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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
April 29, 2025
Saturn's Rings Appear to Disappear
Where are Saturn's ears? Galileo is credited, in 1610, as the first person to see Saturn's rings. Testing out Lipperhey's recently co-invented telescope, Galileo did not know what they were and so called them "ears". The mystery deepened in 1612, when Saturn's ears mysteriously disappeared. Today we know exactly what happened: from the perspective of the Earth, Saturn's rings had become too thin to see. The same drama plays out every 15 years because Saturn, like Earth, undergoes tilt-driven seasons. This means that as Saturn goes around the Sun, its equator and rings can tilt noticeably toward the Sun and inner Solar System, making them easily visible, but from other orbital locations will appear almost not at all. The featured picture from Brasilia, Brazil shows a modern version of this sequence: the top ring-dominated image was taken in 2020, while the bottom ring-obscure image taken earlier in 2025.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
https://science.nasa.gov/universe/stars/neutron-stars/magnetars/where-does-gold-come-from-nasa-data-has-clues/
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/adc9b0
Where Does Gold Come From? NASA Data Has Clues
Apr 29, 2025
Since the big bang, the early universe had hydrogen, helium, and a scant amount of lithium. Later, some heavier elements, including iron, were forged in stars.
But one of the biggest mysteries in astrophysics is: How did the first elements heavier than iron, such as gold, get created and distributed throughout the universe?
“It’s a pretty fundamental question in terms of the origin of complex matter in the universe,” said Anirudh Patel, a doctoral student at Columbia University in New York. “It’s a fun puzzle that hasn’t actually been solved.”
Patel led a study using 20-year-old archival data from NASA and ESA telescopes that finds evidence for a surprising source of a large amount of these heavy elements: flares from highly magnetized neutron stars, called magnetars.
The study is published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Study authors estimate that magnetar giant flares could contribute up to 10% of the total abundance of elements heavier than iron in the galaxy.
Since magnetars existed relatively early in the history of the universe, the first gold could have been made this way.
“It’s answering one of the questions of the century and solving a mystery using archival data that had been nearly forgotten,” said Eric Burns, study co-author and astrophysicist at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
How could gold be made at a magnetar?
Neutron stars are the collapsed cores of stars that have exploded. They are so dense that one teaspoon of neutron star material, on Earth, would weigh as much as a billion tons. A magnetar is a neutron star with an extremely powerful magnetic field.
On rare occasions, magnetars release an enormous amount of high-energy radiation when they undergo “starquakes,” which, like earthquakes, fracture the neutron star’s crust.
Starquakes may also be associated with powerful bursts of radiation called magnetar giant flares, which can even affect Earth’s atmosphere. Only three magnetar giant flares have been observed in the Milky Way and the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud, and seven outside.
Patel and colleagues, including his advisor Brian Metzger, professor at Columbia University and senior research scientist at the Flatiron Institute in New York, have been thinking about how radiation from giant flares could correspond to heavy elements forming there.
This would happen through a “rapid process” of neutrons forging lighter atomic nuclei into heavier ones.
Protons define the element’s identity on the periodic table: hydrogen has one proton, helium has two, lithium has three, and so on. Atoms also have neutrons which do not affect identity, but do add mass.
Sometimes when an atom captures an extra neutron the atom becomes unstable and a nuclear decay process happens that converts a neutron into a proton, moving the atom forward on the periodic table.
This is how, for example, a gold atom could take on an extra neutron and then transform into mercury.
In the unique environment of a disrupted neutron star, in which the density of neutrons is extremely high, something even stranger happens: single atoms can rapidly capture so many neutrons that they undergo multiple decays, leading to the creation of a much heavier element like uranium.
When astronomers observed the collision of two neutron stars in 2017 using NASA telescopes and the Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO), and numerous telescopes on the ground and in space that followed up the initial discovery, they confirmed that this event could have created gold, platinum, and other heavy elements.
But neutron star mergers happen too late in the universe’s history to explain the earliest gold and other heavy elements.
Recent research by co-authors of the new study — Jakub Cehula of Charles University in Prague, Todd Thompson of The Ohio State University, and Metzger — has found that magnetar flares can heat and eject neutron star crustal material at high speeds, making them a potential source.
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New clues in old data
At first, Metzger and colleagues thought that the signature from the creation and distribution of heavy elements at a magnetar would appear in the visible and ultraviolet light, and published their predictions.
But Burns in Louisiana wondered if there could be a gamma-ray signal bright enough to be detected, too. He asked Metzger and Patel to check, and they found that there could be such a signature.
“At some point, we said, ‘OK, we should ask the observers if they had seen any,’” Metzger said. Burns looked up the gamma ray data from the last giant flare that has been observed, which was in December 2004.
He realized that while scientists had explained the beginning of the outburst, they had also identified a smaller signal from the magnetar, in data from ESA (European Space Agency)’s INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL), a recently retired mission with NASA contributions.
“It was noted at the time, but nobody had any conception of what it could be,” Burns said.
Metzger remembers that Burns thought he and Patel were “pulling his leg” because the prediction from their team’s model so closely matched the mystery signal in the 2004 data.
In other words, the gamma ray signal detected over 20 years ago corresponded to what it should look like when heavy elements are created and then distributed in a magnetar giant flare.
Patel was so excited, “I wasn’t thinking about anything else for the next week or two. It was the only thing on my mind,” he said.
Researchers supported their conclusion using data from two NASA heliophysics missions: the retired RHESSI (Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager) and the ongoing NASA’s Wind satellite, which had also observed the magnetar giant flare.
Other collaborators on the new study included Jared Goldberg at the Flatiron Institute.
Next steps in the magnetar gold rush
NASA’s forthcoming COSI (Compton Spectrometer and Imager) mission can follow up on these results. A wide-field gamma ray telescope, COSI is expected to launch in 2027 and will study energetic phenomena in the cosmos, such as magnetar giant flares.
COSI will be able to identify individual elements created in these events, providing a new advancement in understanding the origin of the elements. It is one of many telescopes that can work together to look for “transient” changes across the universe.
Researchers will also follow up on other archival data to see if other secrets are hiding in observations of other magnetar giant flares.
“It very cool to think about how some of the stuff in my phone or my laptop was forged in this extreme explosion of the course of our galaxy’s history,” Patel said.
