Latest news with #satellite
CNET
34 minutes ago
- Business
- CNET
T-Mobile Is the New Mobile Network Champ. I Got a Behind-the-Scenes View Into How It Got There
Last week T-Mobile announced that it's been named the Best Mobile Network in the US by Ookla, marking the first time the carrier has taken the overall top spot. That's based on half a billion real-world usage tests conducted over a six-month period. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) During a live event at its Tech Experience Hub in Bellevue, Washington, T-Mobile also announced a July 23 commercial launch date for T-Satellite, its Starlink-based satellite connectivity service, as well as additional features, such as support for sending images and audio files. And to boost the array of perks that accompany many T-Mobile plans, it's adding free DoorDash DashPass memberships for subscribers with Magenta status. "We made big bets on 5G, pushing the limits to deliver speed and coverage no one thought possible," said T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert. "Now, as the Best Mobile Network in America, with unmatched satellite-to-mobile capability, it's clear we're shaping the future of wireless with a network built not just for speed, but for possibility." Watch this: T-Mobile Announces T-Satellite: Rapid Fire Q&A with T-Mobile Exec 01:42 In less than a decade, T-Mobile has gone from a limited-spectrum upstart with a penchant for bright pink branding to the top of the competitive US mobile industry, largely due to the way it's navigated the transition to 5G networking (and maybe some help from the magenta colors). Merging T-Mobile's low-band spectrum with Sprint's midband became one of the main reasons T-Mobile is now crowing about its spot in Ookla's rankings. As part of these announcements, T-Mobile invited CNET to an exclusive behind-the-scenes conversation about how it arrived at this point, and a tour of some of the technologies at work at its headquarters and labs. Entry gates at T-Mobile's headquarters. Jeff Carlson/CNET An unconventional road to 5G Every company says it's the best at something, and for a long time, T-Mobile claimed it was the best value among the major wireless carriers. "US consumers have always had to make a choice between going to a much higher priced but higher quality network, or make a trade-off in network and get a better value," said Mike Katz, T-Mobile president of marketing, strategy and products. "Now it's validated by a third party [that] customers don't have to make this choice. They can get both the best value, which T Mobile has always been known and famous for, and get the best network." But how did T-Mobile get to this point? It's easy to say you have the best value and that customers love you, but those are results. At this scale -- being one of the top three providers in the US competing for an essential market -- it takes a series of technical decisions, a vision of how technology will evolve and the willingness to take big risks. At T-Mobile headquarters, even the flowers are magenta colored. Jeff Carlson/CNET From a consumer point of view, a few years ago, the focus of every carrier seemed to be to expand coverage, especially 5G coverage. Specifics got lost in the 5G marketing shuffle -- every phone-maker touted its 5G compatibility, and the carriers wanted everyone to know that they were expanding their 5G footprint as fast as possible. But wireless coverage isn't like a blanket that covers everything equally, and 5G in particular is made up of several speeds and flavors. That's why your 5G-enabled phone will sometimes indicate the network as "5G," "5G+," "5G UC" or other variations, depending on your carrier. When 5G technologies began to appear in 2020, one focus was on the high speeds possible using the millimeter wave spectrum. But, although millimeter wave can deliver swift connections, it can be thwarted by obstacles such as windows or even plants. "Primarily, [5G] was going to be a millimeter wave play, which is very high bandwidth with very poor reach," said Ulf Ewaldsson, T-Mobile's president of technology. "We went all-in on a very different strategy. We said, 'it's going to be a midband play, and it's going to be TDD [Time Division Duplex, a way to send and receive data in the same frequency] spectrum in the midband that you pair with a very strong low band.' We were able to get our hands on the best possible spectrum, thanks to merging with Sprint." Ewaldsson emphasized that it's not just a prevalence of low-band that's advantageous. It's that, at 600 megahertz, T-Mobile has the lowest band in the low-band area. Why is that important? It has better reach, about 25% to 30% wider than the competition. T-Mobile's visualization of its 5G standalone core technology. Jeff Carlson/CNET That Sprint merger in 2020 sounded like a quick way to buy into the top of the market, a shortcut to expand one's footprint. (Indeed, T-Mobile is taking a similar tack right now in the broadband market by acquiring fiber provider Lumos in April). But buying Sprint wasn't an immediate ticket to the top. "It took about a year extra to get through all the regulatory approvals to get this thing