DIY Space: Launchbox Kits

For this particular kit we’re heading to Australia. Launchbox wants to “build and launch an Australian satellite.” A way the start-up is trying to do this is by providing rocket payload kits for people and schools to buy. You could hop on the STEM bandwagon by buying one of the kits, and feel as if you’ve contributed […]

DIY Space: Personal Satellite Kits

For this DIY project things are a bit pricey–as in thousands of dollars pricey. If you’re one of those lucky few who happens to have that kind of money sitting around, then perhaps these two kits are meant for you. The kits are available online from Interorbital Systems (IOS). If you buy one or two, the rest […]

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: HEO Satellite Operations, Part 4–Moley, Moley, Moley, Molniya!

During the last lesson, you might have been enlightened with the information that even though the Soviets have used, and Russians do use, geosynchronous (GEO) orbits for satellites, they seem to have a special place in their vodka-filled hearts for the highly elliptical orbit (HEO). And that last lesson enumerates the reasons why they like it. For one particular […]