Falcon Heavy

Spectrum Advanced Manufacturing Technologies Plays Vital Role in NASA's Deep Space Optical Communications

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, February 14, 2024

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Feb. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As the Psyche spacecraft, part of NASA's ambitious deep space exploration, completes its crucial 100-day checkout phase, Spectrum Advanced Manufacturing Technologies, a leader in high-reliability circuit card assembly and contract manufacturing, announces its significant role in this milestone. Launched on October 13, 2023, aboard the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, the Psyche mission has successfully deployed its solar arrays and entered the operational phase, thanks in part to Spectrum's high-precision circuit boards.

Key Points: 
  • "Spectrum's circuit boards are at the heart of the Psyche spacecraft's communication systems," says Jeff Gilbert, Chief Operating Officer of Spectrum Advanced Manufacturing Technologies.
  • This advancement is critical for the Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment , designed to drastically improve long-distance space communication.
  • Spectrum's contributions are integral to the success of this mission, highlighting the company's leading role in developing technologies critical for the future of space exploration.
  • Spectrum has a rich history in aerospace, including projects like the James Webb Space Telescope and the Roman Space Telescope.

NASA Invites Public to Send Names Aboard Artemis Robotic Moon Rover

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, January 4, 2024

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA is inviting people to send their names to the surface of the Moon aboard the agency's first robotic lunar rover, VIPER – short for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover.

Key Points: 
  • WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA is inviting people to send their names to the surface of the Moon aboard the agency's first robotic lunar rover, VIPER – short for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover.
  • As part of the "Send Your Name with VIPER" campaign, NASA will accept names received before 11:59 p.m. EST, March 15.
  • Once collected, the agency will take the names and attach them to the rover.
  • In addition to managing the mission, NASA Ames leads the mission's science, systems engineering, real-time rover surface operations, and flight software.

Arch Mission Foundation Prepares Lunar Library II for December 2023 Launch

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, November 9, 2023

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Arch Mission Foundation announced today that its second installment of the historic Lunar Library will launch to the Moon's surface later this year aboard Astrobotic's Peregrine Lander. The launch is currently scheduled for December 24, 2023 from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 41 (LC-41).

Key Points: 
  • The second Lunar Library™ will put additional civilizational archives on the Moon with Astrobotic's first lunar mission.
  • CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Arch Mission Foundation announced today that its second installment of the historic Lunar Library will launch to the Moon's surface later this year aboard Astrobotic's Peregrine Lander.
  • Astrobotic will carry the Lunar Library II to the Moon on its Peregrine Lunar Lander and store it on the lunar surface.
  • The Lunar Library II follows the Arch Mission's initial Lunar Library launch in 2019, and the first Solar Library, launched aboard SpaceX's first Falcon Heavy flight earlier in 2018.

NASA's Psyche Spacecraft, Optical Comms Demo En Route to Asteroid

Retrieved on: 
Friday, October 13, 2023

"Congratulations to the Psyche team on a successful launch, the first journey to a metal-rich asteroid," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

Key Points: 
  • "Congratulations to the Psyche team on a successful launch, the first journey to a metal-rich asteroid," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
  • By August 2029, the spacecraft will begin to orbit the 173-mile-wide (279-kilometer-wide) asteroid – the only metal-class asteroid ever to be explored.
  • "Now the real fun begins as we race toward asteroid Psyche to unlock the secrets of how planets form and evolve."
  • While the transceiver is hosted by Psyche, the tech demo will not relay Psyche mission data.

VSAT INVESTIGATION NOTICE: Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP Announces Investigation into Viasat, Inc. and Encourages Investors with Substantial Losses or Witnesses with Relevant Information to Contact the Firm

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, August 9, 2023

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The law firm of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP has launched an investigation into potential violations of U.S. federal securities laws involving Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT) focused on whether Viasat and certain of its top executives made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose material information to investors.

Key Points: 
  • SAN DIEGO, Aug. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The law firm of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP has launched an investigation into potential violations of U.S. federal securities laws involving Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT) focused on whether Viasat and certain of its top executives made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose material information to investors.
  • If you have information that could assist in this investigation or if you are a Viasat investor who suffered a loss and would like to learn more, you can provide your information here:
    You can also contact attorney J.C. Sanchez of Robbins Geller by calling 800/449-4900 or via e-mail at [email protected] .
  • THE COMPANY: Viasat provides broadband and communications products and services worldwide.
  • Viasat’s Satellite Services segment offers satellite-based fixed broadband services.

Maxar’s Largest Ever Satellite, Hughes JUPITER 3, Performing Well After Launch

Retrieved on: 
Saturday, July 29, 2023

Maxar Technologies, provider of comprehensive space solutions and secure, precise, geospatial intelligence, today announced that the largest commercial communications satellite ever built, the JUPITER™ 3 satellite for Hughes, an EchoStar company, is performing as expected after launch yesterday.

Key Points: 
  • Maxar Technologies, provider of comprehensive space solutions and secure, precise, geospatial intelligence, today announced that the largest commercial communications satellite ever built, the JUPITER™ 3 satellite for Hughes, an EchoStar company, is performing as expected after launch yesterday.
  • The spacecraft was manufactured by Maxar in Palo Alto, California, and launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
  • Shortly after liftoff, the satellite, which is also called EchoStar XXIV, deployed its solar arrays and began receiving and sending signals.
  • The 14 solar panels on board when fully deployed could span a 10-story building.

