Small Satellites Meeting with Big Opportunities in Silicon Valley
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MONDAY Highlights…
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The 4th Annual SmallSat Symposium opens February 5-7 at the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley, California. Small satellite launches have grown over 150% in five years. SpaceWorks Enterprises, which specializes in engineering and hardware, predicts that in the next 5 years 2,800 nano- and microsatellites will require launching. More than 75 constellations are planned along with independent satellites. In the innovation hotbed of Silicon Valley, SmallSats are seen as an opening for ambitious startups. Bryce Space headed by Carissa Christensen (L) and Stellar Solutions represented by Melissa Farrell (R) are woman-owned companies offering expertise in space systems. Astranis is one of multiple companies trying to create worldwide broadband networks. Thales, Leonardo, and SSL are cooperating to build the Telesat LEO constellation. SpaceX intends to build its business with 12,000 broadband satellites. On a budget of US$160M Sky and Space Global plans a constellation of 200 communication satellites weighing less than 10 kg each. In the field of Earth observations, Planet Labs of San Francisco, which operates 140 satellites, and Digital Globe both provide updated high-resolution imagery of Earth. Capella Space is the first American commercial company to launch an advanced radar-imaging satellite. Analytical Space of Boston is building a relay network to transmit data from these many satellites. Orbion Space Technology offers plasma propulsion systems built by robots. (Image Credits: SatNews, SmallSat Symposium, NASA)
Feb 4 — 
Feb 4 — NewSpace: 
Feb 4 — USA: First core stage of 
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for terrestrial events in local time unless noted.
= All times for international terrestrial events in local time unless noted.
= All times for space events, and…
= All times for international space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time’).
Weekly Planet Watch – Evening Planets: Mars (SW), Uranus (SW), Neptune (WSW); Morning Planets: Venus (SE), Jupiter (SE), Saturn (S).
Women in Space 2019 Conference Focuses on Science, Engineering, Education and Social Impact
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Feb 4-7 — SatNews, SSL, Virgin Orbit, Ariane Group, Ball Aerospace Boeing, Surrey, et al, Silicon Valley CA: 4th Annual SmallSat Symposium; at Silicon Valley Computer History Museum.
Continued from…
TUESDAY
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WEDNESDAY
Feb 6 — Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA, Greenbelt MD: Colloquium: When Stars Attack! Near-Earth Supernova Explosions Revealed by Deep-Ocean and Lunar Radioactivity; by Prof. Brian Fields from University of Illinois.
Feb 6 — Moon: 2.98° SSE of Neptune, 23:00.
Feb 6 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 BK4: Near-Earth Flyby (0.011 AU)
Feb 6 — Apollo Asteroid 2013 RV9: Near-Earth Flyby (0.046 AU)
THURSDAY
Feb 7 — NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD), Online: SMD Town Hall to discuss updates on activities related to the recent government shutdown and return to normal operations, 14:00 ET.
Feb 7 — NASA, Arlington VA: NASA Day of Remembrance for Columbia 7, Challenger 7 and Apollo 1 crew to be held at Arlington National Cemetery.
Feb 7 — Astronomical Society of the Pacific, San Francisco CA: 130th Anniversary of the Founding of Astronomical Society of the Pacific (1889).
Feb 7 — Cornell University, Ithaca NY: Lecture: Galaxy Evolution using Lots of Resolved Galaxies; by Karen Masters from Haverford College.
Feb 7-8 — Sinclair Interplanetary, Virgin Orbit, Honeywell, Paragon, Arizona State University, Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration, et al, Scottsdale AZ: Women in Space 2019; promoting the status of woman and non-binary scientists and engineers in academia and industry.
Feb 7, 8 — JPL, Caltech, NASA, Pasadena CA: von Kármán Lecture Series: 2019: The World of Scientific Ballooning; by Jose Siles, Stratospheric Terahertz Observatory LO Subsystem Lead and Antarctic Flight Campaign Team Member; and Laura Jones-Wilson, Systems Engineer for Europa Clipper, former Project Systems Engineer for Subarcsecond Telescope And Balloon Experiment.
FRIDAY
Feb 8 — ISS, Cygnus NG-10 Departure, LEO: Cygnus resupply ship to enter Earth atmosphere and disintegrate with ISS waste; undocking 10:45 EST, live coverage available.
Feb 8 — Royal Astronomical Society, London, United Kingdom: RAS Ordinary Meeting; The Global Response of the Terrestrial Magnetosphere during Storms and Substorms Meeting; Meeting: The Future Of High-Resolution Imaging in the Visible and IR.
Feb 8 — Alpha Centaurids Meteor Shower Peak: Appearing to radiate from Alpha Centauri (α Cen), meteors are far south and below horizon for most in North, can produce ~3 meteors per hour.
SATURDAY
Feb 9 — NASA, JPL, Pasadena CA: Educator Workshop: Astrobiology and the Search for Life; for educators of grades 4-12, 10:00-13:00.
Feb 9-15 — California State University – Fullerton, Caltech, University of Amsterdam, University of Toronto, University of Chicago, Stockholm University, Aspen CO: Aspen Winter Conference 2019: Astrophysics with Gravitational-Wave Populations.
SUNDAY
Feb 10-16 — Comenius University Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia: Workshop: Quantum Structure of Spacetime.
Feb 10 — Moon: with Mars and Uranus within circle of diameter 5.68°, 10:00; 5.7° SSE of Mars, 12:00; 4.7° SSE of Uranus, 15:00.