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Space made me feel decades younger, says 70-year-old NASA astronaut
Apr 29 2025 | 5:14 PM IST
NASA's oldest full-time astronaut, Don Pettit, who returned to Earth on Monday after spending months aboard the International Space Station (ISS), says experiencing weightlessness made him feel decades younger.
The astronaut who celebrated his 70th birthday on April 20 returned to Earth in a Russian Soyuz capsule after his seven-month mission ended at ISS.
Speaking publicly for the first time since landing, Pettit reflected on the toll of gravity and the rejuvenating effects of life in space.
He called the return a significant challenge to his body. He also mentioned that he didn't look or feel well immediately after touchdown.
Reflecting on his time in microgravity, Pettit said the experience made him feel as if he were 30 again.
He shared that many of the usual aches and discomforts seemed to ease while he slept and floated in space, giving his body a rare chance to recover and feel revitalised.
Pettit, who has ventured to space four times, said, “It makes me feel like I’m 30 years old again.”
“All that kind of stuff heals up because you’re sleeping, you’re just floating and your body, all these little aches and pains and everything heal up,” he added.
More space missions in future: Pettit
Pettit, who still felt "like a little kid inside," focused on astrophotography during his space mission. He captured some stunning images of auroras, comets, and satellites.
Apart from photography, he was also engaged in several physics experiments during his downtime.
He experimented with bubbles and created a perfect ball of honey atop a spoon of peanut butter to share the experience with others.
Pettit is hopeful for more space missions in the future before he retires his "rocket nozzles."
"I've got a few more good years left," Pettit said. "I could see getting another flight or two in before I'm ready to hang up my rocket nozzles."
Past journeys by elderly astronauts
John Glenn was 77 years old when he returned to space in 1998. Glenn parted himself away with NASA for many years and was nearing the end of his Senate career.
In another case, a couple of 90-year-olds had flown to space for a short journey with Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin company.
https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/space-made-me-feel-decades-younger-says-70-year-old-nasa-astronaut-nc-125042900754_1.html
Crew Kicks off Busy Research Week Before Thursday’s Spacewalk
April 28, 2025
Biotechnology, human health, and space botany kicked off the research week aboard the International Space Station on Monday.
The Expedition 73 crew is also preparing for a spacewalk on Thursday to ready the orbital outpost for a new rollout solar array and relocate a communications antenna.
Numerous experiments exploring how blood pressure, eyes, and cells are affected by microgravity packed the schedule aboard the International Space Station on Monday.
Scientists will take the unique data and pursue advanced therapies promoting healthy humans on and off the Earth.
Blood pressure checks awaited NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers on Monday for the CIPHER suite of 14 human research investigations.
Ayers began her shift scanning McClain’s chest with the Ultrasound 2 device while electrodes measured her blood pressure.
Doctors are observing the arterial structure and function of astronauts to assess the cardiovascular risk of living and working in space.
McClain later installed research hardware inside the Veggie space botany facility for the Advanced Plant Experiment-12 space botany study that will observe how space radiation affects plant genetics.
Ayers then peered into medical imaging gear with assistance from NASA astronaut Jonny Kim so researchers could get a glimpse of her optic nerve to identify potential space-caused eye health issues.
Kim also set up physics research hardware inside the Destiny laboratory module’s Microgravity Science Glovebox for the Colloidal Solids experiment that may benefit the pharmaceutical, food, and personal care industries on Earth.
The upcoming investigation will observe how soft solids, such as gels, respond to weightlessness and may lead to the design of new materials.
McClain and Ayers are also preparing to exit the space station on Thursday for a six-hour and 35-minute spacewalk.
The pair spent an hour on Monday reviewing the steps necessary in the vacuum of space to install a rollout solar array modification kit on the station’s port side truss structure and relocate an antenna that communicates with visiting vehicles.
This will be McClain’s third spacewalk, Ayers first, and the 275th in space station program history.
Station Commander Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) split his day between exploring how cells sense gravity and installing hardware containing biological fluid samples.
He first relocated cell samples from an incubator into a microscope to observe the mechanism that enables cells to sense the effects of gravity.
Results from the Cell Gravisensing investigation may lead to therapies treating space-caused and Earthbound muscle and bone conditions.
Onishi then installed cassettes containing fluid samples in the Advanced Space Experiment Processor-4, a research facility that can be shipped back and forth from Earth to space, for the biotechnology study.
That investigation may further research and commercialization opportunities in space.
Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov set up Earth observation gear and activated a camera to photograph landmarks in Canada and western Africa.
Cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky took a hearing test on Monday inside the Quest airlock using specialized audiometric hardware that eliminates the need to isolate oneself in a soundproof booth.
The pair would spend the rest of the day on a variety of electronics and life support maintenance.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2025/04/28/crew-kicks-off-busy-research-week-before-thursdays-spacewalk/
https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasa-3d-wind-measuring-laser-aims-to-improve-forecasts-from-air-space/
NASA 3D Wind Measuring Laser Aims to Improve Forecasts from Air, Space
Apr 28, 2025
Since last fall, NASA scientists have flown an advanced 3D Doppler wind lidar instrument across the United States to collect nearly 100 hours of data — including a flight through a hurricane.
The goal? To demonstrate the unique capability of the Aerosol Wind Profiler (AWP) instrument to gather extremely precise measurements of wind direction, wind speed, and aerosol concentration – all crucial elements for accurate weather forecasting.
Weather phenomena like severe thunderstorms and hurricanes develop rapidly, so improving predictions requires more accurate wind observations.
“There is a lack of global wind measurements above Earth’s surface,” explained Kris Bedka, the AWP principal investigator at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.
“Winds are measured by commercial aircraft as they fly to their destinations and by weather balloons launched up to twice per day from just 1,300 sites across the globe.
From space, winds are estimated by tracking cloud and water vapor movement from satellite images.”
However, in areas without clouds or where water vapor patterns cannot be easily tracked, there are typically no reliable wind measurements. The AWP instrument seeks to fill these gaps with detailed 3D wind profiles.
Mounted to an aircraft with viewing ports underneath it, AWP emits 200 laser energy pulses per second that scatter and reflect off aerosol particles — such as pollution, dust, smoke, sea salt, and clouds — in the air.
