Introduction As space becomes increasingly congested, contested, and commercialized, the need for reliable, secure, and professional-grade space situational awareness (SSA) has never been greater. …| Riddles in the Sky
On a dark late December winter night the United States military launched its secretive X-37B spaceplane atop a Falcon 9 heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center. After watching the rocket slip from s…| Riddles in the Sky
Recent media reports indicate the US has developed a way to track the recent Chinese airships passing over North America. Here, a hypothesis is offered on how this may work and how observers can co…| Riddles in the Sky
Why is an imaging satellite constellation acting like a mobile-satellite communications system? China’s first self-developed commercial remote sensing satellite system known as JILIN is sendi…| Riddles in the Sky
It’s be a quarter of a year since LES-5 was recovered and we began decoding telemetry. The spacecraft sends 128 words (8 bit bytes) every 10.24 seconds which is called a format. That format…| Riddles in the Sky
Iran’s new military satellite, NOUR 01, most interesting fact may not be that it resembles a college engineering experiment but rather that it may have a connection to a Mexican military payl…| Riddles in the Sky
STEREO-A is coming home in the summer of 2023 for the first time since it was launched 17 years ago and is providing amateur astronomers with a unique opportunity to do some citizen science. The sp…| Riddles in the Sky
We often post data online showing the results of a Doppler analysis. The concepts can be a bit intimidating to understand but with a little explanation it’s accessible to anyone. What is the …| Riddles in the Sky
History Repeats Itself Russia operates a constellation of satellites in high Earth orbit called Meridian (меридиан). These satellites perform a critical communications purpose for Russia as much of…| Riddles in the Sky
Chang’e 5 has quietly departed from the Sun-Earth L1 point to enter a distant retrograde orbit (DRO) of the Moon, a first. Pre-empting NASA’s planned 1st use of the orbit during Explora…| Riddles in the Sky
