New study of 300,000 people in Italy proves COVID jab caused gigantic increase in cancer cases
Figure 1 from the study. Click for original. Anything
to the right of the vertical line indicates an increase
cancer diagnoses.
As noted bluntly by Health & Human Services secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr. at a Senate hearing last week, “We were lied to about everything:” A new study of the entire population 11 years and older of a single province in Italy, 300,000 people in total, has now proven that the mRNA COVID jab results in a terrifying and skyrocketing increase in the numbers of cancer cases.
The researchers found that “vaccinated” individuals had far higher hospitalization rates for new cancer diagnoses than the unvaccinated, particularly for breast, bladder, and colorectal cancers. Hospitalizations for cancer were 35% higher in the vaccinated (HR 1.23). The risk spike was strongest among men and those with no prior COVID infection.
- Overall Cancer Risk: +23% after just one dose
- Breast Cancer: +54% increased risk
- Bladder Cancer: +62% increased risk
- Colorectal Cancer: +35% increased risk
The researchers warn that the danger persisted and continued increasing after multiple doses.
In other words, the entire world is now facing a possibly major increase in cancer cases and a significant lowering of life expectancy, because it panicked in 2020 over a respiratory virus comparable to the flu. Those few voices (such as mine) that tried to resist that panic and call for a reasoned response were routinely blacklisted and silenced, and the result is now an impending disaster, on top of the catastrophes we have already suffered due to lockdowns, social distancing, and mask and jab mandates.
Kennedy summed up this situation quite well at that Senate hearing on September, 4, 2025. He was attacked ruthlessly over and over again by Democratic Party senators, only to hit them back twice as hard, noting how they are all in the pay of the pharmaceutical companies that make the jab, bribes totaling millions. He started however with this stark condemnation:
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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 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
China proposes its own mission to Apophis
A cartoon (not to scale) showing Apophis’s
path in 2029
Though it is not clear the Chinese government has approved the mission, Chinese scientists have now proposed a mission to to rendezvous with the potentially dangerous asteroid Apophis when it does its next close fly-by of the Earth in April 2029.
The mission would consist of two small satellites sent into a halo orbit around Sun-Earth Lagrange point 1 to await the approach of Apophis and transfer into a flyby orbit so as to meet the asteroid shortly after its close encounter with the Earth. The asteroid is due to pass within the geosynchronous orbit belt on Friday, April 13, 2029.
The Apophis mission would be added to a more ambitious larger asteroid mission, also not yet approved, dubbed CROWN, that would launch six spacecraft into “Venus-like, heliocentric orbits” where they would search and track Near-Earth Asteroids that are hard to spot because they are closer to the Sun than Earth.
China recently unveiled a blueprint to develop what it calls a “near-Earth asteroid defense system.” It appears the scientists for the project above are lobbying to get picked up as part of that blueprint. I should add that they first pushed this project in June, and three months later it still remains unfunded.
At present, there are many flying, planned, and proposed missions to reach Apophis during its 2029 fly-by. Osiris-Apex is on its way, having been repurposed after doing its sample return mission to Bennu. Europe is currently building its Ramses probe, which will also include two cubesats. Though other probes have been proposed, none have yet been approved.
A cartoon (not to scale) showing Apophis’s
path in 2029
Though it is not clear the Chinese government has approved the mission, Chinese scientists have now proposed a mission to to rendezvous with the potentially dangerous asteroid Apophis when it does its next close fly-by of the Earth in April 2029.
The mission would consist of two small satellites sent into a halo orbit around Sun-Earth Lagrange point 1 to await the approach of Apophis and transfer into a flyby orbit so as to meet the asteroid shortly after its close encounter with the Earth. The asteroid is due to pass within the geosynchronous orbit belt on Friday, April 13, 2029.
The Apophis mission would be added to a more ambitious larger asteroid mission, also not yet approved, dubbed CROWN, that would launch six spacecraft into “Venus-like, heliocentric orbits” where they would search and track Near-Earth Asteroids that are hard to spot because they are closer to the Sun than Earth.
China recently unveiled a blueprint to develop what it calls a “near-Earth asteroid defense system.” It appears the scientists for the project above are lobbying to get picked up as part of that blueprint. I should add that they first pushed this project in June, and three months later it still remains unfunded.
At present, there are many flying, planned, and proposed missions to reach Apophis during its 2029 fly-by. Osiris-Apex is on its way, having been repurposed after doing its sample return mission to Bennu. Europe is currently building its Ramses probe, which will also include two cubesats. Though other probes have been proposed, none have yet been approved.
China launches classified satellite
China today successfully placed a classified “remote-sensing” satellite into orbit, its Long March 7 rocket lifting off from its coastal Wencheng spaceport on the southern island of Hainan.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
114 SpaceX
53 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia
SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 114 to 90.
China today successfully placed a classified “remote-sensing” satellite into orbit, its Long March 7 rocket lifting off from its coastal Wencheng spaceport on the southern island of Hainan.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
114 SpaceX
53 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia
SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 114 to 90.