Aerosol and cloud particle movement causes the laser pulse wavelength to change, a concept known as the Doppler effect.
The AWP instrument sends these pulses in two directions, oriented 90 degrees apart from each other. Combined, they create a 3D profile of wind vectors, representing both wind speed and direction.
“The Aerosol Wind Profiler is able to measure wind speed and direction, but not just at one given point,” Bedka said.
“Instead, we are measuring winds at different altitudes in the atmosphere simultaneously with extremely high detail and accuracy.”
Vectors help researchers and meteorologists understand the weather, so AWP’s measurements could significantly advance weather modeling and forecasting.
For this reason, the instrument was chosen to be part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Venture Program, which seeks data from new technologies that can fill gaps in current weather forecasting systems.
NASA’s Weather Program also saw mutual benefit in NOAA’s investments and provided additional support to increase the return on investment for both agencies.
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On board NASA’s Gulfstream III (G-III) aircraft, AWP was paired with the agency’s High-Altitude Lidar Observatory (HALO) that measures water vapor, aerosols, and cloud properties through a combined differential absorption and high spectral resolution lidar.
Working together for the first time, AWP measured winds, HALO collected water vapor and aerosol data, and NOAA dropsondes (small instruments dropped from a tube in the bottom of the aircraft) gathered temperature, water vapor, and wind data.
“With our instrument package on board small, affordable-to-operate aircraft, we have a very powerful capability,” said Bedka.
“The combination of AWP and HALO is NASA’s next-generation airborne weather remote sensing package, which we hope to also fly aboard satellites to benefit everyone across the globe.”
The animation below, based on AWP data, shows the complexity and structure of aerosol layers present in the atmosphere.
Current prediction models do not accurately simulate how aerosols are organized throughout the breadth of the atmosphere, said Bedka.
“When we took off on this particular day, I thought that we would be finding a clear atmosphere with little to no aerosol return because we were flying into what was the first real blast of cool Canadian air of the fall,” described Bedka.
“What we found was quite the opposite: an aerosol-rich environment which provided excellent signal to accurately measure winds.”
During the Joint Venture flights, Hurricane Helene was making landfall in Florida. The AWP crew of two pilots and five science team members quickly created a flight plan to gather wind measurements along the outer bands of the severe storm.
“A 3D wind profile can significantly improve weather forecasts, particularly for storms and hurricanes,” said Harshesh Patel, NOAA’s acting Joint Venture Program manager. “NASA Langley specializes in the development of coherent Doppler wind lidar technology and this AWP concept has potential to provide better performance for NOAA’s needs.”
The flights of the AWP lidar are serving as a proving ground for possible integration into a future satellite mission.
“The need to improve global 3D wind models requires a space-based platform,” added Patel. “Instruments like AWP have specific space-based applications that potentially align with NOAA’s mission to provide critical data for improving weather forecasting.”
After the NOAA flights, AWP and HALO were sent to central California for the Westcoast & Heartland Hyperspectral Microwave Sensor Intensive Experiment and the Active Passive profiling Experiment, which was supported by NASA’s Planetary Boundary Layer Decadal Survey Incubation Program and NASA Weather Programs.
These missions studied atmospheric processes within the planetary boundary layer, the lowest part of the atmosphere, that drives the weather conditions we experience on the ground.
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Seeing the Cygnus Loop in a New Way
Apr 28, 2025
The Cygnus Loop, also known as the Veil Nebula, is a supernova remnant – the remains of the explosive death of a massive star.
Studying images like these leads to discovery, but NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory provides another way to experience this data: three-dimensional (3D) models that allow people to explore – and print – examples of stars in the early and end stages of their lives.
The 3D model of the Cygnus Loop is the result of a simulation describing the interaction of a blast wave from the explosion with an isolated cloud of the interstellar medium (that is, dust and gas in between the stars).
Chandra sees the blast wave and other material that has been heated to millions of degrees. These 3D models are based on state-of-the-art theoretical models, computational algorithms, and observations from space-based telescopes like Chandra that give us accurate pictures of these cosmic objects and how they evolve over time.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/seeing-the-cygnus-loop-in-a-new-way/
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/chandra/nasas-chandra-releases-new-3d-models-of-cosmic-objects/
Mysterious 'orb' captured soaring past sun in new NASA video sparks theories of UFOs
Updated: 07:40 EDT, 29 April 2025
A lunar transit is different from a solar eclipse. Instead of being seen from Earth, a lunar transit happens when a spacecraft, like NASA's SDO, captures the moon passing in front of the sun or another object it's observing.
During these events, the moon appears as a dark circle moving across the bright surface being monitored by the observatory — a sight that has sometimes been mistaken for a UFO near the sun.
The most recent lunar transit lasted about 30 minutes and will be followed by more on April 28, May 25, and July 25.
According to NASA, during the final transit in this series, the Moon will cover 62 percent of the Sun's surface.
In contrast, the next solar eclipse visible from Earth is scheduled for September 21, 2025, but it will only be seen from parts of New Zealand, the South Pacific, and Antarctica.
NASA's SDO has been observing the Sun for 15 years, having launched on February 11, 2010.
Its mission is to continuously monitor the sun, taking high-resolution images and videos of the Sun's surface and atmosphere.
SDO studies solar activity, such as sunspots, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), to help scientists better understand how the Sun impacts space weather around Earth.
SDO stays relatively close to Earth and continuously sends back detailed images of the sun.
Earlier this month, the spacecraft captured powerful solar flares erupting from the sun's surface.
These eruptions triggered a G3-class geomagnetic storm, which raised concerns about possible interference with power grids across the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and Midwest regions of the US.
A geomagnetic storm is a temporary disturbance of Earth's magnetic field, caused by a massive burst of plasma from the sun's outer layer.
Shortly after the storm peaked, more than 1.4 million people in Puerto Rico lost power on April 16, as the entire island was plunged into darkness.
Local power authorities reported a system-wide failure around 12:40pm local, coinciding with the peak intensity of the geomagnetic storm.
Dr Tamitha Skov, an independent space weather physicist, told DailyMail.com that the blackout occurred almost simultaneously with the storm's intensification to G4 levels — classified as 'severe' on a five-level scale from G1 to G5.
