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<keyword id="20021374" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sriharikota" source="keywords">Sriharikota</keyword>: <keyword id="19915124" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="ISRO" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="ISRO" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="ISRO">ISRO</keyword> on Friday launched its third and final <keyword id="22763595" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="developmental-flight" source="keywords">developmental flight</keyword>, <keyword id="22803030" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Small-Satellite-Launch-Vehicle-D3" source="keywords">Small Satellite Launch Vehicle-D3</keyword>, carrying <keyword id="21767253" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Earth-Observation-Satellite" source="keywords">Earth Observation Satellite</keyword> EOS-08. The rocket lifted off majestically from the first launch pad at the <keyword id="20021373" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Satish-Dhawan-Space-Centre" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Satish Dhawan Space Centre" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Satish Dhawan Space Centre">Satish Dhawan Space Centre</keyword> here, situated about 135 km east of Chennai at a pre-fixed time of 9.17 am. The objectives of the SSLV-D3-EOS-08 mission include designing and developing a microsatellite and creating payload instruments compatible with the microsatellite bus, the Bengaluru-headquartered national space agency said. Built on the Microsat/IMS-1 bus, EOS-08 carries three payloads--Electro Optical Infrared Payload (EOIR), Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry payload (GNSS-R) and SiC UV Dosimeter. The EOIR payload is designed to capture images in the Mid-Wave IR (MIR) and Long-Wave IR (LWIR) bands, both during the day and night, for applications such as satellite-based surveillance, disaster monitoring, environmental monitoring, fire detection, volcanic activity observation and industrial and power plant disaster monitoring. The GNSS-R payload demonstrates the capability of using GNSS-R-based remote sensing for applications such as ocean surface wind analysis, soil moisture assessment, cryosphere studies over the Himalayan region, flood detection, and inland waterbody detection. The SiC UV Dosimeter monitors UV irradiance at the viewport of the Crew Module in the Gaganyaan Mission and serves as a high-dose alarm sensor for gamma radiation.

ISRO's final developmental flight lifts off from Sriharikota spaceport

As it readies its constellation of <keyword id="21665619" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Earth-observation-satellites" source="keywords">Earth observation satellites</keyword>, <keyword id="22385578" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bengaluru-based-startup" source="keywords">Bengaluru-based startup</keyword> <keyword id="22317867" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Pixxel-Space" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Pixxel Space" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Pixxel Space">Pixxel Space</keyword> has plans to map the Moon and <keyword id="20578027" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="asteroids" source="keywords">asteroids</keyword>, and look for materials required to build settlements in outer space. In an interaction with PTI editors at the agency's headquarters here, Pixxel Space co-founder and CEO Awais Ahmed spelt out the long-term plans of the startup and these include exploration of asteroids with the intention of finding building materials or possible <keyword id="22407481" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fuel-sources" source="keywords">fuel sources</keyword> for future settlements in space. "We are building hyper-spectral cameras that look at the Earth. The same cameras can be turned outwards to look at other objects in space. We can send these spacecraft to the Moon, <keyword id="19901192" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mars" source="keywords">Mars</keyword> or the asteroid belt, and build a map of the solar system," Ahmed said. He said the startup would also like to place satellites in orbits around the Moon -- cis-lunar orbits -- to explore the Earth's only natural satellite in greater detail. "We can go between Mars and Jupiter in the asteroid belt and identify which of these asteroids are stunning and useless, and which of them have certain precious materials that can be useful in space," Ahmed said. Satellites can look for ice on asteroids which can be used as fuel by splitting it into hydrogen and oxygen, and can also be stored as water, he said. "So, when humanity expands towards space it does not make sense to mine all of that material from Earth when there's so much more material actually available in space," ahmed said. He said Elon Musk's SpaceX was building railroads for the space revolution, while Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and others were building habitats for space. "We want to be the ones to provide the material to sort of make it all happen. But very long term vision," Ahmed said. Pixxel Space plans to launch six hyper-spectral satellites later this year as part of its constellation to map the Earth in greater detail. Another 18 satellites are slated for launch next year that will complete the Bengaluru-based startup's constellation in low Earth orbit.

