Imagery Unchained (Finally!)

Back in September 2013 I wrote an opinion about why the US government’s laws regarding imagery resolution were very onerous. The rules just didn’t make sense in a world of cheap picture drones. That opinion was based on a story about DigitalGlobe attempting to get imagery restrictions relaxed so they could compete better in the satellite […]

Ethiopian Telescopes Look to be Africa’s Space Center

Last week I wrote a post about Ethiopian jamming of Arabsat’s television broadcast signals. But now, according to this Inter Press Service (IPS) article, certain Ethiopian citizens have made a different step in space–the step towards becoming one of the hubs of space research in Africa. That goal, promoted and sponsored by the Ethiopian Space Science Society […]

Why Space Matters: HEO Satellite Operations, Part 5–Spysats, IR, and MMS

The Molniya orbit, a type of highly elliptical orbit (HEO), was the focus of the last HEO post. And it was noted that the Molniya is an orbit perfectly suited to communication. But what other missions and satellites use the HEO? Believe it or not, the US has organizations that use the HEO for a […]

DIY Space: Help NASA with Zooniverse

NASA is experiencing too much of a good thing with its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) satellite. The team is apparently overwhelmed with the number of images one of the satellite’s payloads is producing (why this problem wasn’t anticipated, I don’t know). But you can help with this problem. First, a little about the LRO. The […]

Why Space Matters: Satellites Can See Bad Actors

Imaging and video satellites, like the SkyBox Imaging’s SkySat-1 satellite, bring a different, almost Santa-like, perspective to world events. While they don’t necessarily see you when your sleeping, they can guess when you’re awake. They know when you are rioting in the streets, and setting fire to property because your human rights are being violated. […]