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.
NASA inspector general: Dragonfly mission is vastly overbudget and behind schedule
Artist rendering of Dragonfly soaring
over Titan’s surface
According to a new NASA inspector general report issued today, NASA’s Dragonfly mission to Titan is now billions overbudget and is likely not be ready to launch in 2028.
You can download the report here [pdf]. From its executive summary:
Dragonfly was selected under a New Frontiers Announcement of Opportunity with a $850 million cost cap on Principal Investigator-Managed Mission Costs, which primarily includes development costs but excludes launch vehicle and post-launch operations costs. However, by April 2024, those costs had grown to $2.6 billion and the launch delayed by more than 2 years, from April 2026 to July 2028. The cost increase and schedule delay were largely the result of NASA directing APL to conduct four replans between June 2019 and July 2023 early in Dragonfly’s development. Justifications for these replans included the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain issues, changes to accommodate a heavy-lift launch vehicle, projected funding challenges, and inflation.
The report now estimates the budget will eventually rise above $3 billion, cost that is eating away at NASA’s entire planetary budget, making other missions impossible. The project itself is far from ready, with multiple unfinished issues that make its present launch target of 2028 very unlikely.
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China launches 11 more satellites for its Geely satellite constellation
Earlier today China successfully launched 11 more satellites for its Geely satellite constellation, its Smart Dragon-3 rocket lifting off from a launch platform off the eastern coast of China.
Video of the launch can be found here (Hat tip to BtB’s stringer Jay). This was the fifth launch for this constellation, bringing the number of satellites in orbit for this planned 240 satellite constellation to 52. The constellation is designed to provide positioning and communications for trucking and other ground-based businesses.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
114 SpaceX
52 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia
SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 114 to 89.
Earlier today China successfully launched 11 more satellites for its Geely satellite constellation, its Smart Dragon-3 rocket lifting off from a launch platform off the eastern coast of China.
Video of the launch can be found here (Hat tip to BtB’s stringer Jay). This was the fifth launch for this constellation, bringing the number of satellites in orbit for this planned 240 satellite constellation to 52. The constellation is designed to provide positioning and communications for trucking and other ground-based businesses.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
114 SpaceX
52 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia
SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 114 to 89.
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
Camille Saint-Saëns – The Swan
An evening pause: Mischa Maisky on the cello, backed by the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra. Performed live 2015.
Hat tip Judd Clark.
September 8, 2025 Quick space links
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.
- Japanese lunar lander startup Ispace and Indian startup Digantara to build private lunar mission
The mission’s goal will be providing “situational awareness” in lunar space, and appears instigated by the Indian government’s future manned space plans.
- Vast touts its testing program of the ventilation fans on its Haven-1 space module
As far as I know, they are still targeting a 2026 launch.
- Air Force awards Blue Origin and Anduril study contracts using rockets to move military cargo around the world
This story is from two weeks ago, but I missed it at the time.
- Indian rocket startup Skyroot describes how it developed its Kalam-1200 solid-fueled motor
The company successfully test fired it on August 8, 2025. It is the most powerful solid-fueled motor ever developed in India. It will be used in the company’s Vikram-1 orbital rocket, which the company hopes to launch for the first time before the end of this year.
- Using data from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, scientists claim the main belt asteroid Ceres may have been energetically active
The speculations here are so over the top that I hesitated including it. Moreover, the claim is hardly news, as there has been ample evidence for years that Ceres was once active.
- On this day in 1995 the space shuttle Endeavour launched carrying the Spartan 201 satellite, which flew on five shuttle missions
The satellite would be deployed by the shuttle arm at the start of the mission, provide a testbed for technological and scientific experiments, and be retrieved near the end of the mission for return to Earth.
- On this day in 1944, Germany conducted the first two operational launches of its V-2 rocket, the first long-range ballistic missile
Both rockets, aimed at Paris, failed due to premature engine cutoffs.
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.
- Japanese lunar lander startup Ispace and Indian startup Digantara to build private lunar mission
The mission’s goal will be providing “situational awareness” in lunar space, and appears instigated by the Indian government’s future manned space plans.
- Vast touts its testing program of the ventilation fans on its Haven-1 space module
As far as I know, they are still targeting a 2026 launch.
- Air Force awards Blue Origin and Anduril study contracts using rockets to move military cargo around the world
This story is from two weeks ago, but I missed it at the time.
- Indian rocket startup Skyroot describes how it developed its Kalam-1200 solid-fueled motor
The company successfully test fired it on August 8, 2025. It is the most powerful solid-fueled motor ever developed in India. It will be used in the company’s Vikram-1 orbital rocket, which the company hopes to launch for the first time before the end of this year.
- Using data from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, scientists claim the main belt asteroid Ceres may have been energetically active
The speculations here are so over the top that I hesitated including it. Moreover, the claim is hardly news, as there has been ample evidence for years that Ceres was once active.