Bengaluru-based Pixxel Space plans to mine asteroids for building settlements in space

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Elon Musk doesn't think aliens are out there.</li><li>The SpaceX owner has launched rockets and put thousands of satellites into space.</li></ul><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-elon-musk">SpaceX</a> owner <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a> doesn't think aliens exist."I have seen no evidence for aliens and, with ~6000 satellites orbiting Earth, I think I would know," Musk <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1782315032056926621">wrote</a> on X on Monday.The billionaire responded to a recent <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfTU5LA_kw8&amp;ab_channel=PowerfulJRE">interview</a> that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fox-news-host-tucker-carlson-biography-of-right-wing-superstar-2020-7">Tucker Carlson</a> gave on the podcast "The Joe Rogan Experience," which aired on April 19.Carlson told host <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/joe-rogan-experience-podcast-draws-huge-audience-spotify-2024-3">Joe Rogan</a> that he thinks aliens "have been here a long time" and claimed that "there's a ton of evidence that they're under the ocean and under the ground." It seems, however, that Musk disagrees with Carlson's theory.This isn't the first time Musk has publicly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fermi-paradox-drake-equation-aliens-elon-musk-2018-6">contemplated the existence of extraterrestrials</a>. In June 2018, Musk said in an <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1011085383239589888">X post</a> that "it is unknown whether we are the only civilization currently alive in the observable universe."But this, Musk said, meant there was "added impetus for extending life beyond Earth.""The scariest answer to the Fermi Paradox is that there are no aliens at all," Musk <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1682945360572948484">wrote</a> in July, referencing physicist <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-aliens-have-not-contacted-humans-2015-9">Enrico Fermi's</a> questions about why humans have yet to discover aliens.Musk has a vested interest in discovering what's out there in space beyond what appears to be a personal interest in aliens. His work at SpaceX to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-spacex-military-contracts-dod-space-force-2020-10">launch rockets and satellites for the US military</a> has made him <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-and-starlink-critics-question-billionaires-control-2023-9">a huge defense contractor in the US</a>.Starlink has played a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/officials-worry-about-ukraines-reliance-on-elon-musks-starlink-2023-7">critical role in the Ukraine war,</a> where Ukrainian soldiers have used it to operate its drone fleet and communicate in conflict zones. Musk hopes to send up to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-starlink-satellites-internet">42,000 Starlink satellites</a> into space eventually.Representatives for SpaceX didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.

Elon Musk says he 'would know' if there are aliens out there with all the Starlink satellites he has orbiting Earth

<keyword id="6355143" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sriharikota" source="Orion">Sriharikota</keyword> (Andhra Pradesh), Feb 10 (IANS) India's new rocket Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV-D2) on Friday morning lifted off with an earth observation satellite-07 (EOS-07) weighing 156.3 kg. Piggybacking on that are two other satellites -- 10.2 kg Janus-1 belonging to ANTARIS of the US and 8.7 kg AzaadiSat-2 belonging to <keyword id="4136256" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="space-kidz-india" source="Orion">Space Kidz India</keyword>, Chennai. The SSLV-D2 is carrying a total weight of 175.2 kg. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed <keyword id="6864059" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sslv" source="Orion">SSLV</keyword> with a carrying capacity of 500 kg to the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) based on the market trend of going in for smaller satellites. At about 9.18 a.m. the 34 metre tall and 120 ton expendable rocket costing about Rs 56 crore broke free of the first launch pad and started its upward one way journey. The rocket with a thick orange flame at its tail slowly gathered speed and went up and up. As to the mission's objectives, ISRO said it is to demonstrate the designed payload capability of SSLV in LEO and injection of three satellites -- EOS-07, Janus-1 and AzaadiSAT-2 -- into the 450 km circular orbit. About 13 minutes into its flight, the SSLV rocket will eject EOS-07 and soon after that the other two satellites Janus-1 and AzaadiSAT-2 would be ejected -- all at an altitude of 450 km, said ISRO. With the new rocket in its portfolio, ISRO will have three rockets -- Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and its variants (cost about Rs 200 crore), Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-MkII cost about Rs 272 crore and LVM3 Rs 434 crore) and SSLV (Development cost of three rockets about Rs 56 crore each) and production cost may go down later. The SSLV's maiden flight -- SSLV-D1- on August 7, 2022 was a failure as the rocket had put the two satellites -- EOS-01 and AZAADISAT -- in a wrong orbit resulting in their loss. According to ISRO, the onboard sensors of SSLV-D1 were affected due to vibrations during the separation of its second stage. While the rocket's software was able to perform the ejection of the satellites, the ejections were done into a wrong orbit. The satellites also lacked necessary velocity to be on a stable orbit and went into oblivion. (Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at v.jagannathan@ians.in) SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/what-does-it-cost-to-find-love-on-a-dating-app-and-is-the-price-worth-it/articleshow/97775287.cms">What does it cost to find love on a dating app, and is the price worth it?</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sustainability/news/indias-first-solar-powered-electric-vehicle-could-cut-your-daily-transportation-costs-by-one-third/articleshow/97773509.cms">India's first solar-powered electric vehicle could cut your daily transportation costs by one-third!</a>

India's small rocket SSLV-D2 lifts off from Sriharikota with an earth observation satellite

Scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (<keyword id="6358064" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="isro" source="Orion">ISRO</keyword>) commenced the countdown on Friday for the launch of <keyword id="2001118" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="earth-observation-satellite" source="Orion">Earth Observation Satellite</keyword> - Oceansat - and eight other customer satellites on a <keyword id="6395832" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="pslv" source="Orion">PSLV</keyword>-C54 rocket from the spaceport of Sriharikota on Saturday. The 25.30-hour countdown for the 56th flight of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), in its extended version (PSLV-XL), started at 10.26 AM today for the lift-off scheduled at 11.56 AM on Saturday from the first launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, 115 km from here, a source said. The primary payload of the rocket is an Oceansat which would be separated in orbit-1 while the eight other nano-satellites would be placed in different orbits based on the customer's requirements (in the Sun-synchronous polar orbits). Including the primary payload, nine satellites would ride piggyback on the 44.4-metre high PSLV-C54 which has a lift-off mass of 321 tonnes. It is also the 24th flight of the PSLV-XL version. The mission would be one of the longest ones undertaken by the ISRO scientists who would engage the rocket to change orbits using two-orbit change thrusters (OCTs) used in the PSLV-C54 launch vehicle. The separation of the <keyword id="6359982" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="earth" source="Orion">Earth</keyword> Observation Satellite is expected to take place in orbit-1 while the passenger payloads would be separated in Orbit-2. The Earth Observation Satellite is expected to be placed after reaching an altitude of about 742 km about 20 minutes after lift-off. After the primary satellite separation, the vehicle would be lowered to reach an altitude of 516 km for placing of the first passenger satellite. The last payload separation is expected to take place at an altitude of 528 km, ISRO said. The Earth Observation Satellite-6 is the third-generation satellite in the Oceansat series. This is to provide continuity services for Oceansat-2 spacecraft with enhanced payload specifications as well as application areas. The objective of the mission is to ensure data continuity of ocean colour and wind vector data to sustain operational applications. The customer payloads include ISRO Nano Satellite-2 for Bhutan (INS-2B) which would have two payloads namely NanoMx and APRS-Digipeater. NanoMx is a multispectral optical imaging payload developed by the Space Applications Centre while the APRS-Digipeater payload is jointly developed by the Department of Information Technology and Telecom, Bhutan, and U R Rao Satellite Centre, Bengaluru. The 'Anand' satellite developed by Pixxel is a technology demonstrator to demonstrate the capabilities and commercial applications of a miniature earth observation camera for observation using a micro-satellite in low earth orbit. The 'Thybolt' (two satellites) is from another space start-up Dhruva Space while Astrocast is a technology demonstrator satellite for the internet of things as the payload from Spaceflight, the United States of America. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/retail-inflationary-pressures-expected-to-ease-with-fresh-kharif-arrivals-finance-ministry/articleshow/95760372.cms">Retail inflationary pressures expected to ease with fresh Kharif arrivals: Finance Ministry</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/construction-cost-of-greenfield-infra-projects-increased-by-5-7-q32022-cbre/articleshow/95762330.cms">Construction cost of greenfield infra projects increased by 5-7% Q32022: CBRE</a>

ISRO begins countdown for PSLV-C54 mission to launch Oceansat, eight other satellites

