October 14, 2026 Quick space links

2:47 pm

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.

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A giant inexplicably-shaped radio object

10:44 am

the Treble Clef
Click for original image.

Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped and reduced to post here, was released today by the science team of the orbiting Chandra X-Ray Observatory. It shows a false-color composite image of a very unusual radio source thought to be about 1.55 billion light years away and is believed to be emissions from a supermassive black hole combined with the collision of two vast clusters of galaxies.

The red feature, which the scientists dub the “Treble Clef” because they imagine it vaguely resembles that music notation symbol, is from radio emissions. The blue cloud that surrounds it comes from X-rays as observed by Chandra. The scientists put forth the following theory to explain what they see:

The authors concluded that the Treble Clef likely formed in a two-stage process. First, an earlier outburst from a supermassive black hole in the galaxy cluster’s center drove clouds of charged particles and magnetic fields away at close to the speed of light. This led to a type of cosmic crescendo and initially produced bright radio waves that later faded as the particles lost energy. Next, the collision between the two clusters compressed or reenergized the cloud, which became brighter again in radio waves. Shock waves — similar to the sonic booms from supersonic jets — from the collision may have played a role in this reenergizing process.

They posit that the collision occurred several hundred million years ago, and that the two galaxy clusters are now moving away from each other.

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Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

Without warning SpaceX limits Ukrainian access to its military-grade Starlink constellation

9:38 am

SpaceX yesterday blocked access to its military-grade Starlink constellation to any Ukrainian vehicle traveling faster than 100 miles per hour, an action it took without notice that Ukrainian officials claimed caused problems to on-going military operations.

SpaceX imposed new speed restrictions overnight on Starlink terminals operating while in motion, disrupting several Ukrainian military missions that had received no advance warning of the change, according to Ukrainian defense technology adviser Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov on October 14.

Beskrestnov said the restriction currently applies to StarShield, SpaceX’s military-focused satellite communications service, and places the limit at 100 miles per hour for moving terminals. “I confirm that tonight SpaceX introduced a speed restriction for Starlink terminals operating while in motion. At present, the restriction applies to the ‘military package’ of StarShield services and is set at a speed of 100 miles per hour,” Beskrestnov said. “Our Defense Forces received no warning about this restriction, and this led to the disruption of a number of missions.”

Though there is no evidence this decision by SpaceX was prompted by any order from the White House, its timing suggests it. Trump has recently expressed dissatisfaction with the Ukraine’s determination to fight, and unwillingness to sign a peace deal. He has also appeared to be shifting his support to Russia, following a long conversation with Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, that resulted in a U.S. deal to import Russian diesel fuel.

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Czech company CSG obtains almost 10% ownership of Canadian satellite maker MDA

9:21 am

The Czech company CSG, which up to now focused on industrial and defense work, has now become the largest shareholder of the long-established Canadian satellite maker MDA, and in doing so is expanding its operations into the space sector.

European industrial and defense group CSG is now the largest shareholder in Canadian satellite manufacturer MDA Space after making an investment to hold 9.5% equity in the company. The investment, announced Tuesday, marks CSG’s entry into the space sector. CSG, headquartered in Prague in the Czech Republic, has a portfolio of companies in defense systems and ammunitions, including Excalibur Army, Tatra Defence, and MSM Group.

CSG explained that as defense and space are interconnected, developing capability in space is a natural expansion for the group. The strategic investment in Canadian company MDA Space could lead to co-investing in manufacturing or assembly facilities in Europe, partnering on strategic acquisitions, and connecting MDA Space with CSG’s customers.

This purchase appears to fit well with the recent policies of Canada’s leftist Carney administration, which has been trying to increase its ties to Europe, while reducing its links to the U.S. At the same time, it runs counter to that administration’s push to develop a wholly Canadian space industry.

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Conscious Choice cover

Now available in hardback and paperback as well as ebook!

