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Perth: (The Conversation) Last week, three tiny Australian satellites from Curtin University's <keyword id="23932163" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Binar-Space-Program" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Binar Space Program" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Binar Space Program">Binar Space Program</keyword> burned up in Earth's atmosphere. That was always going to happen. In fact, Binar means "fireball" in the Noongar language of the First Nations people of Perth. When a satellite is in low Earth orbit (2,000km or less), it experiences orbital decay as it drags closer and closer to the surface, eventually burning up. But these cube satellites (<keyword id="21533654" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="CubeSats" source="keywords">CubeSats</keyword>), known as Binar-2, 3 and 4, entered the atmosphere much sooner than originally planned. They only lasted for two months - a third of what was expected. This significantly reduced valuable time for science and testing new systems. The reason for their untimely demise? Our Sun has kicked into high gear, and the Binar satellites are far from the only casualty. Recent high <keyword id="20792842" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Solar-activity" source="keywords">solar activity</keyword> has been causing an unexpected headache for satellite operators in the last few years, and it's only increasing. <h2>Why is the Sun so active? </h2> Solar activity includes phenomena such as sunspots, solar flares and solar wind - the stream of charged particles that flows toward Earth. This activity is a product of the Sun's ever-changing magnetic field, and approximately every 11 years, it completely flips. At the midpoint of this cycle, solar activity is at its highest. While this cycle is known, specific solar activity is challenging to predict - the dynamics are complex and solar forecasting is in its infancy. In the last few months, indicators of solar activity were more than one and a half times higher than predictions for this point in the current cycle, labelled <keyword id="22712826" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="solar-cycle-25" source="keywords">solar cycle 25</keyword>. <h2>The impact of <keyword id="20087207" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="space-weather" source="keywords">space weather</keyword> </h2> Space weather refers to the environmental effects that originate from outside our atmosphere (mostly the Sun). It affects us on Earth in a variety of noticeable and unnoticeable ways. The most obvious is the presence of auroras. In the past few months, auroras have been visible far more intensely and closer to the equator than in the last two decades. This is a direct result of the increased solar activity. Space weather, and solar activity in particular, also creates additional challenges for satellites and satellite operators. Higher solar activity means more solar flares and stronger solar wind - resulting in a higher flux of charged particles that can damage or disrupt electrical components on satellites. It also means an increase in ionising radiation, resulting in a higher dose for astronauts and pilots, and potential disruptions to long-distance radio communications. But for satellites in low Earth orbit, the most consistent effect of solar activity is that the extra energy gets absorbed into the outer atmosphere, causing it to balloon outward. As a result, all satellites less than 1,000km from Earth experience a significant increase in <keyword id="23473319" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="atmospheric-drag" source="keywords">atmospheric drag</keyword>. This is a force that disrupts their orbit and causes them to fall towards the planet's surface. Notable satellites in this region include the International Space Station and the Starlink constellation. These satellites have thrusters to counteract this effect, but these corrections can be expensive. Low Earth orbit also contains many university satellites, such as the Binar CubeSats. Cube satellites are rarely equipped with tools that can adjust their altitude, so they're entirely at the mercy of space weather. <h2>What happened to Binar? </h2> The Binar Space Program is a satellite research program operating out of Curtin University. It aims to advance our understanding of the Solar System and lower the barrier for operating in space. The program began operations with its first satellite, Binar-1, in September 2021. This was less than a year into solar cycle 25 when solar activity was relatively low. In these conditions, the ten-centimetre cube satellite started at an altitude of 420km and survived a full 364 days in orbit. The program's follow-up mission - Binar-2, 3, and 4 - were three equally sized CubeSats. However, they were expected to last approximately six months owing to the extra surface area from new deployable solar arrays and a forecast increase in solar activity. Instead, they only made it to two months before burning up. While cube satellite missions are relatively cheap, the premature ending of a mission will always be costly. This is even more true for commercial satellites, highlighting the need for more accurate space weather forecasting. The good news is the Sun will calm down again. Despite the current unexpectedly high solar activity, it will likely slow down by 2026, and is expected to return to a solar minimum in 2030. While this was not an explicit goal of the mission, the Binar Space Program has now poignantly demonstrated the dramatic effects of solar activity on space operations. While the untimely loss of Binar-2, 3 and 4 was unfortunate, work has already begun on future missions. They are expected to launch into far more forgiving space weather. (The Conversation).

