The atmospheric reentry process generates extreme heat and mechanical loads, which lead to the satellite's disintegration at the altitude of about 45 miles. (Image credit: ESA) By Marianne Guenot, Published by Business Insider, 2 March 2024 Spacecraft burning up in the atmosphere are leaving behind metal particles. Scientists are racing
A composite image showing rows of Starlink satellites awaiting deployment into low Earth orbit in front of a picture of Earth taken from the International Space Station. (Image credit: SpaceX via X) By Brett Tingley, Published by Space.com, 14 February 2024 There are still well over 5,000 operational Starlink satellites
The first photo snapped by Astrobotic's Peregrine moon lander in space, shared via X on Jan. 8, 2024. (Image credit: Astrobotic via X) By Jonathan Amos, Published by the BBC, 19 January 2024 A US spacecraft launched last week to try to land on the Moon has ended its mission
Astrobotic's private Peregrine moon lander suffered an anomaly after separating from its Vulcan Centaur rocket on Jan. 8, 2024. (Image credit: ULA) By Brett Tingley, Published by Space.com, 19 January 2024 'There's a lot that worked, and that is something I'm very proud of.' Astrobotic remains upbeat about its Peregrine lunar
International Space Station (from Society for Science) By Eric Lagatta, Published by USA Today, 16 January 2024 After two decades, NASA is laying the groundwork for plans to safely deorbit and land the International Space Station, the largest of its kind ever built, by 2030. The International Space Station has been continuously
By Andrew Falle, Ewan Wright, Published by The Conversation, 7 November 2023 As the number of satellites in orbit increase, so will the possibilities of space debris. There are currently 8,000 satellites in orbit, but hundreds of thousands more are being proposed. In September 2021, Rwanda announced that it was planning
Varda Space Industries’ Winnebago 1 satellite now orbits, awaiting the go-ahead to return to earth. VARDA SPACE INDUSTRIES By Mark Harris, Published by IEEE Spectrum, 24 October 2023 Orbiting lab pioneers space-made medicines—and the red tape needed to land Five hundred kilometers above the Earth, a small spacecraft is waiting patiently
By Tereza Pultarova, Published by Space.com, 19 October 2023 Chemicals created by fiery satellite re-entries could affect Earth's climate. Scientists have long thought that the burning up of space junk in Earth's atmosphere creates air pollution that can affect the planet's climate. Now, for the first time, they've managed to
