As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

satellites

Want to Move to the Asteroid Belt?

by
Ceres - Deposit Photos

Now more than ever, space agencies and starry-eyed billionaires have their minds fixed on finding a new home for humanity beyond Earth’s orbit. Mars is an obvious candidate, given its relatively close proximity, 24-hour day/night cycle and CO2-rich atmosphere. However, there’s a school of spacefaring thought that suggests colonizing the surface of another planet — any planet — is more trouble than it’s worth. Now, a new paper published Jan. 6 date to the preprint database arXiv offers a creative counter-proposal: Ditch the Red Planet, and build a gargantuan floating habitat around the dwarf planet Ceres, instead. In the paper, … Read more

SpaceX’s 12,000 Starlink Satellites to Get Glare-Reducing ‘Sunshades’

by
SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites

SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites will soon sport an accessory to tamp down their surprising brightness. That brightness worries many astronomers, who say that the huge Starlink constellation could seriously disrupt a variety of scientific observations. And Starlink will indeed be huge, if all goes according to SpaceX’s plan: The company has approval to launch 12,000 craft to low Earth orbit (LEO) and has applied for permission to loft 30,000 more. (For perspective, humanity has launched just 9,400 objects to orbit since the dawn of the space age in 1957). SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has said that the company … Read more

SPACE: How to Find Aliens

by
satellite - pixabay

Alien civilizations with technology on a par with humanity’s could be detectable using today’s instruments. A new study suggests that if geostationary satellites are thick enough around an alien world, they could be spotted with telescopes already hunting for undiscovered planets. Both governments and private corporations on our own world use geostationary satellites — which orbit such that they hover over the same spot on Earth — for science, communications, espionage and military applications. If advanced alien civilizations loft enough satellites into their own geostationary belts, these spacecraft could create a dense, ring-like structure visible from Earth, according to the … Read more

SPACE: Rich Guys and Corporations Want to Build Earth Surveillance Satellites

by
Earth - NASA

A bunch of very big corporations and rich men are hoping to start watching the whole Earth at all times with video cameras in outer space. EarthNow LLC, a company that counts among its investors Bill Gates, Airbus, SoftBank and the “colorful” tech tycoon Greg Wyler, announced plans Wednesday (April 18) to “deploy a large constellation of advanced imaging satellites that will deliver real-time, continuous video of almost anywhere on Earth.” The goal, the company said, is to offer customers the ability to watch events unfold on the planet in real time. EarthNow’s website lists the far-ranging events the satellite … Read more