done," Ewaldsson said, noting that AT&T's and Verizon's lead in the market made it a challenge for T-Mobile or Sprint alone to actually enter the 5G race. But with a plan in place to use Sprint's spectrum and infrastructure, "once we came out [of the approval process], we were right out of the blocks," he said. Katz explained that many of T-Mobile's early disadvantages have turned into benefits. "We have more towers than anybody else, and our towers are closer together," he said. "We had to build more towers than AT&T and Verizon. We didn't have any low-band spectrum, which propagates better. So we had to build more towers that were closer together." Ewaldsson was more specific. "We have about [and here he paused briefly] 82,715 towers," he said. "Now, as a turn of events, that happened to be the best possible asset when we merged with Sprint, because we could power up all those towers with that TDD spectrum … and create a formidable downlink speed experience." The benefits of the standalone core Merging T-Mobile's low-band spectrum with Sprint's midband became one of the main reasons T-Mobile is now crowing about its spot in Ookla's rankings. "We have [a] secret that nobody else has, which is a standalone core. A standalone core is a smarter control over all those towers that stand alone," Ewaldsson said. "Core allows us to combine low-band and midband and all our bands to get higher and faster experiences for our customers." He explained that building out the network more consistently is something other carriers haven't done. Every T-Mobile tower has nearly the same tri-band configuration. "You have the same speeds, latency and performance on your apps, wherever you are, and that's also a secret sauce, too," he said. The standalone core enables T-Mobile's next wave of wireless advancements. In April, the company announced that it had rolled out and successfully tested -- with consumer handsets -- 5G-Advanced networking, achieving uplink speeds of 550 Mbps. It did so by combining multiple spectrums in a technique called carrier aggregation, which is enabled by the standalone core hardware. The T-Mobile Launchpad facility is home to many of the labs the company uses to investigate new wireless technologies. Jeff Carlson/CNET This technology also enables network slicing, a technique T-Mobile has been using commercially for the last two years to guarantee network performance for a specific range of devices, even in crowded or noisy wireless environments. First responders, for example, can be assured they can communicate, even in an emergency environment where other people are all accessing the network. "You can have a number of different frequencies supporting one single device, one mobile phone," said Ewaldsson. "If you combine all those resources [into] one device, you can get an incredible bandwidth for a short time, and you can get done with what needs to be done faster. So it creates a better customer experience, because you have an enormous bandwidth that is allocated toward one device, instead of sharing it in one frequency with a bunch of devices." T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert announces Ookla's ranking as T-Mobile being the Best Mobile Network in the US at a live event in Bellevue, Washington. Jeff Carlson/CNET How Ookla named T-Mobile the Best Mobile Network in the US "We've known for a long time that the 5G portion of our network is the best," said Katz, "but this [test] concluded that T-Mobile had the best network. And obviously, we're very excited about that." Both Katz and Ewaldsson emphasized that Ookla's testing was larger and more comprehensive than earlier metrics. It was performed on over 6 million devices and 500 million test points over a six-month period. Ewaldsson said it's an active test, collecting data when customers run the SpeedTest app on their phones, "but it's also a passive test where, in the background, they're pulling data from millions of different handsets that are in the hands of real consumers, wherever they are." He contrasted that with drive testing, an accepted methodology in which a tester drives routes with a collection of representative phones to prove that a network is good. "We don't believe in that," said Ewaldsson. "We believe that if you really want to test this, you're going to crowdsource it, and that's exactly what this test has done… and it's a third-party test." Ulf Ewaldsson, T-Mobile president of technology, holds an award from Ookla for Best Mobile Network in the US. Beside him is Srini Gopalan, T-Mobile chief operating officer. Jeff Carlson/CNET The benefit to this approach is that it more closely captures real mobile usage, according to Ewaldsson, such as people texting and sending email, viewing social apps, watching video clips, playing games and more. Millions of people are also operating under real-world conditions, which can include factors such as pockets of interference or scarcity. Verizon disputes Ookla's methodology, saying that drive testing is a more accurate way to measure network performance. Getting to this point hasn't been a glide path for T-Mobile, and it still faces turbulence. Just in the past few months, T-Mobile has raised