From the press release: In this ground-breaking new history of early America, historian Robert Zimmerman not only exposes the lie behind The New York Times 1619 Project that falsely claims slavery is central to the history of the United States, he also provides profound lessons about the nature of human societies, lessons important for Americans today as well as for all future settlers on Mars and elsewhere in space.

 
Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space, is a riveting page-turning story that documents how slavery slowly became pervasive in the southern British colonies of North America, colonies founded by a people and culture that not only did not allow slavery but in every way were hostile to the practice.  
Conscious Choice does more however. In telling the tragic history of the Virginia colony and the rise of slavery there, Zimmerman lays out the proper path for creating healthy societies in places like the Moon and Mars.

 

“Zimmerman’s ground-breaking history provides every future generation the basic framework for establishing new societies on other worlds. We would be wise to heed what he says.” —Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society.

 

All editions are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all book vendors, with the ebook priced at $5.99 before discount. All editions can also be purchased direct from the ebook publisher, ebookit, in which case you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.

 

Autographed printed copies are also available at discount directly from the author (hardback $29.95; paperback $14.95; Shipping cost for either: $6.00). Just send an email to zimmerman @ nasw dot org.

SpaceX proposes launching almost 500 times a year at Boca Chica

9:08 am

FAA logo

According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) public announcement released today [pdf], SpaceX has requested a revision to its FAA launch license to increase the number of annual launches allowed from its Boca Chica spaceport from 25 launches and 50 landings to as much as 456 launches and 912 landings.

The announcement describes the FAA’s intent to prepare a new “Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS)” to determine whether this proposal is environmental acceptable.

This PEIS will evaluate a maximum annual capacity of up to 456 annual launches originating from and up to 912 annual landings at the Boca Chica Launch Site at Starbase, TX.

Phase 1 would include up to 100 annual launches and up to 200 annual landings (100 of the Starship and 100 of the Super Heavy). Launches and landings could occur at any day or time of the week. As the vehicle continues to mature and reliability improves, launch and landing rates are expected to increase. Starship and Super Heavy are designed to require minimal post-flight refurbishment.

Phase 2 would include up to 456 launches originating from, and 912 annual landings at, the Boca Chica Launch Site at Starbase, TX. Launches could occur at any time of day, but would only occur Monday through Friday. This phase represents a mature program launching more than 100 times annually and would be implemented within several years. These launch and landing thresholds represent the maximum annual number of landings that could occur at the Boca Chica Launch Site at Starbase, TX, regardless of the launch origin, and bound the analysis in this PEIS.

The notice states it will review whether to approve SpaceX’s entire request, or reject it entirely for environmental reasons, with no alternative options. As part of this process, it will hold two public meetings on November 17th in Brownsville and November 19th in Port Isabel, and one virtual meeting on November 18th, during which it will outline SpaceX’s plan and take public comment.

This proposal suggests that SpaceX fully expects to be able to launch a single Starship/Superheavy rocket more than once per day from one of the two launchpads it expects to operate at Boca Chica.

Based on the past history at all other spaceports, the FAA should okay this proposal. Rocket launches don’t harm wildlife or the environment. Based on politics however the answer might be different. For one thing, if this impact statement is not completed before the end of Trump’s term, and a Democrat wins the presidency in 2028, it is quite likely that Democrat will block approval.

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Indian rocket startup signs deal with Japanese spaceport startup

8:44 am

Omspace's Infinity One rocket
Omspace’s Infinity One rocket

The Indian rocket startup Omspace, which hopes to launch a reusable rocket by 2028, last week signed an agreement with the Japanese spaceport startup Astro Gate, which describes itself as a “Japan-born spaceport operator specializing in the planning, design, construction supervision, and operation of spaceports.”

[T]the agreement does not secure a confirmed launch date or an operational launch site. Instead, it sets the stage for technical work on how the rocket and ground facilities could function together.

The collaboration focusses on more than finding a place to launch. The companies will examine how Infinity One could land, undergo servicing and be prepared for another flight using infrastructure planned by Astro Gate. The aim is to make the process between launches faster, ideally aiming for a potential turnaround of 24 to 48 hours.