<ul class="summary-list"><li>NASA says <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sun-more-active-solar-storms-auroras-power-outages-grounded-flights-2023-2">the sun is in the highly active "maximum phase"</a> of its 11-year solar cycle.</li><li>That means there will probably be big solar storms bringing beautiful aurora in the next year or so.</li></ul>Thanks to the sun, we're in the middle of the best time to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saw-northern-lights-surprising-photos-misleading-2024-5">see the northern lights</a> — and maybe the worst time to be a satellite.NASA announced Tuesday that the sun is in the "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solar-maximum-could-sooner-than-expected-2023-6">maximum phase</a>" of its 11-year solar cycle, which basically means it's hyperactive.Our once-quiet star has been roiling with plasma arcs and sunspots and occasionally erupting, shooting <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/second-giant-coronal-hole-sun-solar-winds-space-weather-aurora-2023-3">energized particles out into space</a> — sometimes in Earth's direction.When those eruptions wash over our planet, they can trigger <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-aurora-northern-lights-rare-appearance-south-solar-storm-2023-3">beautiful aurora unusually far from the poles,</a> in more populated regions, like Arizona or California.<div type="image" title="Shreveport" height="2268" width="4032" msid="114291827" hostid="261" sizebytes="508996"></div>But <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sun-polar-vortex-video-from-solar-plasma-break-2023-2">solar eruptions</a> can also endanger satellites, astronauts, and even power grids here on Earth.NASA expects a lot of those explosions in the next six months to a year along with the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solar-storm-earth-northern-southern-lights-auroras-how-to-see-2023-4">geomagnetic storms</a> they cause in Earth's upper atmosphere. That's how much longer the sun will likely be at maximum, but there's still potential for big eruptions in the ensuing years as the sun winds down."We anticipate additional solar and geomagnetic storms leading to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/northern-lights-sky-friday-us-solar-winds-giant-hole-sun-2023-3">opportunities to spot aurora</a> over the next several months, as well as potential technology impacts," Kelly Korreck, a program scientist in NASA's Heliophysics Division, said during the announcement on Tuesday.<h2 id="c28a25b0-3a8e-46c8-90f0-c090be8a9dfa">The problem with the aurora</h2>Solar eruptions, like solar flares or coronal mass ejections, don't directly harm anyone on Earth, but they disrupt a layer of the upper atmosphere called <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-launch-hole-ionosphere-earth-atmosphere-physicist-2023-7">the ionosphere</a>.Some technologies, such as <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/no-gps-on-moon-nasa-esa-artemis-plans-to-fix-2023-1">GPS</a> and high-frequency radios used for navigation, rely on the ionosphere and experience blackouts during some solar storms.That can <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/flying-becoming-more-miserable-climate-crisis-delays-costs-turbulence-2024-8">delay flights</a>, since planes use both satellite and radio communications. Indeed, a 2023 <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=8e26d9ff6e66f84cefbfeefdbced737cfc1cea9d00c54bc32fab88e9e3d96541&amp;postID=670eb5b8434c477c232fed0c&amp;postSlug=nasa-declares-sun-maximum-what-solar-storms-mean-technology-auroras-2024-10&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41598-023-30424-2">study</a> found that flights were 21% more likely to be delayed by at least 30 minutes during solar storms.Solar storms can also <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solar-cycle-active-grounded-flights-downed-satellites-2024-8">push satellites out of orbit</a>.In very severe cases, solar storms can affect power grids. In 1989, a geomagnetic storm wiped out Quebec's electricity and caused other power-system issues in the US, UK, and Sweden.Nothing that major has happened in a while. But this solar maximum has been one for the books. In May, an <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-northern-lights-dazzle-night-sky-across-the-us-europe-2024-5">extreme geomagnetic storm </a>brought the northern lights as far south as Arkansas.<div type="image" title="northern lights night sky with pink and purple glow above silhouette of treetops" height="1500" width="2000" msid="114291826" hostid="261" sizebytes="115744"></div>It was "the strongest solar storm to reach Earth in two decades and possibly one of the strongest displays of auroras on record in the past 500 years," said Elsayed Talaat, the director of the Office of Space Weather Observations at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.Unlike two decades ago, NOAA can better <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronal-hole-on-sun-blasts-solar-wind-toward-earth-2023-3">forecast geomagnetic storms</a> and industries can prepare for them before they strike. Still, the May solar storm disrupted high-precision GPS that some US farmers rely on, causing about $500 million in losses, according to Bill Murtagh, a program coordinator at NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center."The bigger the storm, the more visible the aurora, the further south it's visible. At the same time, we can't be hoping for these big displays because with them comes the threat to our critical infrastructure," Murtagh said during Tuesday's announcement. "We always have to be careful with what we wish for. "<h2 id="7ab5ba6b-e0c1-46b9-a08a-6f2bc8739d3b">Why the sun is at maximum</h2>The sun has an 11-year cycle, where it builds from a quiet, placid minimum to a roaring maximum, then dies back down.The current <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/next-solar-maximum-2025-what-expect-cycle-2023-4">solar maximum</a> likely began in early 2023, as the sun began to display more and more sunspots, which are low-temperature regions on the sun's surface created by concentrated magnetic field lines.<div type="image" title="side by side images of the sun bright yellow smooth sphere. the left image labeled solar minimum is completely smooth. the right image labeled solar maximum has dark spots speckled across the sun's center." height="1080" width="1920" msid="114291824" hostid="261" sizebytes="33546"></div>"There's <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sunspots-15-times-size-of-earth-solar-storm-into-view-2023-11">more sunspots emerging</a>, the magnetic field has more chances to interact and increase the probability of having a significant geomagnetic storm," Lisa Upton, the co-chair of the Solar Cycle 25 Prediction Panel, which is an international panel of experts who have been keeping tabs on the sun, said during the announcement on Tuesday.NASA scientists couldn't confirm that the sun had reached maximum until they'd seen the number of sunspots start to plateau."It's by looking at the shape of that cycle, how it's progressed so far, and how we know that solar cycle progresses from our observations of the last 25 solar cycles, that we can really say that we're at the maximum phase now," Upton said.Eventually, scientists will be able to pinpoint an exact peak of the entire solar cycle, but not until many months after the maximum phase ends.

