An Earth observation satellite has given us a unique view of Boeing’s new Starliner space taxi in space.
Starliner arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on June 6, transporting NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams to the orbiting laboratory in a shake-up cruise known as the Crew Flight Test (CFT).
A day later, Maxar Technologies’ WorldView-3 satellite captured a stunning image of the International Space Station and its new arrival, prominently featured near the center of the frame.
WorldView-3, which launched in August 2014, typically observes Earth from its perch 385 miles (620 kilometers) above our planet. But the new image shows that the spacecraft can study objects in orbit as well.
“This type of image collection, known as non-terrestrial imaging (NEI), is an amazing capability that enables Maxar to support critical space outreach missions for government and commercial customers,” Maxar wrote in an article. X Post on Wednesday (June 12) which featured an image of the ISS-Starliner.
Non-terrestrial imaging could become an increasing priority for the US government and other entities with a significant stake in the final frontier over the coming years.
The number of satellites going into orbit has jumped dramatically recently and is likely to continue to grow, largely due to the emergence of massive constellations like SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network, which currently consists of More than 6,000 active spacecraft. Monitoring this ever-increasing orbital number is likely to become increasingly important and challenging for satellite operators.
The CFT is the first ever crewed mission for the Starliner spacecraft, which is scheduled to return to Earth no later than June 18. If all goes well with the mission, the capsule will be approved for long-term astronaut missions to and from the International Space Station. For NASA.
SpaceX is already doing this with its Crew Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket. Elon Musk’s company is in the middle of its eighth operational spaceflight to the International Space Station, known as Crew-8.
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