Tag: satellites

Recent Satellite Launches and Their Purposes The past year has seen an unprecedented surge in satellite launches, serving a wide array of purposes in communications, Earth observation, science, and defense. Global launch rates reached record highs – over 1,200 satellites were launched in just the first four months of 2025, about a 50% increase from…
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Introduction: A New Space Race for Broadband A revolution is underway above our heads. In the past year alone, companies and governments worldwide have turbocharged efforts to beam high-speed internet from space down to Earth. SpaceX’s Starlink constellation has surpassed 8,000 satellites launched since 2019, amassing over 5 million users across 125+ countries reuters.com. In…
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Introduction: A New Era of Military Satcom is Here The U.S. Space Force has quietly teamed with SpaceX to create a secretive satellite Internet constellation for the military. Dubbed “MILNET,” this government-owned but SpaceX-operated network will comprise “480-plus” small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) breakingdefense.com. Announced in June 2025, the MILNET contract marks a…
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Background: A Long-Defunct NASA Satellite (Relay 2) Relay 2 is an experimental communications satellite NASA launched on January 21, 1964, as part of the early Relay programen.wikipedia.org. Similar in design to its predecessor Relay 1, this satellite was built by RCA and tasked with relaying television signals and studying Earth’s radiation beltsen.wikipedia.or en.wikipedia.org. After a successful launch atop…
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What Is Space Weather and Why It Matters Space Weather refers to the changing environmental conditions in space driven by the Sun’s activity – including bursts of solar radiation, charged particles, and magnetic disturbances. Just as terrestrial weather can produce hurricanes or blizzards, our Sun generates “solar tempests” like solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs),…
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Iranian Space Agency (ISA) History and Founding Timeline Iran’s involvement in space activities dates back to the late 1950s, when it became a founding member of the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in 1958 en.wikipedia.org. Early efforts focused on satellite communications and remote sensing: by 1976, Iran had established a “Remote…
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The war in Ukraine is not just being fought on land and in the skies – it’s also being waged in orbit. Since the full-scale invasion in 2022, both sides have leaned heavily on military satellite services for communication, intelligence, navigation, targeting, and early warning. From SpaceX’s Starlink internet constellation keeping Ukrainian forces online to…
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Satellites play a vital role in modern society, supporting communications, navigation, Earth observation, scientific discovery, and security. This comprehensive report highlights 100 of the most important currently operational satellites across five major categories: Communications, Earth Observation, Navigation/Positioning, Scientific & Exploration, and Military/Intelligence. Each entry includes the satellite’s name (and launch year), operating organization, purpose and…
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Introduction to Weather Satellites Weather satellites are spacecraft orbiting Earth that continually observe atmospheric conditions from above. They serve as “eyes in the sky” for meteorologists, providing a global view of weather systems that ground observers alone could never achieve. By capturing images and data on clouds, storms, temperature, and more, weather satellites supply crucial…
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Total Number of Satellites in Orbit (Active vs. Defunct) in 2025 As of 2025, Earth is encircled by an unprecedented number of artificial satellites. By the end of March 2025, approximately 14,900 total satellites were orbiting the planet. However, not all of these are operational. Roughly 11,000–12,000 of these satellites are active and functioning, while…
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