The sun is at its 11-year maximum. That means another year of eruptions that can endanger satellites, ground flights, and spark stunning auroras.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The sun is growing more active than scientists predicted.</li><li>About every 11 years, the sun's magnetic fields flip, increasing solar activity.</li></ul>From afar, the sun looks calm and peaceful in our daytime skies. But up close, it's an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sun-images-reveal-creepy-threads-holes-light-bridge-solar-surface-2023-5">erupting, chaotic display</a> of solar activity the likes of which astrophysicists didn't expect until the last year or so."We didn't think the sun was <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sun-more-active-solar-storms-auroras-power-outages-grounded-flights-2023-2">going to be as active</a> this particular cycle, but the observations are completely opposite," Andrew Gerrard, the department chair and director of the Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research at New Jersey Institute of Technology, told Business Insider.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solar-storms-timelapse-video-sun-chaotic-peak-activity-noaa-2023-6">Solar cycles</a> typically occur every 11 years. Within that time, the sun oscillates from minimum to maximum solar activity, with maximum activity peaking in the middle of the cycle when the sun's magnetic fields flip.The last solar cycle was from 2008 to 2019. We're now in the middle of the current solar cycle and are approaching maximum magnetic activity.The <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/next-solar-maximum-2025-what-expect-cycle-2023-4">heightened solar magnetic activity</a> that's been growing over the last several years is so strong that it chokes energy from deep inside the sun, preventing it from reaching the surface. This causes cooler pockets on the solar surface that appear as dark splotches, known as sunspots.Scientists like Gerrard can get an idea of solar activity levels by counting sunspots. They've been reaching record highs over the last year or so.Earlier this month, NOAA reported that preliminary observations had found <a target="_blank" href="https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/solar-cycle-25-likely-reached-highest-sunspot-number-over-20-years">299 sunspots</a> that all appeared within 24 hours — the highest daily sunspot record in over 22 years if confirmed.Tracking sunspots is important because they are ground zero for <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-video-solar-flares-erupt-simultaneously-on-sun-earth-impacts-2024-4">powerful X-class solar flares</a> and massive eruptions called coronal mass ejections. These can pose threats to Earth, causing radio blackouts and power grid outages, disrupting GPS navigation, and even triggering satellites to fall from space.<div type="image" title="coronal mass ejection sun soho nasa" height="896" width="900" msid="112689588" hostid="261" sizebytes="28714"></div>Not all sunspots will produce an eruption and, when they do, not all eruptions pose a threat because they might miss Earth, Alex James, a solar physicist at the University of College London, told Business Insider over email.Still, learning to predict solar storms ahead of time is an important field of ongoing research because it could give us more lead time to prepare, James said.<h2 id="3f034004-b62e-4cb0-a5e1-0dc93a79a6a3">The sun is more active than we thought</h2><div type="image" title="Solar Flare" height="288" width="515" msid="112689589" hostid="261" sizebytes="12236"></div>X-class solar flares and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solar-eruption-coronal-mass-ejection-geomagnetic-storm-earth-aurora-friday-2023-11">coronal mass ejections</a> are beautiful to watch. But when they burst, they fling high-energy particles into space at speeds exceeding 1,000 mph. If Earth is in the way, there's a chance those particles can interact with our planet's magnetic field and upper atmosphere, causing <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/earth-bracing-severe-g4-geomagnetic-storm-may-be-more-to-come-2024-5">geomagnetic storms</a>.Geomagnetic storms can spark beautiful aurora borealis and aurora australis — the Northern and Southern lights. These colorful displays have been <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/northern-lights-appear-texas-utah-south-dakota-after-double-solar-eruption-2023-11">showing up further south</a> than usual, in states like Texas and Colorado. That's because of the sun's increased activity.<div type="image" title="You can see the Northern Lights in Alaska." height="854" width="1280" msid="112689585" hostid="261" sizebytes="96978"></div>But those high-energy particles are also like little gremlins that can cause all sorts of mayhem to high-frequency radio emissions that the military, airlines, and GPS systems rely on, Gerrard said.Since January, geomagnetic storms have caused <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/severe-g4-solar-storm-heading-toward-earth-heres-what-to-know-2024-5">radio blackouts</a> on four continents: North and South America, Europe, and Africa. This can make your GPS temporarily act up. It can also lead to power outages as well as grounded flights and flight delays since the Federal Aviation Administration won't allow planes to fly without both radio and satellite communications.Another concern is spacecraft. "If there's a coronal mass ejection, and if that material gets to the Earth, it's going to make the densities in Earth's upper atmosphere higher," Gerrard said. "And that's going to create more drag, and more drag is going to bring down spacecraft."In February 2022, a geomagnetic storm contributed to 38 <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-starlink-satellites-internet">Starlink satellites</a> coming down from orbit. The satellites were in a lower, transitional orbit and hadn't yet reached their final destination. <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=377c514ba577b9909f153f306aea59fc85b5a934b6debc10d30e7b8e69c6b99d&amp;postID=66c3af594add317a03d26c33&amp;postSlug=solar-cycle-active-grounded-flights-downed-satellites-2024-8&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd44151-024-00066-y">Scientists suspect</a> that lower orbit combined with a geo-storm, causing them to fall from space and burn up in Earth's atmosphere.And last May, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/starlink-experiencing-degraded-service-musk-says-satellites-under-pressure-2024-05-11">largest</a> geomagnetic storm to reach Earth in two decades led to degraded service from Starlink. No satellites fell out of orbit during that storm.<h2 id="b87e835e-66db-41c1-addc-5879e83a4108">The sun is reaching solar maximum</h2><div type="image" title="sunspot" height="1080" width="1920" msid="112689591" hostid="261" sizebytes="63402"></div>The sun's activity is expected to continue to increase until it reaches peak activity levels, which scientists call solar maximum."Current predictions suggest solar maximum will occur in the second half of 2025, but we'll only really know when the true maximum has occurred after the activity starts to decline again," James said.Though this cycle's solar maximum is projected to be stronger than scientists initially predicted, it's "looking fairly average in a more historical context," Mathew Owens, professor of space physics at the University of Reading, told BI over email.Still, we're likely more prone to the effects of solar maximum now than ever before because of our growing dependence on satellite technology, James said.

