Jam On It!–Arabsat’s Ethiopian Space Jam Problem

What does a satellite operator do if someone jams its broadcast signal? Specifically, what does Arabsat do when someone jams its TV signals in Africa and the Middle East? According to this Satellite Today post, the company first finds out where this “intentional uplink interference” is coming from. Then it takes its case to the International […]

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 […]

Pictures of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy

One of the problems with the SpaceX booth at the 30th Space Symposium last week is they only displayed their Falcon 9 rocket (and the landing legs were the wrong color–black–instead of the white a real Falcon 9 booster is painted with). Of course, it’s the only rocket that SpaceX uses so far. The other problem, by the […]

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 […]

Dextre: When Humans Just Won’t Do

It might come as a surprise to some people that Canada has a space agency–the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Some Americans might view our northern neighbor’s agency as a NASA-Lite, but that would be very untrue. It might be even more surprising for people to know the CSA is very active and has provided some critical […]