Page 116 - SAMENA Trends - September-October 2022
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SATELLITE UPDATES  SAMENA TRENDS

        SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Launches 2 Satellites on Record-Tying 14th Mission


        SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket on its record-tying 14th mission,   The rocket previously helped launch the GPS III-3 and Turksat 5A
        sending two commercial communications satellites to orbit. The   satellites, the Transporter-2 rideshare mission and 10 big batches
        Falcon 9, topped with Intelsat's Galaxy 33 and Galaxy 34 satellites,   of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites. Fourteen missions is the
        lifted  off from Florida's  Cape  Canaveral  Space  Force  Station  on   record for a Falcon 9 first stage, first set just last month during a
        Saturday at 7:05 p.m. EDT (2305 GMT). The Falcon 9's first stage   launch that lofted the BlueWalker 3 communications satellite and
        came back to Earth and landed on SpaceX's A Shortfall of Gravitas   34 Starlinks. Galaxy 33 was deployed about 33 minutes after liftoff
        droneship about 8.5 minutes after launch. The robotic ship was   and Galaxy 34 followed suit five minutes later, SpaceX confirmed
        stationed in the Atlantic Ocean, a few hundred miles off the Florida   via Twitter (opens in new tab). The duo "are the next satellites in
        coast. It was the 14th launch and landing for this particular booster,   Intelsat's comprehensive Galaxy fleet refresh plan, a new generation
        according  to a SpaceX mission  description  (opens  in  new tab).   of technology that will provide Intelsat Media customers in North
                                                               America with high-performance media distribution capabilities and
                                                               unmatched  penetration  of cable  headends,"  Luxembourg-based
                                                               Intelsat wrote in a statement (opens in new tab). "It is critical to
                                                               Intelsat's U.S. C-band clearing strategy." Saturday's launch was the
                                                               third for SpaceX in a four-day stretch. On Wednesday, the company
                                                               launched the Crew-5 astronaut mission for NASA as well as a batch
                                                               of 52 Starlink satellites. Saturday's flight was originally supposed
                                                               to launch on Thursday evening (Oct. 6), but the Falcon 9 initiated an
                                                               auto abort shortly(opens in new tab) before the planned liftoff. The
                                                               abort was caused by a small helium leak, SpaceX founder and CEO
                                                               Elon Musk said via Twitter Thursday (opens in new tab). SpaceX
                                                               then  pushed  the  launch  back  to  Saturday  to  perform additional
                                                               vehicle checks.




        UK Prepares for Its First Satellite Launch


        The UK’s commercial spaceflight program is set to take off with its   process of using the unique microgravity environment of space to
        first ever orbital satellite launch. The first launch will take place from   manufacture special materials that are much more difficult to make
        Spaceport Cornwall in the south-west of England as a ‘horizontal   on Earth. There are several other spaceports currently planned or
        launch’. A specially modified Boeing 747 from Virgin Orbit called   under construction in England, Scotland and Wales.
        Cosmic Girl, with a rocket attached under its wing, will take off from
        a runway. In flight over the sea, the LauncherOne rocket will launch
        from the wing, taking multiple small satellites into orbit. The plane
        will then return to the Spaceport, able to launch more satellites in
        future. Several small satellites will be launched into orbit on the
        first  UK  mission  for  launch  for  navigation  and  communications
        applications  Several of the  satellites  have been  built  in  the  UK,
        including a research satellite from RHEA Group, which was built
        by Open Cosmos in Oxfordshire. The first Welsh satellite will also
        be on the launch, from Cardiff-based Space Forge. It will test the




        Soracom Adds Native Satellite Support to Global IoT Connectivity Platform


        Soracom,  Inc., a global  provider of advanced  IoT connectivity,   remote monitoring, asset tracking and other use cases to “bring
        announced it has expanded its IoT connectivity offerings to include   their own” compatible satellite hardware and manage all of their
        native support for satellite messaging capability, allowing SMBs,   connections and billing in one place. In addition, users can integrate
        SMEs and  enterprise  customers to manage SatIoT connections   advanced platform  services supporting  device management,
        and billing directly through the Soracom platform. This capability is   cloud integration and secure private networking into IoT use cases
        now available on a Technical Preview basis, with support available   requiring satellite communication. Native satellite support is a new
        today for Astrocast,  with  additional  satellite  services  to follow.   addition to Soracom’s “blended” IoT networking offering. Soracom
        The launch of native support for satellite enables customers with   has provided native support with integrated billing for cellular and
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