The sun is more active than experts predicted. It could mean more grounded flights, downed satellites, and stunning aurora. 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>NASA approved the $19.5 million Landolt Space Mission to send an artificial star into Earth's orbit.</li><li>It will be the first astronomical tool of its kind that could revolutionize the way we study space.</li></ul>Astronomers typically deal with the very, very large — <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blueprints-giant-telescopes-moon-nasa-astronomers-2024-2">big telescopes</a>, giant galaxies, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rare-cosmic-explosion-visible-naked-eye-nasa-space-2024-3">massive exploding stars</a>.But one of the more <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope-best-images-from-first-year-2022-12">revolutionary astronomy tools</a> of the decade is a mini satellite about the size of a bread box. The satellite will act as an artificial star for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/astronomers-discover-fastest-runaway-stars-in-milky-way-galaxy-2023-6">astronomers to observe from the ground,</a> allowing them to more accurately measure a space object's brightness and better understand some of the biggest mysteries in our universe, like dark energy.NASA recently approved the $19.5 million Landolt Space Mission to launch the mini satellite into Earth's orbit."This is some really awesome science that NASA is supporting," Tyler Richey-Yowell, a postdoctoral researcher at Lowell Observatory who studies stellar astronomy and exoplanets, told Business Insider. "It's something that's going to help out all astronomers."<h2 id="850dab02-cefa-4f6a-b198-ab2890924c14">A revolutionary new tool for astronomers</h2><div type="image" title="illustration of Landalt satellite firing lasers at an observatory on Earth" height="1030" width="2048" msid="111091999" hostid="261"></div>The mini satellite, called <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/planet-mars-image-nasa-marco-cubesat-2018-10">CubeSat</a>, is designed to orbit Earth from 22,236 miles away. At that distance, its speed will match Earth's spin so the satellite will appear fixed in the night sky and be an easy target for telescopes to track.You won't be able to see it with the naked eye. But to telescopes, it'll look like a star. The mission is scheduled to launch in 2029. It will be the first tool of its kind."This is really new for us to have some sort of artificial star, quote, unquote, up there that we can go and rely on and use," Richey-Yowell told BI.What makes this "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-fusion-artificial-star-hotter-sun-2016-2">artificial star</a>" better than a real one is that astronomers will know exactly how much light it's emitting.The CubeSat, named Landolt for the late astronomer Arlo Landolt, will <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-laser-beam-message-10-million-miles-away-streaming-mars-2023-11">fire lasers</a> with a specific number of light particles, or photons, which astronomers can use to calibrate their telescopes for measuring light.This can help eliminate a lot of the guesswork that astronomers do now when using real stars to calibrate their instruments.The problem is that there's no way of knowing exactly how much light real stars emit, because we can't send a probe to one to accurately measure its brightness, Richey-Yowell said. Moreover, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stratosphere-shrinking-greenhouse-gas-emissions-climate-change-2021-5">Earth's atmosphere</a> absorbs a lot of light from space, which can also affect astronomers' calibrations."That's why this Landolt mission is so important," Richey-Yowell said, adding that "if we send up a mission like this one where we know exactly how many photons, how much light per second, is coming from this CubeSat," then it could be used to compare and more precisely measure the light from other objects, like real stars.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.livescience.com/space/astronomy/nasa-will-put-a-new-star-in-the-sky-by-the-end-of-the-decade-in-1st-of-its-kind-mission">Live Science reported</a> that the mission is expected to help astronomers measure the light emitted from stars with 10 times the accuracy of current estimates.It's like if you were given a 1,000-piece puzzle with only half the pieces and then someone gifted you a few hundred more pieces. Landolt can help astronomers catch minute details they've otherwise been missing in the data.<h2 id="497f43a9-311c-42dd-b3e3-da5a0877850f">How Landolt could revolutionize astronomy</h2><div type="image" title="Illustration of an exoplanet floating in space surrounded by clouds of white and blue cosmic gas and dust" height="1322" width="2266" msid="111091996" hostid="261"></div>"All of our astronomy is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/flare-billion-times-sun-baffles-scientists-2023-11">based on light</a>, and so we really need to know how much light we are actually receiving," Richey-Yowell said.You can learn a lot from a ray of light: a star's temperature, its mass, the types of exoplanets orbiting it and whether they could harbor life.For example, knowing how hot a host star is can tell you how far an exoplanet must be in order to sustain liquid water on its surface, Richey-Yowell said. Water is a main ingredient of life as we know it and a key feature astrobiologists search for when scoping out potential planets that could harbor life.Finding more <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/astronomers-find-earth-like-planet-sun-like-star-2020-6">Earth-like planets</a> is just the beginning. Astronomers can also use Landolt to measure light from distant exploding stars, called supernovae, that can help calculate the expansion rate of the universe.Right now, cosmologists studying the universe's expansion face a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cosmic-glitch-makes-scientists-rethink-einstein-greatest-theory-2024-5">huge challenge</a>: They can't settle on a single value for the expansion rate. Some methods lead to one value, while others lead to a slightly different one. This conundrum could be key to figuring out some of the biggest mysteries of the universe, like understanding the invisible force ripping our universe apart that we call <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/largest-cosmic-map-new-understanding-dark-energy-universe-expansion-einstein-2024-4">dark energy</a>."So really anything from small, tiny planets to the whole scale of the universe relies on our understanding of stars and how bright they are and what kind of light they're emitting," Richey-Yowell said. "I really do think it will be revolutionary for astronomy."

