Technology
TechCrunch Space: Relieving the load on the launch platform
Welcome back to TechCrunch Space. Let’s jump in!
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This week we have now some very cool news from Hubble Networks, which was the first in history to attach a Bluetooth chip to a satellite. The startup has remained relatively low-key, but with this technology validation, it goals to expand and connect perhaps billions of Bluetooth-enabled devices.
One of Hubble’s satellites in a ground-based test chamber. Image credits: Hubble network
Slides and audio recordings from a non-public NASA meeting reveal the agency’s ambitious plans for the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Making these plans a reality is crucial for personal space firms including Rocket Lab, Northrop Grumman and others, and will reduce the density of launch pads on each coasts.
A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying the Cygnus spacecraft will launch from Pad-0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Saturday, November 2, 2019, in Virginia. Image credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls
In The New York Times, Kenneth Chang describes how a bunch of scientists identified 27,500 newly discovered asteroids in the solar system, including about 100 “near-Earth” asteroids, those who fly in Earth’s orbit.
Asteroid near Earth, computer graphics. Image credits: Science Photo Library – ANDRZEJ WOJCICKI / Getty Images
This week we glance to the future… On Monday, May 6 (today!), Boeing hopes to make history by carrying two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station for the first time in its Starliner capsule. The mission will launch at 10:34 p.m. ET.
God, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams! God, Starliner!
NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. Image credits: NASA