What the USAF Watch-dog Satellites May Mean to the Space Community

We’re from the Government. We’re here to help… The announcement of two geosynchronous space situational awareness satellites from the United States Air Force last Friday was very interesting. It also raises some issues, which are addressed in my latest Clearancejobs.com article. I’ll probably talk a bit more about the other issues later, too.

Why Space Matters: GEO Satellite operations, Part 7–Curves and Angles

Geosynchronous (GEO) satellites are wonderful. They can see a lot of the Earth from 22,236 miles in space. It’s why they make great observation and communications satellites. Previous chapters explained some of the problems facing GEO satellites, too, such as solar influence and eclipses. But now’s the time for a few lesser known problems GEO satellites […]

Fill it up, RROxITT! And check the solar panels, too.

For a very long time, satellites orbiting the Earth have had a very finite lifetime. Some satellites have lasted over ten years, and aside from anomalies and failing components, a satellite’s fuel tank has been key to how long a satellite can function. But that might change soon for geosynchronous (GEO) satellites, thanks to RROxITT (Remote Robotic […]

Why Space Matters: GEO Satellite operations, Part 6–Eclipse

All that you touch, all that you see… Yep, you guessed it! We’re going to talk about another issue common to geostationary (GEO) satellites: the eclipse. This issue is almost opposite from the problem discussed in Part 5 of the GEO lesson series. Instead of being overpowered by the sun’s energy, the satellite can’t function […]

Why Space Matters: GEO Satellite operations, Part 5.5–Indian GEO Flight Plan

Just a short blurb for you about a really great blog post from Planetary.org. It’s definitely related to The Mad Spaceball’s GEO lesson series on this site. I think it’s better written. I wanted to provide, at the very least, the link for this post, titled “How to get a satellite to geostationary orbit”. As you […]