A G4 geomagnetic storm can cause serious disruptions by generating geomagnetically induced currents (GICs), which overload transformers and critical infrastructure within power grids.
Officials had warned that such a storm could interfere with electricity management systems, potentially triggering automatic shutdowns across parts of the network to protect it from damage.
Josué Colón, Puerto Rico's energy chief and former executive director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, explained that while only one generator should have switched to protective mode, the entire system shut down after a failure in the transmission network.
'This added stress from GICs likely worsened an already fragile system, especially with power usage near peak levels in the middle of the day,' Dr. Skov added.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14657105/Mysterious-orb-captured-soaring-past-sun-new-NASA-video-sparks-theories-UFOs.html
Maybe it's high time for the main event
Biomass launched to count forest carbon
29/04/2025
ESA’s groundbreaking Biomass satellite, designed to provide unprecedented insights into the world’s forests and their crucial role in Earth’s carbon cycle, has been launched.
The satellite lifted off aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 29 April at 11:15 CEST (06:15 local time).
Less than an hour after launch, Biomass separated from the rocket’s upper stage.
At 12:28 CEST, the satellite controllers at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre in Germany received the all-important first signal, relayed via the Troll ground station in Antarctica, that Biomass is working as expected in orbit.
Controllers will spend the coming days carrying out the ‘launch and early orbit’ phase, meticulously verifying that all systems are functioning correctly.
This critical phase also involves a series of intricate manoeuvres to deploy the satellite’s 12-metre-wide mesh reflector supported by a 7.5-metre boom.
Once this phase is complete, Biomass will join the portfolio of pioneering missions operated from ESA's mission control centre.
Carrying the first P-band synthetic aperture radar in space, the Biomass mission is designed to deliver crucial information about the state of our forests and how they are changing, and to further our knowledge of the role forests play in the carbon cycle.
ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, Simonetta Cheli, said, “I’d like to extend my congratulations to everyone who has been involved in developing and launching this extraordinary mission.
Biomass now joins our esteemed family of Earth Explorers – missions that have consistently delivered groundbreaking discoveries and advanced scientific understanding of our planet.
“With Biomass, we are poised to gain vital new data on how much carbon is stored in the world’s forests, helping to fill key gaps in our knowledge of the carbon cycle and, ultimately, Earth's climate system.”
Forests play a vital role in Earth’s carbon cycle by absorbing and storing large amounts of carbon dioxide, helping to regulate the planet’s temperature.
Often called ‘Earth’s green lungs’, they absorb around 8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
However, deforestation and degradation – especially in tropical regions – are releasing stored carbon back into the atmosphere, worsening climate change.
A major challenge for scientists and policymakers is the lack of accurate data on how much carbon forests store and how these stocks are changing owing to factors such as rising temperatures, increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, and human-driven land-use changes.
Biomass is the first satellite equipped with a P-band synthetic aperture radar, which is capable of penetrating forest canopies to measure woody biomass – trunks, branches, and stems – where most forest carbon is stored.
These measurements act as a proxy for carbon storage, the assessment of which is the mission’s primary goal.
Data from Biomass will significantly reduce uncertainties in carbon stock and flux estimates, including those related to land-use change, forest loss, and regrowth.
About Biomass
ESA’s Biomass forest mission uses advanced space technology to provide new data on forests and their changes. It enhances our understanding of forests’ roles in the carbon cycle and climate.
Its P-band radar penetrates clouds and forest layers, scattering signals off forest elements. These signals reveal details like forest biomass and height.
Biomass data will improve knowledge of habitat loss and its effects on biodiversity. The mission also enables the mapping of subsurface geology in deserts, ice sheet structures, and forest floor topography.
The satellite was developed by over 50 companies led by Airbus UK.
https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/Biomass/Biomass_launched_to_count_forest_carbon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMEYE5ucNVo
United Launch Alliance Successfully Launches Amazon’s First Operational Satellites
April 28, 2025
Atlas V precisely delivers the first grouping of operational broadband satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper constellation.
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the Kuiper-1 mission for Amazon’s Project Kuiper lifted off on April 28 at 7:01 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The Kuiper 1 launch marks the beginning of full-scale deployment of the Kuiper constellation and a new chapter in the commercial launch industry as Amazon partners with ULA to deliver a majority of its advanced satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO).
“This launch is an incredible milestone in Amazon’s ambitious initiative to provide fast, reliable broadband service to unserved and underserved communities around the world,” said Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of Government and Commercial Programs.
“We have worked diligently with the Project Kuiper team to place this important mission on orbit and are grateful for the opportunity to continue building upon this dynamic partnership.”
In addition to the successful launch of two Kuipersat prototypes in 2023 and another seven launches aboard Atlas V, Project Kuiper will leverage the next-generation Vulcan rocket for 38 high-cadence, rapid-fire launches, positioning ULA to deliver more than half of the constellation’s more than 3,200 satellites through the world’s largest commercial launch agreement.
“This launch marks the first step towards the future of our partnership and increased launch cadence.
We have been steadily modifying our launch facilities in Cape Canaveral to support the capacity for future Project Kuiper missions in a manner that will ultimately benefit both our commercial and government customers as we endeavor to save lives, explore the universe and connect the world,” said Tory Bruno, ULA president and CEO.
“The addition of a second launch processing capability allows for dual, simultaneous launch processing between both integration facilities seamlessly.”
For two decades, ULA has served as the custodian of America’s national security space mission.
Our rockets fly to the most challenging and exotic orbits the nation requires, while delivering the most accurate payload insertions in the world.
ULA continues to carry this unique capability forward with the new Vulcan rocket, the latest and most advanced vehicle of this type.
Utilizing an innovative, modular architectural approach, Vulcan has expanded into the commercial LEO marketplace, providing efficient access to all orbits into the foreseeable future.
With even more innovative technology on our horizon, the sky is definitely not the limit.
https://www.ulalaunch.com/missions/missions-details/2025/04/29/united-launch-alliance-successfully-launches-amazon-s-first-operational-satellites
https://spaceflightnow.com/2025/04/28/live-coverage-ula-to-launch-first-production-amazon-kuiper-satellites-on-atlas-5-rocket-from-cape-canaveral/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nwyv0fPgmc
Heavy dusting of 'pineapple powder' paints Hawaii's volcanoes white after near-record snowfall — Earth from space
April 29, 2025
Striking satellite photos snapped in 2021 show the volcanic peaks of Hawaii's Big Island covered with a thick dusting of snow, also known by locals as "pineapple powder," following one of the island's most extreme snowfalls in recent history.
