Space Was ‘First Mover’ In Iran Conflict, Top General Says
U.S. Space Command, alongside USCYBERCOM, launched non‑kinetic operations that disabled Iran’s satellite‑based communications and sensor networks during the opening hours of Operation Epic Fury, which began on Feb. 28. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine said these coordinated space‑and‑cyber actions prevented the adversary from seeing, coordinating, or responding effectively. Commercial providers such as Vantor and Planet Labs supplied real‑time satellite imagery of the strikes, offering the public a high‑altitude view of the conflict. The episode demonstrates that space capabilities are now integral to modern warfare, not optional add‑ons.
Kelli Kedis Ogborn Joining Commercial Space Federation as Strategic Advisor for Global Markets and Industry Engagement
The Commercial Space Federation announced that Kelli Kedis Ogborn will serve as Strategic Advisor for Global Markets and Industry Engagement. Ogborn will spearhead efforts to broaden CSF’s international presence, forge strategic partnerships, and launch initiatives that accelerate commercial space growth....
Pilots Petition Starlink Following Shift to New Speed Tiers
Starlink has restructured its in‑motion service, capping standard Roam and Priority plans at 100 mph ground speed and launching two aviation‑specific tiers. The Aviation 300MPH tier costs $250 per month for 20 GB, while the Aviation 450MPH tier is $1,000 per month...
Data Centres in Space: Less Crazy than You Think
Tech giants are exploring space‑based data centres to power AI workloads. Elon Musk predicts feasibility within two to three years, while OpenAI’s Sam Altman dismisses the idea as premature. Google plans a test launch next year, and former Google CEO...
Isaacman's Revamp Targets 2028 Lunar Landing, Not Delay
The non-space press missed the key elements of Isaacman’s revamp of Artemis. They perceived it as some sort of delay, which is wrong. Technically it was Sean Duffy who moved the lunar landing to 2028 last year. But in reality,...
JAXA's HTV‑X1 Leaves ISS Friday, Begins Months‑Long Science
JAXA's HTV-X1 cargo ship will depart ISS on Friday, Mar 6, 12:00 pm ET. Watch starting 11:45 am ET. (Canadarm2 will unberth it the day before. No live coverage of that, only of the release on Friday.) It'll remain in...
NASA's MAVEN Detects First Evidence of Lightning-Like Activity on Mars
NASA's MAVEN spacecraft captured the first direct evidence of lightning‑like activity on Mars by identifying a single, 0.4‑second whistler wave spanning up to 110 Hz in its ionospheric data. The signal, found among more than 108,000 measurements, required a rare combination...
EchoStar 10‑K Reveals Limited Non‑European Satellite Assets
Lots of useful detail in EchoStar 10-K on foreign assets transferred (see pp415-418). Outside Europe there's just SIRION-1 Australian filing plus licenses in Brazil, Chile & Mexico (but Brazil is specific to Lyra, Chile is non-exclusive, Mexico is GEO) https://t.co/mHJqFgkMzd
NASA, JAXA to Cover HTV-X1 Spacecraft Departure From Space Station
NASA and Japan’s JAXA will broadcast the departure of the uncrewed HTV‑X1 cargo spacecraft from the International Space Station on March 6, 2026. The vehicle delivered roughly 12,000 lb of scientific experiments, supplies and hardware after launching on an H3 rocket from...
How to Weigh a Killer Asteroid at 22 Kilometers per Second
A new study proposes measuring the mass of small potentially hazardous asteroids by exploiting the inverse relationship between spacecraft velocity change and flyby distance. The technique calls for a main spacecraft to pass within a few asteroid diameters while deploying...
NASA Adds Mission to Artemis Lunar Program, Updates Architecture
NASA announced an accelerated Artemis schedule, adding a 2027 Artemis III mission and committing to at least one lunar surface landing each year. The agency will standardize the SLS‑Orion vehicle to a Block 1 configuration and test docking with commercial landers from...
