📡 ArianeGroup | Copernicus | SES | Northrop Grumman | BlackSky | SpaceX | Comtech | Deep Space Systems | Intelsat | Roscosmos | Gaofen-9 | HEAD-4
issue 20
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Hi friends 🖖;
In spite of the current difficult times (wars, protests, pandemic…), and from an information and technology accessibility point of view, we live in a wonderful time. On the one hand, regarding knowledge, anyone with a decent internet connection and sufficient time can learn everything on the internet for free. On the other hand, the maturity of technologies and means of production allows today to put in the hands of ordinary people real jewels that allow them to develop/experiment in their garage projects worthy of big laboratories and companies. Remember that the Apollo Guidance Computer, the on-board computer that put men on the Moon, has 72 kb of read-only memory containing all the programs, 4 kb of random access memory, and a processor with just over 5,000 NOR gates.
In this issue, I would like to share with you four amateur projects that caught my attention, not only because of their technical prowess but also because they chose to share details on all their experiments for free:
Hojun Song developed a CubeSat, all alone in his basement. Discover the trailer of a documentary that documented the adventure of this young Korean artiste here. He is also the founder of the Open Source Satellite Initiative.
Joe Barnard develops models of SpaceX launchers. With a musician backgorund, he discovered his passion for rockets quite late and decided to learn everything by himself from the internet and books. I invite you to visit his youtube channel where he shares his experiences and documents his progress.
Dobson's telescope is a Newton telescope mounted on an azimuthal mount. It was invented by the monk and later American amateur astronomer John Dobson, who found commercially available telescopes too expensive. This telescope can be built by anyone from scratch or purchased online and presents an impressive price/performance ratio. Photography of nebulas is a bit complicated because of the azimuth mount, but if you are a handyman, this is a very good telescope to start with.
Copenhagen suborbital is a non-profit and open-source association whose goal is to achieve a suborbital flight with a crew. On August 4, 2018, they launched a rocket from the Baltic Sea which reached an altitude of 6,500 m. If Copenhagen Suborbitals achieves its goal, Denmark would be the fourth nation to send a human being into space after Russia, the USA, and China!
As always, have a great week!
PS: In connection with our editorial of last week, a new "Ask Me Anything" session of the SpaceX software team took place this Saturday. Engineers gave very interesting technical insights on the development and deployment of the software that flew the Crew Dragon spacecraft.
🛰 Here is what you missed
🕛 Chinese And Russian officials criticize the US defense space program and allied their military space programs…[+]
🕐 China successfully launches 2 satellites: a new Earth observation satellite Gaofen-9 and an IoT satellite HEAD-4.…[+]
🕑 Northrop Grumman adapts proven Cygnus technology for human habitation…[+]
🕒 BlackSky selects SpaceX’s Rideshare Program to deploy satellites on the next Starlink mission…[+]
🕓 SpaceX launches eighth Starlink mission, first VisorSat satellite…[+]
🕔 ArianeGroup successfully tests the first combustion chamber produced entirely by 3D printing…[+]
🕕 Comtech Receives $1.6 M Contract for High Power Amplifiers…[+]
🕖 Deep Space Systems Finalizes Acquisition by AE Industrial Partners…[+]
🕗 The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz Reminds Investors of Looming Deadline in the Class Action Lawsuit Against Intelsat S.A…[+]
🕘 Astroscale U.S. Enters the GEO Satellite Life Extension Market…[+]
🕙 The European Copernicus Accelerator 2021 is launching a contest for early-stage business ideas of Earth observation innovators…[+]
🕚 SES to restructure and consolidate part of European operations into Luxembourg headquarters…[+]
🍪 Cookie of the week
These NASA free e-books dive into a lot of space and aerospace topics. Some of the most popular downloads include a book about Hubble's galaxy discoveries, learning about how humans and animals light up the night, a photo-essay from NASA's Earth science division, a chronicle of the Cassini spacecraft's exploration of Saturn, and a discussion of robotic spacecraft that flew across the solar system and into interstellar space.
Here you are debriefed 👌. Rendezvous next week!
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