It appears Omspace’s smallsat rocket, called Infinity One, is designed to be launched from a mobile platform that can be set up anywhere quickly. Somehow Astro Gate will work with Omspace to develop this capability.

Much of this material from both companies sounds very vague, but then, it doesn’t read much different than the blarney we get from all new startups. The proof will be in the pudding, as they say.

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Leaving Earth cover

Leaving Earth: Space Stations, Rival Superpowers, and the Quest for Interplanetary Travel, can be purchased as an ebook everywhere for only $3.99 (before discount) at amazon, Barnes & Noble, all ebook vendors, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.

If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big oppressive tech companies and I get a bigger cut much sooner.

 

Winner of the 2003 Eugene M. Emme Award of the American Astronautical Society.

 
"Leaving Earth is one of the best and certainly the most comprehensive summary of our drive into space that I have ever read. It will be invaluable to future scholars because it will tell them how the next chapter of human history opened." -- Arthur C. Clarke

China launches ten satellites

8:24 am

The Chinese pseudo-company Landspace today successfully placed ten satellites in orbit, its Zhuque-2E rocket lifting off from the Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China.

Eight of the satellites were apparently data center test satellites, while two others were testing laser communications.

China’s state-run press provided no information about where the rocket’s lower stages crashed inside China.

The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

117 SpaceX
66 China
16 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)
12 Russia

SpaceX still leads the entire world combined in successful launches in 2026, 117 to 115.

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The puzzling floor of Lowell Crater on Mars

2:58 pm

The puzzling floor of Lowell Crater on Mars
Click for original image.

Cool image time! It seems appropriate, considering my recent book review of a history about the life of Percival Lowell and his incorrect observations of canals on Mars, that in my normal browsing through the image archives of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and Mars Express I would stumble on a mystery on the floor of the 125-mile-wide Lowell Crater on Mars, named for the flawed astronomer.

The picture to the right, cropped and enhanced to post here, was taken on October 10, 2022 by the high resolution camera on MRO, showing a relatively flat featureless terrain that is sharply divided between a dark surface in the northeast and a light surface in the southwest, with the dark terrain heavily crisscrossed by dust devil tracks.

This landscape poses several mysteries, some of which can be explained easily and some of which any explanation is uncertain and likely wrong. First, why the sharp dichotomy between the light and dark? Second, why do we see only dust devil tracks on the dark terrain?

Finally, why is the surface generally smooth, with only a stippled roughness almost like sandpaper?
» Read more

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October 13, 2026 Quick space links

2:46 pm

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.

7 comments

Bolivia shifts from China to Japan in its alliances in space

9:26 am

Having partnered with China to build its first communications satellite in 2013, the Bolivian government is now beginning work on its first home-built satellite, to be built by students at Universidad Católica Boliviana San Pablo (UCB) in partnership with a Japanese institute. At the same time, the Bolivian government is moving to write its own space law establishing the regulatory framework for commercial space operations.

In July 2025, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and Exolaunch selected the Waskiri-Sat for a funded launch under the “Access to Space for All2 initiative. It is a CubeSat-type nanosatellite with on-board artificial intelligence and multispectral cameras, whose tests will have the support of the Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech), in Japan. UCB students are also working on a ground station in Batallas, at about 4,000 meters above sea level, to receive telemetry from the mission.

On the regulatory front, the UCB will join the [Bolivian Space Agency]’s efforts for a framework law on civil space policy, which the Plurinational Legislative Assembly has already declared a priority. According to the agency, the regulation will seek to attract foreign investment, provide the State with satellite information for food security, risk management and forest monitoring, and maximize the value of its space assets.

The shift away from China corresponds with the shift in Bolivian politics, which in 2025 elected its first conservative leader in decades. The country remains one of only four South American nations that has not yet signed the Artemis Accords, but the stories above suggest that this might happen in the near future.

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Voyager’s Griffin-1 lunar lander passes final ground tests

9:09 am

Lunar landers targeting the Moon's south pole. Green indicates past failures
Lunar landers targeting the Moon’s south pole.
Green indicates past failures.