NASA is putting an 'artificial star' in orbit around Earth

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Internet satellite networks re-entering the atmosphere en masse could damage the ozone layer, a study warns.</li><li>Elon Musk's Starlink is by far the biggest player in this field.</li></ul>Internet satellite networks like Elon Musk's Starlink could contribute toward the depletion of the ozone layer, a new study claims.Scientists at the University of Southern California's Department of Astronautical Engineering warned that the massive increase in low-earth orbit internet satellites could lead to damaging chemical reactions in the atmosphere.There are currently more than 8,000 internet satellites in low-earth orbit, of which about 6,000 are Starlink ones, <a target="_blank" href="https://news.agu.org/press-release/satellite-megaconstellations-burn-deplete-ozone/">a press statement said</a>.All are made with large amounts of aluminum and designed with a short, roughly five-year lifespan, it added.The problem comes when the satellites fall into Earth's atmosphere to burn up, producing aluminum oxide, the scientists said, triggering a chemical reaction that's highly destructive to the ozone.The study, published last week in the peer-reviewed <a target="_blank" href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024GL109280">Geophysical Research Letters journal</a>, found that the presence of the oxides increased roughly eightfold between 2016 and 2022 — and could surge far more with current satellite launch plans.SpaceX has plans to launch <a target="_blank" href="https://spacenews.com/spacex-submits-paperwork-for-30000-more-starlink-satellites/">another 42,000</a> Starlink satellites, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-satellites.html">according to Space.com</a>. Other companies, including Amazon, have plans to launch thousands more of their own, the study's authors said.Worse, the oxides aren't consumed by the action, so the effect could last for decades as the particles drift down, they added.In 2022, 18.7 tons of aluminum oxide nanoparticles were released into the atmosphere by falling satellites, they said.Looking ahead to planned satellite launches, this could increase to as much as 397 tons a year and could lead to "significant ozone depletion," according to the study.<h2 id="69ce32d4-efc0-45a2-8694-c594db1f7caa">A revolution in high-speed internet</h2>The system of placing many small satellites in low-earth orbit enables faster processing of larger volumes of data.Earlier satellites operated much higher up — at a cost to internet speeds — but had a much longer lifespan.<div type="image" title="starlink satellite internet network links terminals ground stations mark handley youtube 00007" height="1080" width="1920" msid="111089333" hostid="261"></div><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-launch">Elon Musk started SpaceX,</a> Starlink's parent company, in 2002, building it to be one of the biggest players in the space industry.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-watch-live-starlink-internet-satellites-rocket-launch-2019-5">The first launch</a> carrying experimental Starlink satellites was in 2019. Since then, the launches have continued, forming a mesh-like mega constellation that has helped meet the massive demand for fast global internet access — notably in Ukraine, where the technology has been vital to the country's defense communications.Starlink's X account <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/Starlink/status/1792678386353213567">said in May</a> that it serves three million internet customers across 100 countries and territories.<h2 id="4fcef900-511e-40e5-adbe-b568adc98f9a">Hitting pause on a rare success story</h2><div type="image" title="A still from a European Space Agency video showing a multicoloured visualization of the ozone layer over the earth's globe, with Antarctica visible through a massive hole, as of September 28, 2023." height="522" width="1000" msid="111089336" hostid="261"></div>In the 1970s, it was found that the widespread use of chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, was producing a massive hole in the ozone layer.A 1987 ban on CFCs helped slow the process, and by 2013, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Is_the_ozone_layer_on_the_road_to_recovery">authorities were projecting</a> that the ozone layer would repair itself within a few decades.It was a rare success story among a clutch of global climate-related issues.But this progress could now be stalled, the USC scientists said."Unanticipated growth of aluminum oxides may push pause on the ozone success story in decades to come," they wrote.In 2023, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-5P/Ozone_hole_goes_large_again">observers at the European Space Agency noted</a> that the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica was roughly three times the size of Brazil and was "one of the biggest on record."At the time, the agency said it was too early to know the cause, and did not mention satellite burn-up among the potential factors.Starlink did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment, sent outside of office hours.