The first image (see above) shows the most extensive snow coverage on Mauna Loa, a 13,681-foot-tall (4,170 meters) volcano near the center of the Big Island.
The second image (below) shows a slightly smaller white patch on Mauna Kea, a 13,796-foot-tall (4,205 m) peak located around 25 miles (40 kilometers) further north. Both images were taken on the same day.
Mauna Loa is still active and most recently erupted between November and December 2022, according to the Global Volcanism Program. Mauna Kea, meanwhile, is dormant and has not erupted for at least 4,600 years.
Hawaiian snow is more common than most people realize, and both Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea often receive at least a light dusting every year. However, 2021 was an extreme case.
When the photo was taken, the combined snow covering both peaks reached the second-highest amount for this time of the year since records began in 2001, according to NASA's Earth Observatory.
At the peak of the preceding snowstorm, up to 2 feet (0.6 m) fell at the summit of both volcanoes in a single day.
Local reports revealed that several islanders traded in their surfboards for snowboards and skis, and braved the trip up Mauna Kea to partake in some rare snow sports as soon as the roads were cleared.
Pineapple powder
Hawaiian snow is often linked to a weather phenomenon referred to as Kona low, according to the Earth Observatory.
This is where winds shift from the typical northeast direction and start blowing from the southwest, or "Kona" side, drawing moisture from the tropical Pacific, which turns into rain and snow as it rises up the mountains' slopes.
Snow is most likely to occur between October and April, and both Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea experience an average of 20 days of snow cover every year, according to the Lyman Museum, based in the Big Island town of Hilo.
On rare occasions, snow has also fallen on the volcanoes as late as June, according to The Weather Channel. However, the pineapple powder may not be as common in the future.
Recent research revealed that human-caused climate change will likely make snow much less likely in Hawaii as rising sea surface temperatures make Kona low less likely to occur, according to the University of Hawai'i at Manoa (UHM).
"Unfortunately, the projections suggest that future average winter snowfall will be 10 times less than present day amounts, virtually erasing all snow cover," Chunxi Zhang, an atmospheric modeling specialist at the International Pacific Research Center in Hawaii, said in a UHM statement.
In Hawaiian mythology, Mauna Kea is home to the snow goddess Poli'ahu, who had a fierce rivalry with Pele — the goddess of fire and volcanoes, for which the rare glass-like structures that form at Hawaii's Kilauea volcano are named.
In one story, Poli'ahu defeated Pele in a sledding race, which caused the latter to unleash a series of major volcanic eruptions in anger, according to the University of Hawai'i at Hilo.
https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/volcanos/heavy-dusting-of-pineapple-powder-paints-hawaiis-volcanoes-white-after-near-record-snowfall-earth-from-space
China's Tiandu satellite pulls off laser ranging in Earth-moon space under daylight, marking a world first
Apr 29, 2025 09:45 AM
From Saturday to Sunday, China's Tiandu-1 communication and navigation technology experiment satellite successfully conducted a laser ranging technology test in the Earth-moon space under strong daylight interference conditions, marking a world first in overcoming the time restriction of satellite laser ranging in Earth-moon space only being performed at night, signifying a new technological advancement in the field of precision measurement in deep space orbits, Global Times learned from the satellite developer China's Deep Space Exploration Lab (DSEL) on Monday.
Due to the vast scale of Earth-moon space and the extremely high speed of satellite motion, conducting laser ranging on satellites in such an environment is akin to aiming at a single hair (sub-millimeter target) from 10,000 meters away while performing precise tracking and signal acquisition, said DSEL in a statement it provided to the Global Times on Sunday.
Satellite laser ranging in Earth-moon space was limited to nighttime conditions without light interference, restricting observation periods and resulting in insufficient frequency of orbital dynamic data collection.
The successful execution of this laser ranging test under daylight interference conditions significantly expands the observation window for this technology, providing a practical engineering foundation for its widespread application, DSEL said.
This achievement will strongly support the validation and implementation of major deep space exploration missions, such as the International Lunar Research Station, it added.
As the first satellites ever developed by DSEL, the Tiandu-1 and -2 satellites were sent into space together with the Queqiao-2 relay satellite on March 20, 2024.
They entered their target circumlunar orbits on March 29 and separated on April 3, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
They have conducted a series of technological experiments for lunar communication and navigation.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202504/1333101.shtml
Minnesota Thunderstorms Seen From Space As Warnings Issued
Apr 28, 2025 at 5:53 PM EDT
National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologists in the Upper Midwest have issued severe thunderstorm warnings and watches for southwestern Minnesota as satellites captured images of thunderstorms rolling into the state from space.
Dangerous storms have impacted the High Plains since last Thursday, and now the storms will move further east to bring similar threats to the Upper Midwest.
The widespread severe storms could cause travel disruptions and power outages, meteorologists warned, with peak storms occurring from Monday afternoon into Monday night.
Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin are at the greatest risk for storm impacts.
On Monday afternoon, the NWS Weather Prediction Center shared an image on X, formerly Twitter, that shows the view of the storms from space.
"This GOES 19 imagery shows a line of severe thunderstorms pushing from South Dakota into Minnesota and Iowa this afternoon," the NWS Weather Prediction Center posted.
"The Storm Prediction Center issued a Moderate Risk of Severe Thunderstorms and Tornado Watches for portions of the Upper Midwest through this evening."
Meanwhile, a tornado warning was issued south of St. Cloud, Minnesota, just before 4:15 p.m. Central time on Monday afternoon. The warning urged people to take shelter.
"Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter," the warning said. "Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage to roofs, windows and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely."
In some parts of the state, there have been reports of hail up to 2 inches in size.
Tornado watches have been issued for southwestern Minnesota and northwestern Iowa, with severe thunderstorm warnings issued for far southwestern Minnesota.
Although not unheard of in the spring months, AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tom Kines told Newsweek that tornados in Minnesota and Iowa more typically occur during summer months.