Stargazing Into the Future of SSA
SpaceX unveiled Stargaze, a space situational awareness service that taps the star‑tracker cameras on its roughly 10,000 Starlink satellites to monitor LEO objects. The company claims the constellation can generate up to 30 million observations per day, delivering hundreds of detections...
Indian Rocket Startup Agnikul Completes Static Fire Test of Three-Engine Cluster
Indian private launch firm Agnikul released a 40‑second static‑fire video of its three‑engine cluster for the Agnibaan orbital rocket. The engines, fully 3D‑printed and driven by electric‑motor pumps, were calibrated to synchronize six pumps, six motors and six control algorithms....
Rocket Lab Completes In-Space Commissioning of Two Escapade Mars Orbiters
Rocket Lab has finished in‑space commissioning of the twin ESCAPADE Mars orbiters, now operating at Earth‑Sun Lagrange Point 2. The company will hand operational control to the University of California Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory, which will conduct science activities before the...
Starlink's German Pivot: Why Lufthansa and DT Switched Fast
My new blog post on Starlink's German alignment: why have both Lufthansa and DT changed their minds in short order? https://t.co/KFmPPokCry
Starlink’s German Alignment
At Mobile World Congress, Starlink announced a partnership with Deutsche Telekom to deliver satellite broadband to more than 140 million subscribers across ten European markets, using Starlink’s Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) spectrum. The deal effectively treats the pending renewal of EchoStar’s...
New Space-Based Photovoltaics Industry Growth Driven by Commercial Aerospace, AI Power
Space‑based photovoltaics are poised for rapid expansion as commercial aerospace launches and AI‑driven data centers create new demand. Triple‑junction GaAs cells dominate today, but their reliance on scarce gallium, germanium and indium drives costs sky‑high. Industry leaders, especially in China,...
Geopolitical Scrutiny: The Strategic Implications of APT Satellite’s Chinese State Ownership
APT Satellite Holdings Limited is directly linked to China Satellite Communications Corp., a state‑owned subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. This ownership places the commercial operator at the heart of the sovereign‑commercial nexus, raising concerns that Chinese...
SpaceX Lunar Manufacturing Proposal Triggers Surge in APT Satellite Shares
On March 2, 2026, APT Satellite Holdings shares jumped more than 7% after reports that SpaceX is planning a permanent lunar manufacturing facility. The proposed moon‑based plant would use a multi‑kilometer electromagnetic catapult to launch satellites, potentially reducing launch costs...
March 2, 2004: Rosetta Launches
On March 2, 2004 the European Space Agency launched the Rosetta‑Philae mission from French Guiana to rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov‑Gerasimenko. The spacecraft spent a decade traveling, using three Earth and one Mars gravity‑assist flybys to reach its target. In August 2014 Rosetta entered orbit,...
Exclusive: Starpath Unveils New Ultra-Thin Space Solar Panels
Starpath Space introduced Starlight Air, an ultra‑thin space solar panel that weighs just 73 g per square meter and sells for about $15 per watt. The panel uses a nanometer‑scale crystalline photovoltaic layer printed on a fabric substrate, delivering the same...
Starlink Hints at Extended Viasat/EchoStar 2GHz Licenses
Starlink is effectively confirming (or at least treating as a fait accompli) what I've been told previously, that the incumbent Viasat and EchoStar 2GHz licenses will be extended for a period of time beyond 2027
Austria Commissions Its First Military Sat
Austria has commissioned BEACONSAT, its first military‑operated satellite, slated for launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 in February 2027. The one‑year mission will monitor GNSS signals to detect jamming and spoofing, addressing growing navigation interference threats. The project is financed by a...
