Space

SpaceX will launch an advanced GPS satellite for the U.S. Space Force from Florida on Tuesday night (Jan. 27), and you can watch the action live. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the GPS III-SV09 spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Tuesday, during a 15-minute window that opens at 11:38 p.m. EST (0438 GMT on Jan. 28). SpaceX and the Space Force had been targeting…

British amateur astronomer, Sir Patrick Moore, used to say that the best first telescope isn’t a telescope at all — it’s a pair of binoculars. Telescopes are wonderful — the things you can see through them can be jaw-dropping — but they can so easily extinguish enthusiasm for the night sky. Telescopes can take a beginner’s eyes from the sky at the wrong time by requiring attention to…

Although it is marketed as a white-light solar telescope, the iOptron 80mm White Light Solar Scope is really a nighttime scope (which can be purchased on its own) alongside a detachable solar filter from Thousand Oaks. This may be a perk for users who don’t own a telescope and want to purchase a kit that’s ready for both solar and lunar viewing. However, it’s likely not of…

Starfish Space will make history next year, if all goes according to plan. The Washington-based company just scored a $52.5 million contract to deorbit satellites for the U.S. Space Force, the first deal ever signed for such end-of-life disposal services for a constellation in low Earth orbit (LEO). The agreement calls for Starfish Space to use one of its Otter spacecraft to haul down at least one…