satellites

Russian Space Junk Hit a Chinese Satellite in March, Evidence Suggests

Collisions in orbit have the potential to be disastrous. Currently, some 900,000 artificial objects from 0.4 inches to 4 inches wide are zipping around Earth.

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Make Your Loved One Swoon With NOAA’s Adorable Satellite-Themed Valentines

Ever since I was a little girl, one of my favorite things about Valentine’s Day has been the cards. I would love to decorate my little shoebox every year and check out all the Valentines I would get from my classmates. The best ones were, of course, the ones that were not like the others.…

Earther Jody Serrano

Darkened SpaceX Satellites Can Still Disrupt Astronomy, New Research Suggests

SpaceX’s attempt to reduce the reflectivity of Starlink satellites is working, but not to the degree required by astronomers. Starlink satellites with an anti-reflective coating are half as bright as the standard version, according to research published in The Astrophysical Journal. It’s an improvement, but still not good enough, according to the team, led by…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Japanese Researchers Are Making Wooden Satellites Because We Have a Space Trash Problem

Floating around the Earth is a bunch of satellites. Cool for GPS, monitoring weather patterns, and the internet—not so cool for space junk. This is why Sumitomo Forestry and Kyoto University are teaming up to create the world’s first wooden satellites by 2023. You might think metal satellites burn up on re-entry, but as it…

Space & Spaceflight Victoria Song

Here’s Where SpaceX Has Promised to Provide Starlink Internet

The Federal Communications Commission recently announced the winning bidders of its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase 1 auction, revealing SpaceX’s Starlink won a massive $885 million to provide high-speed internet to underserved and unserved rural areas of the U.S. The agency’s report provided information on how much money every ISP won and in what states,…

Internet Joanna Nelius

Why Europe’s Space Agency Is Spending $103 Million to Remove a Single Piece of Space Junk

The European Space Agency has signed a historic deal with Swiss startup ClearSpace to remove a single item of space debris in 2025. The $103 million price tag is steep, but this mission—involving an orbiting, mouth-like net—could herald the beginning of an entirely new space industry. The new contract, announced late last week, is unique…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Photo: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center

Let’s Take a Break and Check Out Some Chill Satellite Images From This Week Instead

We’ve had a week, haven’t we, friends? I don’t need to recount what we’ve been through, you can feel it coursing through your veins. It’s been a long one, the weekend will prove to be longer, and the nearly three months to inauguration will be longer still. So let me offer you what we in…

Earther Brian Kahn

Watch ULA Try to Finally Launch an NRO Spy Satellite on a Delta IV Heavy Rocket Tonight

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office will take off from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex-37 in Florida shortly before midnight on Wednesday. Assuming, that is, there isn’t another one of the last-minute delays that have hounded the mission for months. The rocket and its…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay

SpaceX’s Satellite ISP Now Boasts Download Speeds of More Than 100 Mbps

When Elon Musk and SpaceX proposed building an ISP comprised of satellites in low earth orbit, it seemed like a project straight out of sci-fi. And while SpaceX has launched less than 800 of its eventual 12,000 satellite goal, the company just announced that its space-based internet service Starlink is already capable of delivering download…

Tech News Sam Rutherford

SpaceX Rival OneWeb Files for Bankruptcy, Citing Covid-19 as a Factor

Telecommunications firm OneWeb has filed for bankruptcy, leaving the status of its orbital internet constellation, which currently consists of 74 satellites, in doubt. The debt-stricken company said it failed to secure required funding on account of the covid-19 pandemic. OneWeb announced on Friday that it is filing for bankruptcy protection, the same day the firm…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Space Force to Get the Hell Off of Earth

The U.S. Space Force is scheduled to launch its first mission to space in a two-hour window beginning at 2:57 p.m. ET on Thursday from Cape Canaveral, sending a communications satellite into orbit aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Per the Orlando Sentinel, the Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite onboard (AEHF-6) is the…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay

Satellites Show Italy’s Air Pollution Dissipating as Covid-19 Outbreak Worsens

After China, Italy has been the second-hardest-hit by the covid-19 pandemic racing around the world. In an effort to staunch the number of cases, the Italian government severely restricted travel this week in northern Italy—the pandemic epicenter for the country—before extending restrictions to the entire country. Under similar circumstances, scientists observed a huge drop in…

Climate Change Brian Kahn

The Orbital Clutter Expands: SpaceX RivaI OneWeb Is About to Launch 34 Satellites

OneWeb, a UK-based telecommunications firm, is set to launch 34 satellites into space. These satellites will join an internet constellation that could soon consist of 648 satellites, in a system that will rival Elon Musk’s Starlink. We’ve officially entered into a new race for space—one that threatens astronomy and the safety of low Earth orbit…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Two Satellites Could Smash Into Each Other Over the U.S. Tonight [Update: They Didn’t]

