United’s FAA certification for Starlink aircraft with first commercial flight for May 2025 – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2025-04-01 00:00
The FAA issued a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for the Embraer 175. The first commercial flight is planned for May. The Starlink system, when compared to non-Starlink equipment, is lighter requiring less fuel to operate and is more reliable and weather-proofed.
Growing the Future: Aussie tech takes plant monitoring to space – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2025-04-01 00:00
ILAuNCH Trailblazer project will test machine vision technology for plant growth in microgravity. University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) led project will test technology for sustainable plant-based food production in space and on Earth. Machine vision technology offers enormous potential for plant health monitoring, providing a scalable, automated solution.
China’s Thousand Sails satellite plan at Phase 2 – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2025-04-01 00:00
Genesat has signed a contract for the second phase of its satellite manufacturing plant in Shanghai’s Songjiang district. The project was started in 2024 as a rival to the Starlink satellite constellation installed by SpaceX, and plans to comprise more than 15,000 satellites by the project’s end.
SpaceX delays April Fool’s day launch of Starlink Group 11-13 smallsats now on for Thursday – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2025-04-01 00:00
SpaceX stood down on April 1 from a planned Falcon 9 rocket launch Tuesday night of 27 Starlink smallsats to low-Earth orbit. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base is now targeting Thursday, April 3, at 3:54 pm PT (7:54 pm ET, 2354 UTC) The forecast calls for a temperature of 55°F, broken clouds, 79% cloud cover and a wind speed of 20mph.
NASA’s SPHEREx Takes First Images, Preps to Study Millions of Galaxies
The SPHEREx observatory detects infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye. Scientists assigned a visible color to every infrared wavelength captured by the observatory. With that data, scientists can study topics ranging from the physics that governed the universe to the origins of water in our galaxy.
20-Year Hubble Study of Uranus Yields New Atmospheric Insights
Original Publication Date: 2025-03-31 13:00
Researchers used NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to paint an accurate picture of the atmospheric structure of Uranus. They found that, unlike conditions on the gas giants Saturn and Jupiter, methane is not uniformly distributed across Uranus. Instead, it is strongly depleted near the poles. This depletion remained relatively constant over the two decades. However, the aerosol and haze structure changed dramatically in the northern polar region as the planet approaches its northern summer solstice in 2030.
NASA Receives 10 Nominations for the 29th Annual Webby Awards
NASA has been recognized by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS) 10 nominations across multiple categories for the academy’s 29th annual Webby Awards. Voting for the Webby People’s Voice Awards — chosen by the public — is open now through Thursday, April 17.