He also warned that the tornado outbreak could impact areas outside of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa.
NWS Twin Cities in a post on X: "Severe Thunderstorms are ongoing in SW MN. These storms will continue to move northeast this afternoon.
We are also monitoring for t-storm strengthening along the rest of the line as it moves into a more favorable environment."
NWS office in Grand Forks, North Dakota, in a special weather statement: "Scattered showers and thunderstorms have developed across west central Minnesota.
Conditions are favorable for funnel clouds with any thunderstorm that develops. These types of funnel clouds are usually short lived, however, they can and occasionally do touch the ground and cause minor damage.
Therefore, if you see a funnel cloud, take cover immediately."
The storms will move out of the Upper Midwest region before Tuesday. People in the impacted areas should remain alert throughout Monday evening, as severe weather can be unpredictable.
https://www.newsweek.com/minnesota-storm-seen-space-tornado-warning-issued-2065330
https://twitter.com/NWSWPC/status/1916946254812062163
Scientists find giant, hidden gas cloud only 300 light-years away: 'This cloud is literally glowing in the dark'
April 28, 2025
The surprise discovery of a huge cloud of molecular gas — the stuff that forms stars — just 300 light-years away is opening up new ways to study the conditions that enable star birth.
Stars form from collapsing clouds of molecular gas. We see this in the likes of the Orion Nebula, which gets energized by hot ultraviolet radiation of the young stars born within.
However, finding molecular clouds before they begin producing stars is more difficult.
Such clouds are predominantly made from molecular hydrogen gas, which, when it isn't being energized by starlight, is very faint — almost invisible.
(Atomic hydrogen, on the other hand, is easily detectable by radio telescopes). Astronomers usually use radio telescopes to detect carbon monoxide, which is available in much lower quantities in molecular clouds, as a proxy.
But what about the clouds without much carbon monoxide?
Astronomers led by Blakesley Burkhart of Rutgers University–New Brunswick in New Jersey and Thavisha Dharmawardena of New York University, have pioneered an entirely new way of seeing the invisible.
Using far-ultraviolet data from the Korean STSAT-1 satellite, they directly detected molecules of hydrogen fluorescing.
"This is the first-ever molecular cloud discovered by looking for far-ultraviolet emission of molecular hydrogen directly," Burkhart said in a statement. "This cloud is literally glowing in the dark."
The cloud is roughly crescent-shaped and sits on the edge of the Local Bubble, which is a volume of space where the interstellar medium is more rarefied than its surroundings, perhaps having been emptied by the shockwaves of hundreds of ancient supernovas.
The sun and our solar system are passing through the Local Bubble, and have been doing so for the past five million years or so.
The cloud, named Eos after the goddess of Greek mythology who signified the dawn, contains approximately 3,400 solar masses worth of gas.
It's also depleted in carbon monoxide, which is why it had gone undetected by conventional means.
Eos is predicted to disperse, or photodissociate, as a result of background photons impacting the cloud's molecules, in about 5.7 million years' time.
This is too soon for it to begin forming stars, unless there is some other trigger that advances things, such as the gravitational disturbance of another passing cloud.
Intriguingly, the average star-formation rate in our sun's neighborhood has been calculated at 200 solar masses per million years.
Eos is losing mass to the wider interstellar medium at a rate of 600 solar masses per million years, three times the rate at which molecular gas is converted into stars.
Therefore, this dispersion of molecular clouds as a result of photodissociation from light emitted by nearby stars seems to act as a feedback mechanism to regulate the rate of star formation, Burkhart's team believes.
This is useful information for telling us more about the conditions needed to enable star formation in other, more distant clouds.
"When we look through our telescopes, we catch whole solar systems in the act of forming, but we don't know in detail how that happens," said Burkhart.
"Our discovery of Eos is exciting because we can now directly measure how molecular clouds are forming and dissociating, and how a galaxy begins to transform interstellar gas and dust into stars and planets."
And the discovery of other, similar clouds could be just on the horizon.
"The use of the far-ultraviolet fluorescence emission technique could rewrite our understanding of the interstellar medium, uncovering hidden clouds across the galaxy and even out to the furthest detectable limits of cosmic dawn," said Dharmawardena.
Eos may not see the dawn of new stars, but its existence is testament to a greater dawn, going all the way back to near the beginning of the universe, in which stars have brought daylight to a dark cosmos.
https://www.space.com/the-universe/scientists-find-giant-hidden-gas-cloud-only-300-light-years-away-this-cloud-is-literally-glowing-in-the-dark
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-025-02541-7
Global first test success for NASA space power system
April 28, 2025
A spacecraft power system that combines the technological know-how of engineers and scientists at the University of Leicester and NASA Glenn has passed its first test with flying colors.
In late 2024, the university signed an International Space Act Agreement with NASA to enable collaborative use of engineering design and laboratory resources at NASA Glenn, and the teams proceeded to test a revolutionary innovation that can positively impact space exploration.
The two groups are collaborating on a project to combine electrically-heated simulators of americium heat sources developed at the university, with Stirling power convertor technologies from NASA Glenn.
The pairing builds on the development of radioisotope power systems at the university, which has been in progress for over a decade.
The heat sources being developed by the university are powered by americium-241, which is an alternative to the plutonium-238 heat sources that have historically been flown in space.
Together, the teams collaborated on a practical demonstration of a bench-top generator prototype, using electrically-heated replicas of an americium heat source and Advanced Stirling Convertors.
The successful completion of the test campaign was a significant achievement for the teams. This is a global first demonstration of how an americium heat source can be used to drive multiple Stirling engines to generate electrical power.
This successful test also reinforces the university's multi-decadal leadership in radioisotope power systems and philosophy of building international collaboration.
This positive outcome places the team at the forefront of worldwide use of americium-fueled space nuclear power systems.
These systems could be used to power future space missions into new frontiers by converting heat from americium-241 heat sources into electricity via Stirling convertors.
Dr. Hannah Sargeant, research fellow in the Space Nuclear Power team at Space Park Leicester, said, "A particular highlight of this design is that it is capable of withstanding a failed Stirling convertor without a loss of electrical power.
"This feature was demonstrated successfully in the test campaign, and highlights the robustness and reliability of an Americium-Radioisotope Stirling Generator for potential future spaceflight missions, including long duration missions that could operate for many decades.