The large Griffin-1 lunar lander that was developed by the startup Astrobotic (now part of the space station company Voyager Technologies) has successfully passed its final vibration and environmental tests at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, and is being prepared for shipment to Cape Canaveral for its launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy before the end of the year.

The tests simulated the extreme temperatures and vacuum of space, as well as the intense shaking and ear-splitting roar of launch. Results show that Voyager Technologies’ Griffin Mission One (Griffin-1) spacecraft is ready to survive the rigors of space exploration.

… It will deliver more than 1,100 pounds (455 kilograms) of cargo to Nobile Crater near the lunar South Pole, which categorizes it as an infrastructure-class lander. Griffin-1 will carry 10 science and technology demonstrations from six countries, including the largest commercial payload ever delivered to the Moon, Astrolab’s FLIP (FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform) rover.

The map to the right indicates past and future planned unmanned missions, with green indicating past failures of two Intuitive Machines’ landers. Blue Origin also has several lunar landers planned for the south pole, but the specific locations have not been announced, though they are likely in the same Nobile Crater region targeted by both Griffin and Athena.

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Two Turks arrested for Starlink station fire in Poland; new sabotage at Bulgarian Starlink facility

8:41 am

German police have arrested two Turkish nationals under suspicion for setting the fire at a Starlink ground station last month in Poland.

Prosecutors have now said that the aim of the attack was to disrupt Starlink internet connections in Poland and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The two Turkish nationals were arrested by Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office based on evidence gathered by Polish police, Poland’s ABW domestic intelligence agency and prosecutors. The pair are awaiting transfer to Poland under a European Arrest Warrant.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the fire “another act of hybrid war”. “The perpetrators of the sabotage will answer to Polish justice,” he wrote on social media on Monday.

Polish officials also said they had “absolutely no doubt that Russian services” were behind the sabotage. If so, it appears Russia is possibly expanding this international sabotage campaign against Starlink. Bulgarian officials today revealed that another Starlink ground station in that country was recently attacked, in a very similar way.

Eleven of 17 Starlink antennas were deliberately set on fire at a secure site near Sofia by two masked individuals, Ivaylo Mirchev of the “Yes, Bulgaria” party said in a Facebook post, questioning the response of Bulgarian security services to suspected sabotage linked to Russia. The antennas belong to SpaceX’s Starlink communications system and provide a key connection to satellites in space that are also being used in the war in Ukraine.

The Ukraine war continues to expand. The Ukraine is now routinely attacking locations deep within Russian terriority, and now Russia is apparently running sabotage operations in neighboring third party nations. Based on how all wars trend when they begin to expand, expect this trend to continue, until either Russia is pushed out of the Ukraine, or defeats it entirely.

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SpaceX launches cargo Dragon to ISS

8:24 am

SpaceX early this morning successfully launched a cargo Dragon to ISS, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force station in Florida.

This Dragon capsule, carrying more than three tons of supplies and experiments, is on its fourth cargo mission to ISS, while the first stage (B1096) completed its eighth flight (75 days since its previous mission), landing back at Cape Canaveral.

The capsule will dock with ISS in two days, on October 15th.

The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

117 SpaceX
65 China
16 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)
12 Russia

SpaceX now leads the entire world combined in successful launches in 2026, 117 to 114.

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SpaceX launches another set of Starlink satellites

6:21 pm

SpaceX today successfully placed 27 more Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The first stage (B1088) completed its 20th flight (35 days after its previous mission), landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.

The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

116 SpaceX
65 China
16 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)
12 Russia

SpaceX now leads the entire world combined in successful launches in 2026, 116 to 114.

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Michael Knowles – Celebrating Columbus

6:01 pm

An evening pause: First posted in 2021, in which I wrote this:

On this day when all should be celebrating Christopher Columbus and his willingness “sail beyond the sunset,” to use a phrase from Tennyson, this short video give us an accurate picture of the man, his times, and his achievements. It also puts the lie to the bigoted, hateful, leftist slanders that have been used in recent years to poison his legacy.