prices on many of its legacy plans (and then turned around and gave out free lines to some). It has also switched all of its current plans to a model that does not include taxes and fees, some of which incrementally increased this spring. Until this year, the main unlimited data plans incorporated taxes and fees into the monthly cost. T-Satellite goes online in July with more features T-Mobile's wireless performance is not the only thing looking skyward. The T-Satellite service, which enables texting from most smartphones via the network of over 620 Starlink satellites when out of range of cellular or Wi-Fi networks, will leave beta status on July 23 and be open to anyone. Pricing for the service will be $10 a month, except for customers on the Experience Beyond and Go5G Next plan, which includes T-Satellite as part of the package. A T-Mobile Space X display at T-Mobile's headquarters. Jeff Carlson/CNET That price will apply even if you're a customer of a competing service like AT&T or Verizon; T-Satellite can be activated as a second eSIM on supported devices. Katz said there are currently over 1.8 million customers in the beta program, including tens of thousands of competitors' customers. He also pointed out that during the beta, three times more messages were received than sent. "If you can't receive an incoming message because you haven't manually connected your phone, you're not really reachable and, in my opinion, you're not really connected," he said, referring to the way competitors' phones initiate a satellite link. The T-Satellite service will include 911 emergency texting later this year, which will be available to any mobile subscriber, even if they haven't signed up for T-Satellite service (provided their devices can make the connection). "We just think that with a technology like this, no customer should ever be in a situation where they are unconnected in an emergency," said Katz. That's not the last of the satellite news, though. T-Satellite will enable MMS messaging to send pictures and short audio clips via satellite on Android phones, with iOS support coming later. In a demonstration I witnessed at T-Mobile's 5G Hub, sending an image, text and requisite burst of emojis wasn't exactly speedy, but they arrived within 30 to 90 seconds. Building on that, T-Mobile will bring data service to T-Satellite starting Oct. 1. Considering how satellite bandwidth is constrained, T-Mobile is working with operating system providers to implement an API that developers can use to allow reasonable data access in their apps over the satellite connection. Don't expect to stream Netflix while you're camping in the wilderness, but apps such as All Trails will be able to fetch updated information. "This will be the first time you've seen a direct-to-cell satellite network support data services," said Katz. "We've worked with many different app developers to help them build their apps to recognize that they're connected to satellite and optimize for satellite data." DoorDash deliveries without all the fees When it comes to mobile plan perks, T-Mobile has found success with its Magenta Status goodies, which range from everyday discounts on stays at Hilton hotels to T-Mobile Tuesdays, which offer deals such as a recent Wingstop promotion (during which many of the restaurant's locations ran out of chicken nationwide). Katz said the company has seen 1.2 billion redemptions of T-Mobile Tuesdays offers. On July 8, Magenta Status is gaining a new perk: T-Mobile is partnering with DoorDash to give customers on the most popular plans DashPass service free for a year. Eligible customers can claim the offer through Aug. 4 via T-Mobile Tuesdays in the T-Life app. "I think DoorDash did something like 2 billion deliveries last year, and the average price of a delivery is $3 to $4," said Katz. "If you have DashPass, you don't pay delivery fees at all. This can save our customers hundreds and hundreds of dollars." Incentives to switch and T-Mobile's future Eager to entice customers of the major competing services, T-Mobile is launching the Easy Upgrade program that makes it "screamingly simple," in Katz's words, to switch to T-Mobile. He specifically mentioned Verizon customers "who signed up with Verizon because they believed, and for years it was true, that Verizon had the best network," he said. "And now that we're in a place where it's definitively clear that T-Mobile has the best network, we want to make it really easy for Verizon customers to come and join the Un-carrier." Katz said T-Mobile will pay off every cost to switch, including the remaining cost of devices up to $800, and give customers a new Apple or Android device without requiring a trade-in (be sure to read the details of these deals). T-Mobile's ascent to the top of Ookla's list shows that, even though the mobile market in the US is dominated by just a few large players, the field is in flux. AT&T and Verizon continue to build out their own networks and strategies -- Verizon has teased a "Project 624" that is rumored to be revealed on June 24, for instance. Now that T-Mobile has established this lead, I'm eager to see how it plans to hold onto it.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Iridium Communications, GCT Semiconductor Partner to Accelerate 5G Satellite IoT Development
Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) is one of the best telecom stocks to buy according to Wall Street analysts. On June 4, GCT Semiconductor Holding Inc. (NYSE:GCTS) announced a collaboration with Iridium Communications to integrate Iridium NTN Direct service into GCT's advanced GDM7243SL chipset. The partnership aims to expedite the development of a new Iridium network-enabled Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) chipset. The development will adhere to the requirements for 3GPP Release 19, which is the next phase of 5G Advanced technology to integrate satellite communications. Both companies will jointly explore opportunities, business models, specific use cases, and commercial deployment requirements for the new chipset. A technician inspecting a satellite dish, highlighting the Mobile Voice and Data Services scope. 3GPP Release 19 builds upon Release 18, which further enhances 5G networks with features like improved support for Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs) and satellite communications, network energy efficiency, and AI/ML integration. The functional freeze of features for Release 19 is expected by September this year, with the first Iridium NTN Direct-connected devices planned to be available in 2026. Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) offers mobile voice and data communications services & products to businesses, the US & international governments, non-governmental organizations, and consumers. is a fabless semiconductor company that designs, develops, and markets ICs for the wireless semiconductor industry. While we acknowledge the potential of IRDM as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the . READ NEXT: and . Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Globalstar, CERES TAG Partner to Combat New World Screwworm Outbreak in Mexico
Globalstar Inc. (NASDAQ:GSAT) is one of the best telecom stocks to buy according to Wall Street analysts. On June 24, Globalstar announced its continued partnership with CERES TAG for supporting the livestock industry, particularly in light of the recent New World Screwworm outbreak in Mexico. The outbreak in Mexico has caused a border closure on live animal imports and put cattle producers on high alert. The New World Screwworm poses a threat to animal welfare and herd productivity. Over the last decade, the direct economic impact of zoonotic diseases has been an estimated $20 billion, with indirect impacts reaching $200 billion. A satellite launch, representing the company's two-way voice and data products. CERES TAG's smart ear tags are instrumental in livestock monitoring, providing real-time behavioral data, GPS location, and biosecurity triggers. This information is transmitted without reliance on cellular infrastructure, using Globalstar's satellite network to ensure uninterrupted connectivity even in the most remote ranching areas. Globalstar Inc. (NASDAQ:GSAT) provides mobile satellite services in the US, Canada, Europe, Central and South America, and internationally. CERES TAG specialises in direct-to-satellite animal health intelligence technology. While we acknowledge the potential of GSAT as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the . READ NEXT: and . Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Deep cuts to hurricane data could leave forecasters in the dark
Forecasters are set to lose some of their sharpest eyes in the sky just a few months before Atlantic hurricane season peaks when the Department of Defense halts a key source of satellite data over cybersecurity concerns. The data comes from microwave sensors attached to three aging polar-orbiting satellites operated for both military and civilian purposes. Data from the sensors is critical to hurricane forecasters because it allows them to peer through layers of clouds and into the center of a storm, where rain and thunderstorms develop, even at night. The sensors don't rely on visible light. Losing the data — at a time when the National Weather Service is releasing fewer weather balloons and the agency is short on meteorologists because of budget cuts — will make it more likely that forecasters miss key developments in a hurricane, several hurricane experts said. Those changes help meteorologists determine what level of threat a storm may pose and therefore how emergency managers ought to prepare. Microwave data offers some of the earliest indications that sustained winds are strengthening inside a storm. 'It's really the instrument that allows us to look under the hood. It's definitely a significant loss. There's no doubt at all hurricane forecasts will be degraded because of this,' said Brian McNoldy, a hurricane researcher and senior research associate at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science. 