Why is it that “your first” seems more beautiful than you ever could’ve imagined? Your first car, your first apartment, your first child? It has to be the anticipation of the moment, the hard work you put in, and the big milestone you’ve achieved. It makes it that much better, that much more beautiful to … Continued
It’s been over three weeks since we launched Pathfinder-1, and by all accounts the mission has been a great success. The satellite and ground station operations have been rock solid, meeting our every expectation (more here on that.) In addition, we have moved into imaging mode and are calibrating the various spacecraft sensors. A core … Continued
It’s hard to believe it’s been two weeks since we launched our first satellite, BlackSky’s Pathfinder-1. We’ve been working 24/7 through early operations with our demonstration spacecraft and wanted to share a brief recap of our first weeks of spacecraft operations. In a nutshell, Pathfinder-1 is exceeding our expectations. As engineers, that’s a significant statement … Continued
We are pleased to report a successful launch of Pathfinder-1 and the subsequent first communication! Watch the video below to see our ops team receive the first signal, and then the first data. Jason Andrews, CEO of Spaceflight Industries, reflects on this achievement: This is one more milestone in a string of milestones … Continued
We’re launching in a few minutes…if you want to follow along, here’s the live stream.
There are many steps involved in getting a spacecraft ready for launch. But when we launch from India from the PSLV, there is one extra step: the coconut ceremony. Breaking a coconut has much significance in the Hindu religion. It usually marks an auspicious occasion like weddings or festival, or the start of a new … Continued
Pathfinder-1 Mission Blog #3 Question: What do you call a high resolution telescopic camera that is sitting on top of 241 Metric Tons (532,000 lbs) of explosives? Answer: Pathfinder-1! Pathfinder-1 is now fueled, integrated to the separation system, and sitting 120 feet above the ground on top of the Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). … Continued