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October 12, 2026 Quick space links

2:52 pm

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.

9 comments

The human colonization of the solar system is now unstoppable, except by force

12:27 pm

The new century will see a renaissance of space exploration as exciting and as challenging as the space race of the 1960’s. And this rebirth will happen under the banner of freedom and private property, the very principles for which the United States fought the Cold War. [predicted in 1998 in Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, p. 263].

Investment in space since 2023
Investment in space since 2023, from the
Space Capital report in July 2026.

More than any other moment since the launch of Sputnik in 1957, the future of the human race’s effort to explore and settle the solar system is right now shining bright and hopeful, with everything converging enthusiastically in a manner that — if nothing is done to forcibly stop it — will make that colonization inevitable.

To understand that convergence, it necessary to understand how radically different this situation is. Unlike every space effort since Sputnik, space exploration is no longer controlled by governments. No longer do innovators and space geeks need to go to lawmakers, their hands out begging for money. Space exploration is now in the hands of private capital, which is quite generously committing a lot of money to fund a lot of space projects — not because these investors want to explore the stars — but because they see a lot of profits to be made.

This fact — that governments no longer control the situation — is what is driving this renaissance. It is also the one fact that might kill it, but I am getting ahead of myself. I must first describe this renaissance, in all its glory.
» Read more

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Arizona joins the competition for NASA’s United States Space Academy

8:55 am

The Democratic governor of Arizona, Katie Hobbs, late last week announced a committee aimed at getting NASA to choose Arizona as the home of Trump’s proposed United States Space Academy.

“Arizona is bringing together the state’s pre-eminent leaders on space science and exploration, representing our world-class universities, industry partners, local communities and the Arizona Space Commission to build a strong proposal for NASA,” Hobbs said. “Together, we are going to secure the U.S. Space Academy for our state and continue Arizona’s dominance in cutting-edge advanced manufacturing, aerospace and defense, and science and engineering,” she added.

Seven states now have put together teams to lobby for the academy: Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Ohio, Texas, Alabama, and a private operation in Nevada. All are logical candidates because each has substantial space-related commercial and government industries. So have California, Maryland, Virginia, Colorado, and Washington, but these states are run entirely by Democrats, and thus their governments are likely to resist lobbying for this academy, simply because the standard policy of the Democrat Party since 2016 has been to oppose anything Donald Trump does, no matter how reasonable or successful.

In fact, it is somewhat surprising Hobbs has taken this action, as she is a Democrat. I suspect her action stems from the relatively weak domination of Democrats in Arizona. She might be governor, but the state legislature is controlled by Republicans, and no Democrat is ever assured of victory in any election in this state.

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Starship from 13th test flight returns to Texas; 15th flight now targeting November

10:29 am

Starship #20 returning to Texas
Starship #20 returning to Texas. Click for source.

The Starship prototype (#40) that flew on the 13th test flight of Starship/Superheavy in July 2026 and remained afloat after landing has now returned to Texas.

The ship arrived at the Port of Brownsville on the morning of Oct. 7 and is currently slated to be rolled back to the production site tonight, with a closure set from 10:55 pm to 5:00 am CDT.

The ship will be rolled horizontally on the cradle that was on Forte’s deck [The ship that transported Starship across the ocean]. SpaceX designed the cradle so that it could be picked up with the K25 self-propelled modular trailers and then rolled off the ship. This will give SpaceX some practice in transporting a ship horizontally.

Once at the production site, SpaceX will likely do extensive inspections of the inside of Ship 40, and possibly practice ship breakover operations. It will be interesting to watch what SpaceX does with Ship 40 over the coming weeks.

Even more important, according to the FAA the 15th test flight is now targeting a November 8, 2026 launch date, with the 16th test flight — the first from Florida — targeting a December 10, 2026 liftoff.

These dates, unconfirmed by SpaceX, remain very tentative. They are also a delay from an earlier FAA announcement last month, which then suggested SpaceX was aiming for an October launch for both.

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