'They're able to detect when an eye wall forms in a tropical storm and if it's intensifying — or rapidly intensifying.' Researchers think rapid intensification is becoming more likely in tropical storms as the oceans warm as a result of human-caused climate change. The three satellites are operated for both military and civilian purposes through the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, a joint effort of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Department of Defense. While hurricane experts said they were concerned about losing the tool, Kim Doster, NOAA's communications director, downplayed the decision's effect on hurricane forecasting by the National Weather Service. In an email, Doster said the military's microwave data 'is a single dataset in a robust suite of hurricane forecasting and modeling tools in the NWS portfolio.' Doster said these models include data from geostationary satellites — a different system that constantly observes Earth from about 22,300 miles away and offers a vantage point that appears fixed because the satellites synchronize with Earth's rotation. They also ingest measurements from Hurricane Hunter aircraft missions, buoys, weather balloons, land-based radar and from other polar-orbiting satellites, including NOAA's Joint Polar Satellite System, which she said provides 'the richest, most accurate satellite weather observations available.' A U.S. Space Force official said the satellites and their instruments in question remain functional and that the data will be sent directly to weather satellite readout terminals across the DOD. The Navy's Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center made the decision to stop processing that data and sharing it publicly, the official said. The Navy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Earlier this week, a division of the Navy notified researchers that it would cease to process and share the data on or before June 30, and some researchers received an email from the Navy's Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center, saying that its data storage and sharing program relied on a processing station that was using an 'end-of-life' operating system with vulnerabilities. 'The operating system cannot be upgraded, poses a cybersecurity concern, and introduces risk to DoD networks,' the email, which was reviewed by NBC News, said. The move will cut the amount of microwave data available to forecasters in half, McNoldy estimated. This microwave data is also used by snow and ice scientists to track the extent of polar sea ice, which helps scientists understand long-term climate trends. Sea ice forms from frozen ocean water. It grows in coverage during winter months and typically melts during warmer times of the year. Sea ice reflects sunlight back into space, which cools the planet. That makes it an important metric to track over time. The extent of summer Arctic sea ice is trending lower because of global warming. Walt Meier, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, said his program learned of the Navy's decision earlier this week. Meier said the satellites and sensors are about 16 years old. Researchers have been preparing for them to eventually fail, but they weren't expecting the military to pull the plug on data with little warning, he said. Meier said the National Snow and Ice Data Center has relied on the military satellites for data on sea ice coverage since 1987, but will adapt its systems to use similar microwave data from a Japanese satellite, called AMSR-2, instead. 'It certainly could be a few weeks before we get that data into our system,' Meier said. 'I don't think it's going to undermine our sea ice climate data record in terms of confidence in it, but it's going to be more challenging.' The polar-orbiting satellites that are part of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program provide intermittent coverage of hurricane-prone areas. The satellites typically zip around the globe in a north-south orientation every 90-100 minutes in a relatively low orbit, Meier said. The microwave sensors scan across a narrow swath of the earth, which Meier estimated at roughly 1,500 miles. As the Earth rotates, these polar-orbiting satellites can capture imagery that helps researchers determine the structure and potential intensity of a storm, if it happens to be in their path. 'It's often just by luck, you'll get a really nice pass over a hurricane,' McNoldy said, adding that the change will reduce the geographic area covered by microwave scans and the frequency of scans of a particular storm. Andy Hazelton, a hurricane modeler and associate scientist with the University of Miami Cooperative Institute for Marine & Atmospheric Studies, said the microwave data is used in some hurricane models and also by forecasters who can access near real-time visualizations of the data. Hazelton said forecasters are always looking for visual signatures in microwave data that often provide the first evidence a storm is rapidly intensifying and building strength. The National Hurricane Center defines rapid intensification as a 35-mph or higher increase in sustained winds inside a tropical storm within 24 hours. Losing the microwave data is particularly important now because in recent years, scientists have observed an increase in rapid intensification, a trend likely fueled in part by climate change as ocean waters warm. A 2023 study published the journal Scientific Reports found that tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean were about 29% more likely to undergo rapid intensification from 2001 to 2020, compared to 1971 to 1990. Last year, Hurricane Milton strengthened from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in just 36 hours. Some of that increase took place overnight, when other satellite instruments offer less information. The trend is particularly dangerous when a storm, like Hurricane Idalia, intensifies just before striking the coast. 