Right now, the Sun is far more active than predicted - and small satellites are paying the price

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<ul class="summary-list"><li>This excerpt originally appeared in the Insider Today newsletter.</li></ul>Is there life on Mars Europa? NASA's trying to answer that question with the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-launches-europa-clipper-mission-jupiter-moon-alien-life-2024-10">launch of the Europa Clipper on Monday</a>. The spacecraft is headed toward Jupiter's moon Europa, which scientists believe has a massive saltwater ocean beneath its surface that's a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oxygen-europa-life-surface-ocean-subsurface-earth-juno-mission-jupiter-2024-3">prime location for extraterrestrial life</a>.But don't get your hopes up (or get scared) about us making contact with aliens. The Europa Clipper is just trying to understand if the ocean could even support life.That might not be as exciting as snapping photos of little green people, but it's still a big deal. It's the largest interplanetary spacecraft NASA has ever built, weighing 3.5 tons with wings that extend 100 feet wide.It won't arrive at Europa until April 2030, but that hasn't dimmed the space community's enthusiasm. One NASA director said these kinds of missions are "modern cathedrals" and "generational quests."<div type="image" title="spacex super heavy booster lands in mid-air" height="880" width="1175" msid="114251044" hostid="261" sizebytes="140760"></div>Space travel also happens to be a great business opportunity.Helping power Europa Clipper into space was a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Elon Musk's company has won plenty of government contracts, from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-contract-network-spy-satellites-us-intelligence-report-2024-3">creating a network of spy satellites</a> to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-nasa-drag-international-space-station-out-of-orbit-2024-6">helping it retire spacecrafts</a>, en route to becoming an incredibly valuable company.The Europa Clipper launch follows another massive win for SpaceX. In a separate launch on Sunday, a Super Heavy booster, which stands 233 feet tall, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-spacex-starship-launch-five-huge-deal-space-travel-2024-10">safely navigated its way back to its launch site</a>.That's a massive step toward Musk's ultimate goal of significantly reducing rocket-launch costs, which could eventually make humans a multi-planetary species.Musk still has hurdles to overcome. The California Coastal Commission recently rejected a request for more-frequent SpaceX launches. Some officials cited Musk's political posts during discussion of the request.Musk said on X he planned <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-spacex-launches-california-coastal-commission-2024-10">to file a suit today against the commission</a> "for violating the First Amendment."But it's not just regulators Musk is facing off with.The business of space has the attention of several entrepreneurs, including fellow tech billionaire Jeff Bezos. The two <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-is-reigniting-his-space-feud-with-jeff-bezos-2024-6">have been known to feud</a>, and have differing views on whether <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-mars-colonies-vs-jeff-bezos-space-station-realistic-2024-7">colonizing Mars (Musk) or living in space (Bezos)</a> is a more realistic future for humanity.The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Milan Sehmbi, fellow, in London.