Starlink's Consumer Antenna Thrives Amid Warzone Jamming
Ukraine, @Starlink on maintaining connectivity of a network designed for consumer broadband in a war zone. Example: Starlink antenna, designed to avoid interruption from foliage, is also good for maneuvering around electromagnetic jamming attempts.https://t.co/l2cyeqqLWW https://t.co/tkv4jUz8s4
UnseenLabs Denies Being GomSpace’s Unpaid‑invoice Customer
Space-based signals-intelligence provider @UnseenLabs: We are not the unnamed custormer referenced by @GomSpaceGroup regarding unpaid invoices.https://t.co/vmIO8qFe9l https://t.co/QsoV6TiaCl
World Space Week 2025 Set Record With 50,000 Events in 102 Countries
World Space Week 2025 set a participation record with nearly 50,000 activities in 102 countries. The surge reflects a shift from a niche sector to a global priority, as educators, governments and industry rally to prepare the next generation for...
U.S. Space Force Pushes to Put Airborne Target Tracking Sensors in Orbit
The U.S. Space Force is advancing the Airborne Moving Target Indicator (AMTI) program to place space‑based sensors that can track aircraft, drones and missiles in orbit. Early prototype demonstrations have delivered detailed on‑orbit data, and the service is leveraging technology...
Space Force Rethinks Satellite Ground Station Strategy
The U.S. Space Force has halted the $1.4 billion Satellite Communications Augmentation Resource (SCAR) program and is drafting a new acquisition strategy that moves away from a cost‑plus, single‑source contract. The original BADGER phased‑array ground terminals, awarded to BlueHalo/AeroVironment, were placed...
The Ghost in the Orbit: How Hybrid Surveillance Reshapes Risks
With the New START treaty expiring in February 2026, the United States lost its primary mechanism for on‑site nuclear verification, prompting a shift toward space‑based monitoring. The Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit has launched the GHOST‑R program, a hybrid procurement effort...
Gala Time! The Chinese New Year Narratives of the Space Program
China’s Spring Festival Gala, Chunwan, remains the world’s most‑watched TV event, drawing over a billion simultaneous viewers and serving as a flagship soft‑power platform. Since 2009 the program has woven the nation’s space achievements into its performances, from the first...
Review: Becoming Martian
Scott Solomon’s *Becoming Martian* examines how long‑duration spaceflight could reshape human bodies and minds, from microgravity‑induced vision changes to speculative reproductive research. The book arrives as U.S. space policy pivots from Mars to lunar priorities, keeping its relevance despite shifting political...
Starlink Mobile Unveils
Starlink Mobile @ #MWC26 -showed a video call on D2D -10M monthly active D2D users today. -Mexican operator coming shortly -V2 constellation to provide 5G experience - 150 Mbps -V2 coming mid 2027 -NR NTN standard -1,200 satellites initially -“complementary” to terrestrial https://t.co/cxxT3XpFev
MaiaSpace Pushes Inaugural Launch of Maia Rocket to 2027
MaiaSpace, an ArianeGroup subsidiary, announced that the inaugural flight of its two‑stage Maia rocket is now slated for 2027, pushing back the original late‑2026 target. The partially reusable vehicle can lift up to 1,500 kg to low‑Earth orbit in an expendable...
Satellite Networks Minimise Data ‘Freshness’ Delay in Age of Entanglement
Researchers introduced the Age of Entanglement (AoE) metric to quantify the freshness of bipartite entanglement in satellite‑assisted quantum repeater chains. They modeled intermittent satellite‑ground links as a two‑state Markov chain and cast AoE minimisation as an infinite‑horizon Markov decision process,...
Predicting the Sun's Most Violent Outbursts
A multinational team led by Victor Velasco Herrera has unveiled a forecasting system that can identify super‑flare risk windows months to a year in advance and pinpoint the likely solar regions. By mining 50 years of GOES X‑ray data, researchers...
Open Cosmos Unveils Vision for Imagery-Linked Sovereign Satellite Connectivity
Open Cosmos announced ConnectedCosmos, a Ka‑band LEO network that merges broadband, IoT and Earth‑observation services. The constellation will use optical inter‑satellite links to deliver near‑real‑time data without relying on ground stations. The company faces ITU‑mandated milestones for a 576‑satellite filing,...
