November 15, 2024

Month: April 2019

CNBC.com: Amazon hired former SpaceX management for its CEO’s Satellite Internet project

Via: CNBC.com:

Amazon’s satellite internet plan is increasingly looking like the one Elon Muskhas at SpaceX, with thousands of spacecraft that are compact in size. Among the reasons for the similarities, people tell CNBC, is that Jeff Bezos has hired some of Musk’s previous senior management.

Former SpaceX vice president of satellites Rajeev Badyal and a couple members of his team are now leading Amazon’s Project Kuiper, people familiar with the situation told CNBC.

Project Kuiper represents Bezos’ plan to launch 3,236 small satellites into space to provide high-speed internet to anywhere in the world. The plan puts Amazon in the middle of a race among at least five other companies aiming to launch next-generation satellite networks with global broadband coverage.

Badyal previously ran the “Starlink” division at SpaceX, which launched its first two test satellites last year.  SpaceX initially planned for the network to consist of a similar constellation of 4,425 satellites in low Earth orbit. Late last year, the FCC approved an addition of 7,518 satellites to the constellation, bringing Starlink’s planned total to 11,943 satellites in orbit.

Amazon has yet to announce where the satellites will be manufactured and given the time it typically takes to get regulatory approval for similar networks, it appears Bezos’ project is at least two or three years behind Musk. Badyal’s hiring then is a move to bring in talent with the experience of developing this type of satellite internet network.

SpaceX said on Friday the company expects the first full mission of Starlink satellites to launch no earlier than May.

Musk fired Badyal in June, one of the people said, confirming reports last year that the SpaceX CEO had become frustrated with the pace of Starlink’s development. That was about four months after the launch of the first two Starlink test satellites. According to FCC documents, Starlink will become operational once at least 800 satellites are deployed.

“As a matter of company policy we don’t comment on personnel. We’ve brought together an incredibly smart group of experts from across this industry to lead Project Kuiper,” Amazon told CNBC in a statement.

SpaceX declined to comment.

SpaceX has continued to develop Starlink in the 10 months since Badyal left, as the company is now readying to launch its first batch of satellites for the full network. While it is apparent that the design of Starlink’s satellites has changed in the past year, there are only a handful of indications in what ways.

FCC filings made by SpaceX in the past few months show that the first part of the network will operate at a very low Earth orbit. Additionally in a letter to the FCC last month, SpaceX said the satellites are now designed to be “completely demisable” when they return and burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. SpaceX said this means there is “zero” risk any pieces of Starlink will hurt anyone on the ground after the satellites are done being used.

SpaceX also submitted an application this year to operate 1 million “earth stations” in the U.S. These stations are “the ground based-component” of Starlink, essentially how people will be able to connect to SpaceX’s high-speed internet.

These ambitious satellite networks will require intensive capital, with some industry officials estimating costs running as high as $5 billion. As one of the world’s most valuable companies, there is little doubt Amazon could develop and launch its satellites and SpaceX has been said to have immense funding sources available due to high demand in private markets.

Both Musk and Bezos herald their proposed networks as key to reaching impoverished and unconnected parts of the globe. Starlink and Project Kuiper expect to offer broadband speeds comparable to fiber optic networks, according to federal documents, by essentially creating a blanket connection across the electromagnetic spectrum. The satellites would offer new direct-to-consumer wireless connections, rather than the present system’s redistribution of signals.

While Amazon may have been working on Project Kuiper before hiring Badyal, it is worth noting that there are no indications Amazon has filed applications for the satellites with the FCC. For comparison, SpaceX applied for FCC licenses in 2016 and didn’t receive approval for two years. Even then, the first FCC license for Starlink last year was experimental.

Finally, it is unclear how Bezos’ space venture, Blue Origin, may be involved in Amazon’s plans. Blue Origin is private and wholly owned by Bezos. The company is about two years away from the first launch of its New Glenn rocket, which likely will be the primary means that Amazon uses to puts its satellites in space.

Netflix withdraws support for Apple’s Airplay

San Francisco: Netflix has reportedly withdrawn support for Apple’s AirPlay which allowed people watching Netflix on their iPads and iPhones instantly play the content on their TVs.

That means Apple TV set-top box users can no longer cast Netflix.

According to the company, they withdrew support for the feature due to “technical limitations”.
No word on when - or if - the feature will return.

Veteran NASA Astronauts Indicted into U.S. Astronauts Hall of Fame

Janet Kavandi, director of NASA’s Glenn Research Center, and James Buchli are the latest veteran NASA astronauts to join the ranks of the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.

"The pioneering spirit we see in every astronaut is truly exemplified by this year's inductees,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. "Janet Kavandi and James Buchli represent the best of America’s astronauts, and I congratulate them for achieving this prestigious honor. Each has contributed greatly to the NASA mission, and their efforts have helped lay the groundwork for where we are today — including Janet's leadership directing Glenn’s Moon to Mars work — as we chart a course for a return of American astronauts to the lunar surface in five years, and eventually on to Mars.”

Bob Cabana, director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and a 2008 inductee, was among the speakers at the ceremony, which took place Saturday at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, and now brings the total number of hall of fame space explorers to 99.

Kavandi was a member of NASA’s 15th class of astronaut candidates, selected in 1994. She is a veteran of three space shuttle missions, serving as a mission specialist on STS-91 in 1998, STS-99 in 2000, and STS-104 in 2001. She has logged more than 33 days in space, traveling more than 13.1 million miles in 535 Earth orbits.

During her time in the NASA Astronaut Office, Kavandi supported International Space Station payload integration, capsule communications and robotics, and served as deputy chief of the Astronaut Office. She became the director of Glenn in 2016.

Buchli was part of NASA’s 1978 astronaut candidate class. He was a member of the space shuttle support crew for STS-1 and STS-2, both in 1981, and served as on-orbit capsule communicator for STS-2. A veteran of four space flights, Buchli has orbited Earth 319 times, traveling 7.74 million miles over a span of more than 20 days. He served as a mission specialist on STS-51C in 1985, STS-61A in 1985, STS-29 in 1989, and STS-48 in 1991. From March 1989 until May 1992, he also served as deputy chief of the Astronaut Office.

The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation selects astronauts for induction into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, which was founded more than 30 years ago by the six surviving Mercury 7 astronauts as a venue where space travelers could be remembered and honored.

For more information about NASA’s astronauts, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts

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