DIY Space: Ardusat

Before I begin the fairly short DIY part, this is just a reminder for those who don’t know, or just plain forgot. Today is the anniversary of Sputnik I, the first man-made satellite, which was launched into orbit on the top of an R-7 rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome. The R-7 had already been successfully tested as a […]

A Landmark Anniversary for Space?

Oct. 3, 1942–72 years ago–an A-4 test rocket was launched from Peenemuende Army Research Center. The fourth A-4 to be tested, it was the first to successfully fly. It was also the first rocket to reach the edges of outer space (it flew about 85-90 kilometers above the Earth). If you’ve never heard of the A-4, […]

Some Changes Coming

Hi! If you’re reading this, thank you! That means you deliberately chose to read my posts, and that takes some time. So I’m writing this to tell you there will be changes to the number of posts on this site every week. Why? Well, that’s the good news–at least for me. After one year and […]

Losing Proposition: Cutting USAF Space Operations

The United States Air Force (USAF) looks to be on the verge of admitting it can’t spend the money on its own people to operate its own satellites. They are considering some piecemeal options for moving contractors into what were military positions. This SpaceNews post describes four studies the USAF will be contracting out to figure out if […]