Our hardware forward approach with rapid iteration cycles continues to deliver positive and exciting outcomes."
https://phys.org/news/2025-04-global-success-nasa-space-power.html
Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket suffers 'mishap' during launch of prototype Lockheed Martin satellite
April 29, 2025
Firefly Aerospace launched its Alpha rocket for the sixth time ever on Tuesday morning (April 29), but things did not go as planned.
Alpha lifted off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base Tuesday at 9:37 a.m. EDT (1337 GMT; 6:37 a.m. local California time) through dense fog.
The rocket's second stage appeared to tumble after separating from its booster, but seemed to right itself shortly afterward. However, it appears the second-stage vehicle may have lost its nozzle.
"Following a nominal liftoff of Firefly’s Alpha rocket, there was a mishap during first stage separation for the FLTA006 mission that impacted the Stage 2 Lightning engine nozzle, putting the vehicle in a lower than planned orbit," Firefly Aerospace wrote in an update on X following the launch. "We are working with our Lockheed Martin customer, the Space Force, and FAA to conduct a thorough investigation and determine the root cause."
Today's mission, which Firefly called "Message in a Booster," was intended to send the LM 400 satellite technology demonstrator to low Earth orbit (LEO) for Lockheed Martin.
The mission was originally supposed to launch on March 15, but Firefly called that attempt off due to an issue with the launch range. Another attempt on Monday (April 28) was scrubbed due to an issue with ground support equipment.
Today's flight was the first of up to 25 launches that Firefly will conduct for the aerospace giant over the next five years under an agreement announced last year.
"The LM 400 tech demo was specifically built to showcase the company's pathfinding efforts for its LM 400 mid-sized, multi-mission satellite bus, and to demonstrate the space vehicle's operational capabilities on orbit for potential customers," Firefly wrote in a prelaunch mission description.
"As a platform, Lockheed Martin's LM 400 is the company's most flexible satellite bus, capable of serving military, commercial or civil customers," Firefly added.
"It can be customized to host a variety of missions — including remote sensing, communications, imaging and radar — and operate in any orbit."
"Message in a Booster" was the sixth flight for the two-stage, 96.7-foot-tall (29.6 meters) Alpha, which is capable of sending 2,270 pounds (1,030 kilograms) of payload to LEO.
The rocket suffered a partial failure during its fourth flight in December 2023, deploying its payload — an electronically steerable antenna developed by Lockheed Martin — into the wrong orbit. But Alpha bounced back on Flight 5 last June, sending eight cubesats to LEO as planned.
Firefly has been in the news quite a bit recently, and not because of Alpha: On March 2, the company's Blue Ghost moon lander pulled off the second-ever soft lunar touchdown by a private vehicle.
Blue Ghost and its 10 NASA science instruments performed well, operating until mid-March, when the sun set over the solar-powered lander's touchdown site in the northern hemisphere of the moon's near side.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/firefly-aerospace-alpha-rocket-launch-lm-400-lockheed-martin
https://fireflyspace.com/missions/alpha-flta006/
US Army launches hypersonic missile from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
April 29, 2025
The U.S. Army launched an undisclosed hypersonic missile from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force station last week, just days after naming its new hypersonic weapon the "Dark Eagle."
Dark Eagle is the colloquial name for the U.S. Army's Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW), a surface-to-surface missile that carries a hypersonic glide body, a vehicle capable of carrying warheads and maneuvering as it travels at speeds greater than five times the speed of sound through Earth's atmosphere.
Because of their speed and maneuverability, these types of weapons are much more difficult to defend against than traditional missiles.
The U.S. Army did not disclose any details about the test, the existence of which was learned largely through airspace closure notices issued by the Federal Aviation Administration for Friday, April 25.
It's unknown if this launch was the "Dark Eagle," although the Army launched the same missile from the Cape late last year.
However, some Space Coast photographers were able to snap a few pictures of what appears to be the launch.
Photographer Jerry Pike posted four photos to X that appear to show the Dark Eagle/LRHW launching from Cape Canaveral out toward the Eastern Range, the airspace that supports launches from the U.S. East Coast.
"Shortly after liftoff, the vehicle split into two distinct sections, with one appearing to tumble away, and the other continuing to propel itself forward until it disappeared into the sky," Pike wrote in the post.
It's unclear what the fallen piece could have been, but the LRHW is a two-stage rocket; it's possible Pike caught the first stage falling away.
The U.S. Army just announced the name "Dark Eagle" for the LRHW on April 25.
According to an Army statement, the word "dark" reflects the missile's ability to render obsolete adversary capabilities, including anti-aircraft systems, long-range weapons and communication infrastructure.
"Eagle," meanwhile, owes its name to the bald eagle, the national bird of the United States.
The bald eagle, the Army writes, is "a master hunter known for its speed, stealth and agility" and reflects the LRHW's "combination of velocity, accuracy, maneuverability, survivability and versatility."
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/us-army-launches-dark-eagle-hypersonic-missile-from-cape-canaveral-space-force-station
https://twitter.com/JerryPikePhoto/status/1915750832005325148
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/satellites/40-year-old-spy-satellite-photos-are-helping-find-forgotten-land-mines-in-cambodia
40-year-old spy satellite photos are helping find forgotten land mines in Cambodia
April 29, 2025
Declassified images from U.S. military satellites are helping find forgotten mine fields in Cambodia.
From the late 1960s almost until the end of the 1990s, a bloody war between communist groups and democracy defenders raged, with a few short breaks, in the jungles and on the rice fields of Cambodia.
The conflict left behind a hidden legacy that keeps increasing the war's death toll to this day.
Over 10 million anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines and other explosives may have been scattered across Cambodia's land during the decades of fighting.
Over half of them may still lurk in the ground, waiting for unlucky people or vehicles to set them off. Since the war's end in 1998, over 20,000 people have been killed and 45,000 injured in mine accidents in Cambodia.
The toll is still rising.
"There were over 50 accidents last year," Tobias Hewitt, the country director for Cambodia at the HALO Trust, a de-mining non-governmental organization (NGO), told Space.com.
"The number is steadily decreasing, but it's still a huge problem." The HALO Trust has been working in Cambodia since the 1990s, helping to scour hundreds of square miles of contaminated land.
