also saw receding glaciers and shrinking rain forests. At war, and in space, I saw the awesome ...

Personnel File (8-01-2016)

SpaceNews

August 1, 2016, Personnel File

Robert Braun, who served as NASA chief technologist in 2010 and 2011, will join the University of Colorado in October and take over as dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science in January.One...

No more articles

Vector Space Systems plans 2018 first flight

Thirty Years of Smallsat Conferences

Spaceflight’s 90-satellite mission, a boon for smallsats,  is a nightmare for Orbcomm

Defying Gravity

The reusability challenge: economics, not technology