Update: U.S. Space Command has confirmed that the decommissioned satellites in question, the joint NASA-Netherlands Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) and GGSE-4, passed each other without incident on Wednesday night (ET). As such, no new space debris was generated, meaning any possible cascade that could result in a Kessler Syndrome outcome was avoided. Gizmodo’s original coverage…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Satellite to Go Boom

DirecTV is rushing to move one of its satellites to a higher orbit due to the likelihood it will go boom, pow, kablam, rattle-rattle-bang, Space News reported on Wednesday. Backup High Power Model 702 satellite Spaceway-1 weighs around 13,400 pounds (6,080 kilograms) and was previously used to directly broadcast high-definition TV “from its orbital slot…

Tech News Tom McKay

The Pentagon’s Plan to Pepper Space With Surveillance Satellites Is Taking Shape

New details have emerged about the Pentagon’s ambitious plan to build seven different defense constellations, the first of which will include hundreds of surveillance satellites that are expected to attain full global coverage in just six years. Known as the National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA), it’s the first major initiative from the newly hatched Space…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Satellite Images Show the Shocking Extent of Australia Bushfire Smoke

The bushfire crisis isn’t limited to Australia—it’s coming for the entire Southern Hemisphere atmosphere, too. Australia has been ablaze for months with wildlife-killing, town-destroying, unstoppable fires burning throughout the states of Queenslands, New South Wales, and Victoria. Every day seems to bring a new horror story, and the latest is the smoke that has now…

Climate Change Brian Kahn

China Set to Launch Its GPS Competitor Next Year

China is close to launching the last two satellites that will complete BeiDou-3 Navigation Satellite System—the nation’s rival to the United States’ Global Positioning System. Ran Chengqi, a spokesperson for China’s Satellite Navigation Office, shared the status of the program on Friday at a rare media event, according to the Associated Press. Ran told reporters…

Tech News Jennings Brown

Starlink Satellites Produce Wave of UFO Sightings in the US

Residents in northern Montana reported a string of strange lights dotting the sky. What looked like UFOs from an alien invasion has turned out to be another consequence of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite constellation. SpaceX launched 60 satellites into orbit back in May and another 60 in November 11 as part of the Starlink satellite constellation,…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Apple’s Secret Satellites Could Mean Trouble for ISPs

It’s no surprise that Apple has secret teams working on secret projects. Over the years, we’ve heard of Apple Cars, Apple AR Headsets—you name it. Now, a Bloomberg report says the latest “secret” team is working on satellites that could potentially beam data to devices sometime in the next five years. According to Bloomberg, Apple…

Tech News Victoria Song

Russian Space Junk Hit a Chinese Satellite in March, Evidence Suggests

Make Your Loved One Swoon With NOAA’s Adorable Satellite-Themed Valentines

Darkened SpaceX Satellites Can Still Disrupt Astronomy, New Research Suggests

Japanese Researchers Are Making Wooden Satellites Because We Have a Space Trash Problem

Here’s Where SpaceX Has Promised to Provide Starlink Internet

Why Europe’s Space Agency Is Spending $103 Million to Remove a Single Piece of Space Junk

Let’s Take a Break and Check Out Some Chill Satellite Images From This Week Instead

Watch ULA Try to Finally Launch an NRO Spy Satellite on a Delta IV Heavy Rocket Tonight

SpaceX’s Satellite ISP Now Boasts Download Speeds of More Than 100 Mbps

SpaceX Rival OneWeb Files for Bankruptcy, Citing Covid-19 as a Factor

Space Force to Get the Hell Off of Earth

Satellites Show Italy’s Air Pollution Dissipating as Covid-19 Outbreak Worsens

The Orbital Clutter Expands: SpaceX RivaI OneWeb Is About to Launch 34 Satellites

Two Satellites Could Smash Into Each Other Over the U.S. Tonight [Update: They Didn’t]

Satellite to Go Boom

The Pentagon’s Plan to Pepper Space With Surveillance Satellites Is Taking Shape

Satellite Images Show the Shocking Extent of Australia Bushfire Smoke

China Set to Launch Its GPS Competitor Next Year

Starlink Satellites Produce Wave of UFO Sightings in the US

Apple’s Secret Satellites Could Mean Trouble for ISPs

US Airlines Are Hiking Bag Fees Amid Iran War Oil Crisis

This Ridiculously Simple Trick Might Stop Gulls From Nabbing Your Lunch

‘Starfleet Academy’ Season 3 Could Have Done the ‘Voyager’ Sequel Episode of Robert Picardo’s Dreams

Judge Kills Lawsuit Against Infamous Study That Might Have Increased Teen Suicides

Artemis 2 Day 3: Follow the Mission With Our Live Updates 🔴

Researchers Discover How to Add Psilocybin, DMT, and Other Psychedelics to Tobacco

Fake Videos Are Already Spreading After Two US Air Force Planes Go Down Near Iran

We’re Obsessed With the Meta Fits on These New Star Wars Toys

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Let us help find what you are looking for...