Elon Musk's Starlink satellites could burn up the ozone layer, scientists warn

<ul class="summary-list"><li>China's secret unmanned spacecraft returned to Earth after an eight-month mission.</li><li>The details surrounding the spacecraft, even its name, are unclear.</li></ul>China's secret unmanned <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-polaris-dawn-mission-launch-2024-8">spacecraft</a> returned to Earth, bringing no additional clarity on what it was up to.The "reusable experimental spacecraft" went into space on December 14 and returned eight months later, according to a brief issued by state news agency Xinhua on September 6, cited by <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/12/science/china-space-plane-intl-hnk/index.html">CNN</a> on Thursday.Xinhua said the mission was a "complete success" and that the spacecraft returned to an unnamed landing site, per CNN.The type of spacecraft China used is often called a space plane because it can operate like an airplane and fly in the Earth's atmosphere.Space planes aren't a new concept. As <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/x-37b-vs-china-shenlong-space-plane-2024-8">Business Insider</a> previously reported, this type of spacecraft can fly independently and orbit into space using a detachable rocket booster. They also have cargo bays for satellites and other objects.The US <a target="_blank" rel="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/challenger-video-nasa-space-shuttle-program-2016-1">Space Shuttle</a> and the Soviet <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/soviet-buran-shuttle-one-flight-long-history">Buran</a> are perhaps the most well-known space planes. More recently, the US Space Force teamed up with Elon Musk's company to launch an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-spacex-launch-space-force-secretive-plane-x-37b-2023-12">X-37B space plane</a>.<h2 id="9437486e-7e15-4e13-b350-b041aea95fd7">China's new space plane is a mystery</h2>The details surrounding the spacecraft – from its name to its purpose – are murky.CNN said some commentators believe the spacecraft is the Shenlong, a space plane that took around 20 years to construct.A <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://app.xinhuanet.com/news/article.html?articleId=b9141bb29a221c45ac2ad0d44dc87fc6">briefing</a> from Xinhua gave a vague description of its purpose, saying it would "carry out reusable technology verification and space science experiments as planned, providing technical support for the peaceful use of space."Commentators have compared the spacecraft to the US' X-37B, which launched two weeks later than China's space plane and is still in orbit at the time of writing."It's probably no coincidence that they're trying to match us in timing and sequence of this," General Chance Saltzman, Space Force's Chief of Space Operations, told reporters in December, per the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12868687/space-race-china-military-plane-spy-craft-space-force.html">Daily Mail</a>."It's no surprise that the Chinese are extremely interested in our spaceplane," he added. "And we're extremely interested in theirs."Space observers and experts have tracked multiple objects as being released from China's spacecraft since its launch, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3277507/chinas-shenlong-space-plane-ends-third-flight-shows-maturing-performance-state-media">South Morning China Post</a> reported.Some experts detected the release of a possible "sub-satellite" and said the spacecraft made efforts to operate around it in May, CNN and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/17/china-secret-space-plane-inspector-satellite-war-orbit/">The Telegraph</a> reported.Juliana Suess, a research fellow for space security at London-based defense think tank the Royal United Services Institute, told CNN that the capability to move close to another object in space could be used for inspections or "potentially the clearing of orbits of space debris.""But they could be used for nefarious purposes, including interception of signals or the physical damaging of other spacecraft," she added.Nonetheless, analysts told the outlet there's no evidence to support the theory that China's space plane is being used as a weapon.

You Searched For "Earth observation satellite" and got 10 results

ISRO's final developmental flight lifts off from Sriharikota spaceport

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The sun is at its 11-year maximum. That means another year of eruptions that can endanger satellites, ground flights, and spark stunning auroras.

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The sun is more active than experts predicted. It could mean more grounded flights, downed satellites, and stunning aurora.

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