Space travel comes with big dreams and bigger business

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President Droupadi Murmu, on Friday visited an exhibition to showcase space technologies and achievements, at Bharat Mandapam, on the maiden <keyword id="22301946" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="National-Space-Day" source="keywords">National Space Day</keyword>. Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh and <keyword id="19915124" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ISRO" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="ISRO" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="ISRO">ISRO</keyword> Chairman S Somanath were also present. <keyword id="19939985" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="President-Murmu" source="keywords">President Murmu</keyword> extended her greetings on the occasion of the first National Space Day and welcomed the decision to celebrate Space Day on the day <keyword id="19990220" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chandrayaan" source="keywords">Chandrayaan</keyword> landed on the <keyword id="19899207" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="moon" source="keywords">Moon</keyword>. "It was a glorious moment for all the Indians when ISRO's Chandrayaan landed on the moon. I saw the live telecast of that moment, I was so proud that day like other Indians. To celebrate National Space Day on this occasion is a commendable step. I congratulate all of you on the first National Space Day. ISRO has achieved many feats since its inception". She also expressed her happiness with the student's participation in the event "Happy to see students' participation in this event." Highlighting the significance of <keyword id="19929542" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="space-exploration" source="keywords">space exploration</keyword>, she added "Space exploration has extended human's ability and help complete the imagination of humankind. Space exploration is exciting and challenging at the same time. Health, transportation, environment, energy, security and information technology are benefitted due to the growth in the <keyword id="20242397" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="space-sector" source="keywords">space sector</keyword>". The president termed the growth of the ISRO as extraordinary, "The growth of <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="India" source="keywords">India</keyword>'s space sector is extraordinary, be it Mangalyan mission that was accomplished through minimum resources or launching more than 100 satellites at a time. we have achieved many such feats". She also praised the introduction of private players in the space sector in the country, "Introducing of the private sector in Indian has led to the formation of many <keyword id="22829456" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="space-start-ups" source="keywords">space start-ups</keyword> in India. This has allowed the youths of India to explore the space sector". Expressing her happiness about ISRO's plan to make <keyword id="20793131" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="space-mission" source="keywords">space mission</keyword> debris-free she said "I am happy that India is moving towards making India's space mission debris-free by 2030". India celebrated its first-ever National Space Day on Friday on the theme "Touching Lives While Touching the Moon: India's Space Saga". On 23 August 2023, India achieved a historic milestone when the Chandrayaan-3 lander completed a soft landing on the moon. This remarkable accomplishment made India the 4th country to accomplish this feat and the 1st to land on the lunar South Pole. In recognition of this achievement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared August 23 as National Space Day.

"A glorious moment for all Indians when Chandrayaan landed on moon" says President Murmu on National Space Day

