In fact China is, at the moment, the only entity that can launch astronauts into low earth orbit.
The risks and burdens of developing transport to low Earth orbit will thus fall to the private sector.
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The commercial efforts to low Earth orbit, which SpaceX achieved, are only a piece of the U.S. space program.
Instead of putting the probe on a course for Phobos, the probe is now trapped in low Earth orbit.
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It was also keen on a proposal to use Virgin's White Knight launch system to put satellites into low Earth orbit.
The shuttle was a big bus -- a reusable vehicle that could carry both cargo and people to low Earth orbit.
This marks a big step forward for the commercial space company, which aims to build inexpensive commercial space stations for low Earth orbit.
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This is opening new opportunities for even high school students and hobbyists to launch satellites into low earth orbit and dream of going there themselves.
If the Chinese get their hands on advanced rebar technology, this would enable them to build concrete platforms robust enough to reach low earth orbit.
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However, aside from a lack of gravity, Logan says high radiation is the real hurdle for living and procreating in low earth orbit and beyond.
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During the gap, the United States has no independent way to get astronauts into low earth orbit until it develops new capabilities, either through government or commercial spaceflight development projects.
Such journeys into low Earth orbit do not need the heavy-lifting oomph that more wide-ranging missions require, so the proposal is to contract out all of this local delivery work.
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The modular tin cans that took us to the moon and back, and have kept us in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) ever since, will eventually be superceded by full-scale space cities.
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Mr Bennett, whose love of rocketry was inspired by the 1960s TV series Thunderbirds, has predicted that he could put a small satellite in low Earth orbit by the year 2001.
The Augustine report now makes it more likely the government will dispense with NASA's services entirely in low Earth orbit and ask private firms to deliver crew to the station, as well as cargo.
More like a mission to low Earth orbit.
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In fact, the plan to rely on commercial companies for access to low Earth orbit was initiated more than seven years ago under President George W. Bush as part of his Vision for Space Exploration.
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However, since Ares I is capable only of reaching low Earth orbit and the space station is the only habitable thing in low Earth orbit, Ares I by itself would be a road to nowhere.
While we applaud the work that has been accomplished by the private spaceflight industry, such programs are focused exclusively on developing systems for access to low Earth orbit following the 2011 retirement of the Space Shuttle.
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He explained that ground-based radars are able to track objects of about 10cm (3.9 inches) and sometimes smaller, depending on altitude above the earth, while other sensors can detect particles down to about 5mm (0.2 inches) in low earth orbit.
Both Reed and Johnson say the focus over the last 30 years has been on mitigation but NASA and other space agencies are looking at ways to remove large derelict spacecraft and rocket launch stages from low earth orbit.
But from its atmosphere-free perch in low earth orbit, the Hubble is preparing to best itself once again this time by using giant clusters of galaxies as optical gravitational lenses with which to magnify much farther-distant and fainter background galaxies.
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My company, Moon Express, is focused on the next stage of commercial space beyond low Earth orbit, and is already developing early precursor robotic missions in partnership with NASA to explore the Moon and learn how to develop its resources for the benefit of life on Earth.
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That is exactly what the President had in mind when he laid out a fresh course for NASA to explore new scientific frontiers and take Americans ever deeper into our Solar System while relying on private-sector innovators working in the competitive free market to ferry astronauts and cargo to Low Earth Orbit and the International Space Station.
Geosynchronous satellites are so distant that their images aren't sharp, while low-earth orbit satellites, which fly as low as 100 miles, can feed information only when they pass over an area of interest.
Most see a greater role for the private sector in launching astronauts to low-Earth orbit.
The other study would look at new low-Earth orbit applications for an ATV-derived vehicle.
No longer will it own the vehicles it uses to go to low-Earth orbit.
This meant relying on unproven and complex technology and launching dozens of satellites into low-earth orbit.
The rocket was attempting to carry a 19.5kg satellite to a low-Earth orbit of 450km.
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