Aboard LADEE is the Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD), which achieved super-fast download speeds of 622 megabits per second (Mbps) and an upload rate of 20 Mbps. In comparison, the internet at WIRED’s office in San Francisco gets download rates of 75 Mbps and uploads at 50 Mbps. NASA’s typical communications with the moon are about five times slower than what LLCD provided.
Though not a primary mission objective, SpaceX was also able to initiate two engine relights on the first stage. For the first restart burn, we lit three engines to do a supersonic retro propulsion, which we believe may be the first attempt by any rocket stage. The first restart burn was completed well and enabled the stage to survive reentering the atmosphere in a controlled fashion.
The agency that regulates global wireless frequencies and satellite orbital positions on Sept. 27 warned owners of small satellites that they are not exempt from the rules that bind the rest of the satellite industry.
PocketQubes are a new design of satellite that bring the cost of personal satellites down to what Universities and amateur radio enthusiasts can actually afford. Instead of spending $125k on a 10cm cube CubeSat, the PocketQube, a 5cm cube, can be launched to a 700 km orbit for about $20,000.
An interesting graphic of many different space missions.
Researchers at the Massachusetts's Institute of technology say they have developed an inflatable antenna for small satellites known as cubesats that can fold into a compact space and inflate when in orbit.
The NE-1 Rocket Launch Service is bringing space within reach of the general public by offering an affordable way for universities, private organizations, and even individual space enthusiasts to send objects into space and back. The low-cost, reusable NE-1 rocket will boost payloads of less than 5kg on a sub-orbital trajectory to an altitude of 120km. Near apogee the payload will experience around 3 minutes of free fall while being exposed to the hard vacuum and radiation above the earth’s atmosphere. Upon re-entering the atmosphere parachutes will deploy and allow for recovery of the payload and rocket.
