DeployedSpace
NASA puts 34-meter deep-space antenna into operation
DSS-23 began operations at Goldstone on Aug. 3 after testing from May through July.
Written by AI4 sources1 min
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Reusable rockets, Earth observation, constellations: orbit is becoming infrastructure.
Orbit is becoming infrastructure: reusable launchers driving down the cost per kilogram, constellations that connect and observe, Earth observation feeding agriculture, weather forecasting and climate monitoring. The section follows flights, commissionings and order books — SpaceX of course, but also the Chinese, Indian, Japanese and European launchers the general press skims over.
The angle stays the journal’s: what changes concretely, quantified and sourced. A launch is not a feat but a price per kilogram; a constellation is not a project but a number of active satellites and a service rendered. We distinguish the test flight from the commercial cadence, and the announcement from the signed contract.
DSS-23 began operations at Goldstone on Aug. 3 after testing from May through July.
MIT Lincoln Laboratory and NASA Goddard built the infrared laser system for Orion.
ROSALIA will remove stray, thermal, zodiacal and stellar light from Roman’s faint-universe observations.
The SmallSat will examine each target 10 times during its year-long primary mission.
QSI connected fault analysis with NASA's SysML v2 mission models using early HelioSwarm design information.
The review validates all Draco systems and clears full-scale manufacturing, integration and testing.
The Lingzhi-09 CubeSat will collect data on Thailand’s land, agriculture and ecology.
The four 17-kilogram spacecraft launched on Rocket Lab’s Electron in December 2025.
The satellite is due to lift off on Ariane 6 from French Guiana on 27 August.
Chang'e-7 will combine an orbiter, lander, rover and hopper for the Moon's south pole.
S301 reaches 25,000 km/s and passes closer to Sagittarius A* than any previously identified star.
Deep Blue Aerospace’s Thunder-RS reached 1,297.5 kilonewtons during its first 100-second steady-state test.
The Chilean observatory will revisit each point in its survey footprint about 800 times over the next decade.
The plant passed expert acceptance in June and is built beside Wenchang’s launch site.
Yanhe Tech’s Xingyun wing rolls into a thermos-flask-sized reel for launch and in-orbit testing.
VISTA is a super-pressure balloon testing systems intended for Red Balloon’s HELIX airship.
The California startup qualified a family of products, not a single amplifier.
QPS-SAR-18 separated 50 minutes after liftoff and reached a 575-kilometer target orbit.