Is your iPhone about to stop being nearly useless when you’re off the grid? Bloomberg’s Apple reporter Mark Gurman just wrote an entry in his Power On newsletter about the dream of a satellite-powered iPhone. To be clear, no, the iPhone is not on the verge of becoming a fully functioning satellite phone like the […]
California Startup Wants to Launch 4,000 Mirrors to Orbit. Scientists Are Alarmed
A California startup’s plan to launch thousands of mirrors into orbit has caused quite a stir among astronomers and wildlife experts. The company, Reflect Orbital, aims to maximize energy output from solar farms by redirecting sunlight toward them at night. Reflect Orbital recently applied for a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) license to launch a demonstration […]
Something Weird Is Happening to Earth’s Magnetic Field
The weak spot in Earth’s magnetic field, a region over the South Atlantic where the field’s strength is significantly reduced compared to its surrounding area, has grown by an area nearly the size of the European continent over the past 11 years. Using data from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Swarm satellites, scientists revealed that […]
You Only Need $750 of Equipment to Pilfer Data From Satellites, Researchers Say
Data transmitted via satellite may not be as secure as previously thought. A new study published on Monday found that communications from cellphone carriers, retailers, banks, and even militaries are being broadcast unencrypted through geostationary satellites. Researchers from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and the University of Maryland scanned 39 of these satellites […]
Is This Remote Desert Actually the World’s Largest Mirror?
Even if you don’t know the Salar de Uyuni by name, there’s a good chance you’ve seen a photo of it. Tourists flock to this massive salt flat in Bolivia to snap pictures of its mirror-like surface, only visible when covered with a thin layer of water. Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt […]
Gizmodo Science Fair: A Spacecraft That Hunts Down Space Junk
Astroscale is a 2025 Gizmodo Science Fair winner for developing a satellite designed to rendezvous with space junk, with the goal of capturing it and guiding it toward a fiery grave in Earth’s atmosphere. The question Can the space industry develop new technologies that help tackle the growing problem of debris and create a more […]
Everyone Thinks Elon Musk is Going to Build a SpaceX Mobile Network
SpaceX’s has been partnering with mobile carriers like T-Mobile to offer its satellite internet service Starlink to extend the reach of cell networks. But, according to a report from the Washington Post, the company has ambitions to be more than just a partner. Following a major purchase of wireless spectrum earlier this week, it appears […]
Satellite Companies Like SpaceX Are Ignoring Astronomers’ Calls to Save the Night Sky
There are more than 12,000 active satellites circling Earth at the moment, a growing figure that has nearly doubled in less than three years. This recent boom in the satellite industry has been a major headache for astronomers, with bright satellites appearing as streaks in telescope images of the universe and tarnishing views of the […]
Satellite Captures Awesome Power of Tsunami Triggered by Epic Russian Quake
In late July, the sixth biggest earthquake in recorded history struck off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. The magnitude 8.8 quake triggered a tsunami that sent waves across the Pacific, prompting widespread warnings and some evacuation orders. Data released Thursday, August 14, by NASA Earth Observatory captures this global event in striking detail. The […]
Trump Administration Moves to Destroy Satellite That Monitors Greenhouse Gases
The Trump Administration’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2026 would take an axe to NASA science. Two satellite missions on the chopping block have provided climate scientists, oil and gas companies, and farmers with critical atmospheric carbon data for years. The Orbiting Carbon Observatories are a pair of instruments that map atmospheric carbon on a […]