IRONSTAR Wins British Heat Of The ActInSpace 2026 Hackathon, Enabling New Qualification Of Space Risk Exposures
University College London’s IRONSTAR team won the UK heat of the ActInSpace 2026 hackathon, presenting an early‑stage model that prices space‑debris risk for satellite operators and insurers. The competition, hosted at Surrey Research Park, attracted 75 participants from academia, industry...
How America Built Industries From Scratch and What Space Commerce Can Learn From It
The article revisits a NASA monograph that draws six historic U.S. public‑private partnerships to inform today’s space commerce. It highlights how land‑grant subsidies, government‑backed loans, and anchor‑customer contracts launched the transcontinental railroad and later aviation. It also warns that regulated...
Starshield: Distinct, Classified Constellation Separate From Starlink
How many Starshield satellites are there? How many Starlink satellites are needed to provide continuous service? https://t.co/qIfvwWuPIy
SpaceX Completes Its Second Starlink Launch Today; Firefly Scrubs Launch
SpaceX placed 29 Starlink satellites on its second launch today, marking a rapid cadence and the 26th successful Falcon 9 first‑stage recovery on a drone ship. The launch underscores SpaceX’s operational advantage as it heads toward 27 missions in 2026, outpacing...
New Rocket Aims for Record-High Dummy Satellite Release
Can't wait for this baby to fly. Could be the hottest entry yet with hints that the altitude for the dummy sat release is higher than any previous mission.
Even Experts Find Focal Length Deceptively Misleading
I was geolocating the July 2025 Typhon launch from Australia last summer and--even though I teach my students that focal length can mislead--I was somehow still surprised by how misleading focal length can be. Around -15.32, 130.49° at 8:04:03 UTC+9:30....
A 'Cosmic Positioning System' In the Outer Solar System
A NASA‑backed NIAC Phase I study proposes a Cosmic Positioning System (CPS) of five spacecraft spread 20–100 AU apart to triangulate distant signals and directly measure cosmological distances. By leveraging ultra‑stable atomic clocks and 8‑9 m deployable antennas, the network could provide a...
The Toughest Animals in the Universe Just Got a New Job
Penn State researchers used tardigrades, the ultra‑resilient "water bears," to test how Martian regolith affects living organisms. In simulated soil from the Curiosity‑sampled Rocknest deposit, the MGS‑1 simulant sharply reduced tardigrade activity, while a second, less inhibitory simulant performed better....
Europe's Answer to Starship
SpaceX’s Starship demonstrated a 33‑engine launch and a mid‑air booster catch, confirming its potential as a fully reusable super‑heavy lift vehicle. Independent analysis by Germany’s DLR, using extracted telemetry, estimates the current reusable Starship can deliver about 59 tonnes to low‑Earth...
Space Station Experiment Shows Microbes Can Mine Valuable Metals In Orbit
Researchers aboard the International Space Station grew the fungus Penicillium simplicissimum with powdered meteorite and recovered measurable palladium, marking the first successful orbital biomining of a precious metal. The fungal cultures outperformed a bacterial counterpart, extracting 18 of 44 measured...
Space Data Centers Offer Sustainable, Resource‑Free Computing
Great to see @FT exploring the complexities of orbital data centres & our work w/ @Google on Suncatcher. Just a quick response here. Generally, space-based AI is a lofty goal, but it's a more sustainable long-term solution in comparison to...
Space Force Opens Secretive Space Tracking to Commercial Firms
The U.S. Space Force is increasingly relying on commercial data and artificial intelligence to track foreign satellites and assess threats to American spacecraft. The effort is coordinated through the Space Domain Awareness Tools, Applications and Processing (SDA TAP) Lab, which runs...
Mystery Pipes on Ship 39 Likely Heat Exchanger
I'm still scratching my head over these pipes. They're not part of the stand. Definitely a part of Ship 39. I've heard all sorts of theories. A new Flap drive. Chill lines. Vent lines. But none of it really fits, especially...
Space Firms May
Recall that two years ago Rivada blamed Oct 7 for delays in securing funding for their contract with Terran Orbital. I'm wondering which space company will be the first to use the current Middle East conflict as an excuse for...