The work is tedious, and progress is slow. It requires teams of technicians with mine detectors to comb the land square foot by square foot. The problem is, they don't always know where to look.
"During the Cambodian conflict, a lot of the information was never recorded," Hewitt said. "Mines were put there, people left and have forgotten about it."
The HALO Trust team has been relying on satellite images for years to look for suspect areas.
But the landscape has changed since the war's end. Jungle has grown, villages have been abandoned and roads have stopped being used.
Last year, the de-miners decided to search for clues in images captured by U.S. military satellites in the 1970s and 1980s.
The images were captured by the HEXAGON fleet of satellites operated by the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. The satellites used old-fashioned film to take their snaps.
The film spools would be sent in sturdy return capsules to Earth, where the images would be developed. The data was kept secret for decades.
But in 2011, nearly 30,000 images were declassified and made available to the public through the Department of State.
The HALO Trust team found thousands of images of regions in the west of Cambodia, where most of the suspected mine fields are located. It's been a game-changer.
"We were able to overlay those old images on regular Google Earth images and find old roads, for example," said Hewitt.
"That's a huge help, because that's where most mines would be put in the ground. We would not be able to know about them otherwise."
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Cambodian society has changed since the war. Many people have moved into cities. Those who lived through the conflict are dying. New farmers begin to work the land, oblivious to the hidden danger.
"If they don't know that there used to be a road, they just assume it's farmland and plough it," said Hewitt. "Unfortunately, accidents happen."
In recent years, as Cambodia's economy began to grow, farmers have started abandoning traditional manual farming methods and began purchasing tractors and other machinery. That, Hewitt said, opened up a new can of worms.
"There are two types of land mines in Cambodia," said Hewitt. "Anti-personnel mines, which only need a very small amount of pressure to explode, and anti-vehicle mines.
The anti-vehicle mines may have been buried in the ground for decades. You can walk over them and nothing happens.
But now, with the mechanization of agriculture, you are setting off those mines that have been dormant for decades."
The old military satellite images are helping to speed up the clearance. However, Hewitt, said that the process is still time-consuming and laborious.
"We have to manually sync those images with our existing maps and then go over them inch by inch looking for old roads," Hewitt said.
"Then, once we have an area where we think there used to be a road, a team will go there and try to confirm that information through ground survey work."
In the few months since the project started, the HALO Trust team has analyzed all the suspected areas in western Cambodia and identified several high-priority areas where mines are likely present.
With the vast amount of land remaining to be cleared, zooming in quickly on the most dangerous zones could save lives.
"You don't have the luxury to clear everything," said Hewitt. "You need to focus on the highest priority.
With these additional assets and different information points, we can better prioritize what we are doing and do it in the most efficient way possible."
Since the 1990s, Cambodia has cleared about 1,200 square miles (3,100 square kilometers) of mine-contaminated land.
According to estimates, some 180 square miles (470 square km) remains to be cleared. The country hopes to be rid of land mines completely by 2030.
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China launches third batch of Guowang megaconstellation satellites
April 29, 2025
China launched a third batch of Guowang megaconstellation satellites Tuesday, advancing its ambitious low Earth orbit communications network to rival Starlink and other global systems.
A Long March 5B heavy lift rocket with a Yuanzheng-2 upper stage lifted off at 4:10 p.m. Eastern (2010 UTC) April 28 from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan island, southern China, with the rocket climbing above heavy fog at the spaceport.
The Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) announced the success of the launch just over two hours after liftoff.
SAST described the launch as carrying the satellite Internet low-orbit group 03 satellites, without providing further details or images of the satellites.
While U.S. Space Force space domain awareness had not cataloged objects associated with the launch at time of reporting, airspace closure notices indicated the satellites were to be inserted into a near-polar orbit.
The first group of Guowang satellites, also launched on a Long March 5B with a YZ-2 upper stage, consisted of 10 satellites. The SAST mission patch included 10 stars, which in Chinese can be used as synonymous with satellite.
The China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), which, like SAST, is a major institute under China’s state-owned main space contractor, CASC, manufactured the satellites.
CAST stated in December it had developed large and small satellite platforms for Guowang, without disclosing functional differences.
It is likely, given the payload capacity and voluminous payload fairing of the Long March 5B, that the group 03 satellites belong to the larger category.
The constellation’s second launch, in February, used the smaller Long March 8A launcher and likely carried nine of the smaller platform satellites.
If Tuesday’s launch carried another 10 satellites, this would bring the total number of Guowang spacecraft in orbit to 29, with 19 of those tracked by the U.S. Space Force from the earlier two launches.
Unlike previous missions, the first stage of the Long March 5B is not expected to reach orbit, avoiding an uncontrolled reentry. This is due to the rocket using the YZ-2 upper stage to insert the satellites into their intended orbits.
The mission, as noted by Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer who also tracks spaceflight activities, was one of four megaconstellation launches Tuesday, highlighting how these projects are changing the launch landscape.
Target: 13,000 satellites
Guowang is planned to consist of around 13,000 satellites. It aims to provide global communications coverage from low Earth orbit and is seen as a response to Starlink and other constellations.
Despite the ostensibly civilian focus of the Guowang constellation, the availability of details regarding the project is limited. The lack of transparency, even in comparison to the Shanghai-led Qianfan/Thousand Sails megaconstellation, has raised questions.
The project is overseen by the state-owned China Satellite Network Group Co., Ltd., or China Satnet, established in April 2021.
China Satnet will need, according to ITU regulations, to launch half of the 13,000 satellites by 2032, requiring a large growth in China’s launch cadence.
Tuesday’s launch was China’s 23rd orbital launch of 2025, following after the launch of Shenzhou-20, April 24, and the Tianlian-2 (05) data relay satellite April 27.
The Shenzhou-19 crew were due to return to Earth April 29, but this has been pushed to April 30 due to weather.
China has not revealed how many launches it is planning for 2025, but it may target around 100, inline with the stated but unmet goal for 2024.
One of the highlight launches, the Tianwen-2 near-Earth asteroid sample return and comet rendezvous mission, is set to launch during the last 10 days of May.
https://spacenews.com/china-launches-third-batch-of-guowang-megaconstellation-satellites/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ7bfVKQllA