'We've certainly seen in recent years many cases of rapid intensification ahead of landfall. That's the kind of thing you really don't want to miss,' McNoldy said, adding that microwave data is 'excellent at giving the important extra 12 hours of lead time to see the inner core changes happening.' Brian LaMarre, the former meteorologist-in-charge at the National Weather Service's weather forecasting station in Tampa Bay, said the data is also useful for predicting flood impacts as a hurricane comes ashore. 'That scan can help predict where the heavier precipitation and rainfall rates can be,' LaMarre said. 'This data is critically important to public safety.' Hurricane season begins June 1 and ends Nov. 30. It typically starts to peak in late summer and early fall. NOAA forecasters have predicted a more busy 2025 hurricane season than typical, with six to 10 hurricanes. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA satellite emits 'spark' decades after going dormant: Astronomers think they know why
A NASA satellite that had been dead for nearly six decades issued a surprising sign of life. In June 2024, a team of astronomers were perplexed when a radio telescope in Australia scanning the sky over the southern hemisphere came across unusual radio waves. The burst of radiation was very bright, exceedingly quick – and much closer to Earth than the scientists would have thought. After studying the source of the strange cosmic phenomena, the researchers were even more mystified when it appeared to be originating from the same location as a NASA spacecraft that went offline about 58 years ago, according to a press release about the discovery released June 25, 2025. Don't be fooled, though: The defunct spacecraft that operated for about three years in the 1960s isn't kicking back on to resume operations anytime soon. So, what's going on? Here's what to know about the strange signal, and how astronomers tracked it to a defunct NASA satellite. Astronomers tracked the source of the radio waves to a location that matches that of NASA's defunct Relay 2 spacecraft, a communications satellite that launched into orbit in 1964 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The spacecraft operated until June 1967 after both of its onboard transponders failed. So, has the long-dead satellite has suddenly sprung back to life after nearly six decades? Astronomers say that's unlikely. Rather, the waves more likely came from a "spark" of built up electricity, which emitted a pulse as it jumped from one part of the spacecraft to another while passing through charged environment above Earth's atmosphere, according to the researchers. The team of astronomers discovered the strange signal while hunting for bright, powerful flashes of electromagnetic radiation in the distant universe known as fast radio bursts. Most surprising to the researchers, all of whom are from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, was that the signal spotted June 13, 2024, didn't originate from a far-flung galaxy. Instead, it originated in our own cosmic neighborhood in the Milky Way. While incredibly bright, the event only lasted less than 30 nanoseconds. The astronomers detected it using Australia's national science agency's (CSIRO) ASKAP radio telescope. Clancy James, an astrophysicist at Curtin University in Australia's Perth campus, then led a team that studied the extremely bright source of radio waves to determine its source. While the satellite signal is one possible explanation, the researchers have also theorized that an impact with a tiny particle of space debris, known as a "micrometeoroid," could have caused the anomaly. Such impacts can create short-lived clouds of hot, charged gas that produce bursts of radio waves. The discovery marks the first time that a spark of built-up electricity has been observed to be both so bright and so short in duration. Now that the detection has been made, the finding not only demonstrates how astronomers can help identify the origin of these kinds of signals in the future, but could even help humanity better understand how electrostatic discharges can pose a danger to satellites in Earth's orbit. "Detections like this show how the tools developed to study the distant Universe can help scientists understand the increasingly crowded and critically important space environment close to Earth," the researcher said in a statement. The research has been accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters. A pre-print version of the paper is available on arXiv. Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dead NASA satellite from Florida emits 'spark' 6 decades later: Why?