Hughes JUPITER 3 Satellite Successfully Launches, Heralds the Start of a New Era of Connectivity

Retrieved on: 
Saturday, July 29, 2023

GERMANTOWN, Md., July 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hughes Network Systems, an EchoStar (Nasdaq: SATS) company, today announced its JUPITER™ 3 ultra high-density satellite has successfully launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from historic Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39A in Florida. Also known as EchoStar XXIV, JUPITER 3 was built by Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, CA, and is engineered to deliver gigabytes of connectivity to customers across North and South America.

Key Points: 
  • On July 29 at 2:32 a.m. EDT, three hours and twenty-eight minutes after lift-off, JUPITER 3 successfully deployed from the launch vehicle.
  • The satellite began sending and receiving its first signals, and engineers deployed the JUPITER 3 solar arrays, which unfolded in space to their full ten-story span.
  • "JUPITER 3 is the highest capacity, highest performing satellite we've ever launched.
  • For more information and to follow along on the journey to JUPITER 3, visit the Hughes website .

65 years of NASA – an astrophysicist reflects on the agency's legacy

Retrieved on: 
Monday, July 24, 2023

Sixty-five years ago, in 1958, several government programs that had been pursuing spaceflight combined to form NASA.

Key Points: 
  • Sixty-five years ago, in 1958, several government programs that had been pursuing spaceflight combined to form NASA.
  • From John Glenn’s first flight into orbit to the Hubble telescope, the agency’s legacy has inspired generations of scientists.

First flight into orbit

    • My first grade teacher, Ms. Ochs, told the class that we would be doing something different on that day.
    • When the rocket got high enough, Glenn in the Mercury capsule – the cap – would separate from the rocket and go into orbit around the Earth.
    • My class then sat and listened to the historic launch of Friendship 7 carrying Glenn, which was the first U.S. mission to send a man into orbit around the Earth.
    • The program proved that NASA could put a manned spacecraft in orbit and bring it back safely to Earth.

A two-person spacecraft

    • In 1965, NASA planned to launch the two-person Gemini spacecraft, and I moved on to the fifth grade where my teacher, Mrs. Wein, was also a space enthusiast.
    • This was the first time that two piloted spacecraft performed what is called a rendezvous maneuver, where they meet up in orbit.
    • Orbital maneuvers like this require very precise calculations and a spacecraft in which astronauts can make path changes in orbit – which is what the Gemini capsule was designed to do.

On to the Moon

    • The Apollo 11 Moon landing happened in July 1969.
    • In December 1972, when I was a senior in high school, Gene Cernan became the last person to walk on the Moon during the Apollo 17 mission.
    • Like many of us who witnessed the Apollo missions, I listened to Cernan’s final words from the Moon, where he challenged young people to continue what NASA had begun.

After Apollo

    • For one, the ability to guide unmanned robotic spacecraft anywhere in the solar system was a byproduct of the technologies necessary for the manned Apollo missions.
    • Perhaps the most ambitious of these is the Mars Perseverance Rover, which looks for chemical evidence of past or present life on Mars.
    • The Hubble Space Telescope and its newly launched cousin, the James Webb Space Telescope, have allowed astronomers to get large telescopes above Earth’s optically hazy atmosphere.

Looking ahead

    • I hope that today there are elementary teachers like Ms. Ochs and Mrs. Wein who will nurture the wonder and excitement of spaceflight in their students.
    • They can watch livestreams, like those of launches of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy in 2018 and NASA’s Artemis I in November 2022.
    • When the students I teach today near my age, I wonder what amazing things – about which we can only dream – they will look back on.

VSAT INVESTIGATION ALERT: Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP Announces Investigation into Viasat, Inc. and Encourages Investors with Substantial Losses or Witnesses with Relevant Information to Contact the Firm

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, July 13, 2023

Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP has launched an investigation into potential violations of U.S. federal securities laws involving Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT) focused on whether Viasat and certain of its top executives made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose material information to investors.

Key Points: 
  • Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP has launched an investigation into potential violations of U.S. federal securities laws involving Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT) focused on whether Viasat and certain of its top executives made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose material information to investors.
  • If you have information that could assist in this investigation or if you are a Viasat investor who suffered a loss and would like to learn more, you can provide your information here:
    You can also contact attorney J.C. Sanchez of Robbins Geller by calling 800/449-4900 or via e-mail at [email protected] .
  • THE COMPANY: Viasat provides broadband and communications products and services worldwide.
  • Viasat’s Satellite Services segment offers satellite-based fixed broadband services.

Hughes JUPITER 3 Satellite Arrives at Cape Canaveral for Launch

Retrieved on: 
Friday, June 30, 2023

GERMANTOWN, Md., June 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hughes Network Systems, an EchoStar (Nasdaq: SATS) company, today announced its JUPITER™ 3 ultra high-density satellite has arrived in Cape Canaveral, FL, for its upcoming launch. JUPITER 3, also known as EchoStar XXIV, was built by Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, CA, and is engineered to deliver gigabytes of connectivity to customers across North and South America. Last night, the satellite was carefully loaded onto an Antonov aircraft, flown across the country, and delivered to the U.S. Space Coast, where it will undergo launch preparations before a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carries it to orbit.

Key Points: 
  • GERMANTOWN, Md., June 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hughes Network Systems , an EchoStar (Nasdaq: SATS) company, today announced its JUPITER™ 3 ultra high-density satellite has arrived in Cape Canaveral, FL, for its upcoming launch.
  • "As the leading provider of satellite internet to rural customers across the Americas, we are proud to begin a new era of connectivity with the launch of JUPITER 3," said Hamid Akhavan, CEO, EchoStar.
  • When fully deployed, JUPITER 3, the largest commercial communications satellite ever built, approaches the wingspan of a commercial airliner.
  • For more information and to follow along on the journey to JUPITER 3, visit the Hughes website .