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-won-election-what-that-means-for-elon-musk-2024-11">Elon Musk and Donald Trump are both enthusiastic </a>about space exploration opportunities amid a desire to slash regulations.</li><li>It's not yet clear how powerful Musk's role in the new Trump administration will be.</li></ul>Now that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/election-results-trump-harris-presidential-election-2024-11">president-elect Donald Trump</a> is set to return to power in the US, Elon Musk's plans for sending humans beyond Earth's orbit may be more likely to come to fruition.Space industry experts told Business Insider that Musk's influence over Trump could help advance <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-could-help-deregulate-tech-amid-a-trump-victory-2024-11">his business interests</a>, including sending the first crewed mission to Mars."I'm hugely optimistic about what's going to happen in space now," Michelle Hanlon, executive director of the Center for Air and Space Law at the University of Mississippi School of Law, told Business Insider.Hanlon's optimism isn't unfounded, especially if Trump's second term focuses on space as much as his first.During his first term, from 2017 to 2021, Trump's administration founded <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/space-force-guardian-nick-hague-spacex-rocket-iss-2024-2">the Space Force</a>, re-launched the National Space Council, and established NASA's Artemis program. This program is set to return astronauts to the moon and lay the groundwork for the first crewed mission to Mars.But space isn't the only interest Trump and Musk share. They also want to slash government regulations.<h2 id="b873fb1d-647e-4cdf-a3ef-7d9a7adb04e7">Musk's 'Department of Government Efficiency'</h2>Trump has said that he would cut 10 regulations for every new one his administration creates.Musk and his businesses, meanwhile, have <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-spacex-faa-overtime-regulations-2024-9">clashed with regulators</a>, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration."There is a lot of waste and needless regulation in government that needs to go," Musk wrote on <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1830829538118381574">X</a> after Trump announced that he planned to put the billionaire at the helm of a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-rally-elon-musk-save-department-government-efficiency-2024-10">new "department of government efficiency."</a>It's unclear how much influence Musk would have over regulations if this department came to fruition. Trump's trust in Musk to run such a department, however, is a testament to the pair's burgeoning relationship.The two men teamed up on the campaign trail, with Musk contributing millions to Trump's reelection campaign and appearing with him at a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-pennsylvania-america-pac-donald-trump-harris-2024-11">rally in Pennsylvania</a>.In his election-night victory speech, Trump praised Musk for <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-spacex-starship-launch-five-huge-deal-space-travel-2024-10">SpaceX's Starship</a> vehicle, designed to shuttle the first humans to Mars, and for the company's Starlink internet satellites, which are designed to offer fast, cheap internet to remote locations worldwide.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-trump-calls-zelenskyy-erdogan-influence-2024-11">Musk also joined a call</a> between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday — underscoring how influential Musk could be once Trump returns to office, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.axios.com/2024/11/08/musk-trump-zelensky-ukraine-call?stream=top&amp;utm_source=alert&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=alerts_all">Axios</a> reported.Whether that influence translates to Trump founding a new "department of government efficiency" for Musk, though, is unclear.<div type="image" title="Elon Musk jumps for joy at Trump's recent rally in Butler, Pennsylvania." height="1279" width="2000" msid="115101302" hostid="261" sizebytes="117830"></div>SpaceX and Musk did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Trump's campaign said that Musk's ideas and efficiency will benefit federal bureaucracy but his role in Trump's administration remains under wraps."It's a crazy situation, but you can't just create a new department," Deborah Sivas, the director of the Environmental Law Clinic at Stanford, told BI. She said Congress would have to approve it, which may be more likely since Republicans won the Senate majority.Changing a government agency's powers or rules, Sivas said, requires making new rules or passing a law through Congress. That can take months, and it's not guaranteed to work.So, it's unlikely that Musk would be able to single-handedly eliminate key steps in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-texas-starship-launch-site-development-challenges-2019-6">regulatory processes</a>, like the typical environmental review requirement for building a new rocket launchpad."I think Elon Musk will be more likely in the background, whispering in his ear," Sivas said of the billionaire's relationship with Trump."Is he going to be able to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-spacex-autocratic-style-success-politics-harm-2024-9">influence space policy</a>? Yes, no question," Hanlon said, adding that she sees that as a "good thing" because of Musk's experience.In other arenas, like environmental regulation, Sivas isn't so sure."I feel like he should stay in his business lane and stay out of the government lane," Sivas said. "When you put those two together, it's like putting church and state together."<h2 id="879d5f64-5325-4a92-9196-db627a3cb3e9">Smoothing potholes on the road to Mars</h2>Even if Musk can't change regulations, a space-friendly Trump administration could smooth the path to Musk's goal of building a city on Mars.Musk recently <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1832550322293837833">said</a> that he plans to launch Starships to Mars for the first time in just two years. If those flights go well, he said that the first human crews would follow four years from now."That's a pretty ambitious timeline," George Nield, former associate administrator of the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation, told BI. To meet it would probably require "different regulatory frameworks or contractual arrangements than we've used in the past," he added.<div type="image" title="Elon Musk with former president Donald Trump" height="2633" width="3949" msid="115101300" hostid="261" sizebytes="148502"></div>"If anybody can do it, it will be Elon Musk," Hanlon said. But the government can help, she said, by making regulators more efficient.To help even further, she added, "It can become a policy of the US government to support commercial flight to Mars."With Trump's interest in Starship, the chances of that look better than ever.Regulations aren't the only obstacle. There are still a lot of technical hurdles to overcome before we can reach Mars, Nield said.The moon, on the other hand, is more achievable, and Trump has had his eye on it. Weeks after Musk endorsed Trump, the president-elect <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-victory-expected-boost-musks-mars-dream-2024-11-08/">told reporters</a> that the moon was the first step toward his ultimate goal to reach Mars.<h2 id="60abc973-d957-4dd0-8d46-da0596ffb8e2">The next moon landing</h2>For the Artemis program's first human moon landing, NASA plans to launch four astronauts toward the moon using its Space Launch System and Orion spaceship.In lunar orbit, the ship would meet up with SpaceX's Starship, which would carry two astronauts to the moon's surface, putting boots in the lunar dust for the first time since 1972.The date for that mission has been repeatedly pushed back, with September 2026 being NASA's current target.There's no indication that Trump is considering this, but if he wants a faster moon landing, he could ditch the NASA hardware and send astronauts aboard Starship alone, Nield said."If we see rapid progress with Starship and encouragement from the administration and Congress, I don't see any reason why that couldn't happen in a small number of years," Nield said.

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