- On this day in 1995 the space shuttle Endeavour launched carrying the Spartan 201 satellite, which flew on five shuttle missions
The satellite would be deployed by the shuttle arm at the start of the mission, provide a testbed for technological and scientific experiments, and be retrieved near the end of the mission for return to Earth.
- On this day in 1944, Germany conducted the first two operational launches of its V-2 rocket, the first long-range ballistic missile
Both rockets, aimed at Paris, failed due to premature engine cutoffs.
Clumps of dust in a star-forming cluster
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped and reduced to post here, was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope as part of a study of the dusty clouds inside star-forming regions. From the caption:
Stars in a star cluster shine brightly blue, with four-pointed spikes radiating from them. The centre shows a small, crowded group of stars while a larger group lies out of view on the left. The nebula is mostly thick, smoky clouds of gas, lit up in blue tones by the stars. Clumps of dust hover before and around the stars; they are mostly dark, but lit around their edges where the starlight erodes them.
This cluster sits inside the Large Magellanic Cloud, about 160,000 million light years away and the largest of the several known dwarf galaxies to orbit the Milky Way. It is the second largest such star-forming region with that dwarf galaxies, and thus is a prime research target for studying the birth of stars.
I especially like this image because of the small dust clouds that sit in the foreground, blobs of material that is slowly being ionized away by the radiation from the stars.
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped and reduced to post here, was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope as part of a study of the dusty clouds inside star-forming regions. From the caption:
Stars in a star cluster shine brightly blue, with four-pointed spikes radiating from them. The centre shows a small, crowded group of stars while a larger group lies out of view on the left. The nebula is mostly thick, smoky clouds of gas, lit up in blue tones by the stars. Clumps of dust hover before and around the stars; they are mostly dark, but lit around their edges where the starlight erodes them.
This cluster sits inside the Large Magellanic Cloud, about 160,000 million light years away and the largest of the several known dwarf galaxies to orbit the Milky Way. It is the second largest such star-forming region with that dwarf galaxies, and thus is a prime research target for studying the birth of stars.
I especially like this image because of the small dust clouds that sit in the foreground, blobs of material that is slowly being ionized away by the radiation from the stars.
Has Curiosity stumbled upon a small slope streak?
Click for original.
Click for interactive map
In reviewing the pictures downloaded today by the Mars rover Curiosity, I noticed something very intriguing in the pictures taken by rover’s two navigation cameras. One such picture is above, taken by the right navigation camera and looking west across the boxwork ridges that Curiosity has been traversing for the past two months. You can see two such ridges in the right foreground, cutting diagonally from left to right.
The overview map to the right gives the context, with the blue dot marking Curiosity’s position. The white and red dotted lines indicate its actual and planned routes respectively, with the top inset zooming in to show the recent travels more clearly. The yellow lines show the approximate area covered by the picture above.
Note the dark streak in the lower right of the picture. The bottom inset on the overview map shows this streak more closely. To my eye, it strongly resembles a slope streak, a strange geological feature unique to Mars.
If I am right, expect the rover team to focus in on this streak. The cause of slope streaks remains unknown. From orbit, the streaks look like avalanches at first glance, but they don’t change the topography, have no debris pile at their base, and sometimes even travel up and over rises as they head downhill. They can occur randomly throughout the year, can be bright or dark, can occur anywhere, and fade with time.
There are a number of theories (see here, here, and here) attempting to explain their cause, but none has been confirmed. If this is a streak, it will be the first that any scientist can see up close.
It is also very likely my guess is wrong, and this is not a streak. Stay tuned for updates.
Click for original.
Click for interactive map
In reviewing the pictures downloaded today by the Mars rover Curiosity, I noticed something very intriguing in the pictures taken by rover’s two navigation cameras. One such picture is above, taken by the right navigation camera and looking west across the boxwork ridges that Curiosity has been traversing for the past two months. You can see two such ridges in the right foreground, cutting diagonally from left to right.
The overview map to the right gives the context, with the blue dot marking Curiosity’s position. The white and red dotted lines indicate its actual and planned routes respectively, with the top inset zooming in to show the recent travels more clearly. The yellow lines show the approximate area covered by the picture above.
Note the dark streak in the lower right of the picture. The bottom inset on the overview map shows this streak more closely. To my eye, it strongly resembles a slope streak, a strange geological feature unique to Mars.
If I am right, expect the rover team to focus in on this streak. The cause of slope streaks remains unknown. From orbit, the streaks look like avalanches at first glance, but they don’t change the topography, have no debris pile at their base, and sometimes even travel up and over rises as they head downhill. They can occur randomly throughout the year, can be bright or dark, can occur anywhere, and fade with time.
There are a number of theories (see here, here, and here) attempting to explain their cause, but none has been confirmed. If this is a streak, it will be the first that any scientist can see up close.
It is also very likely my guess is wrong, and this is not a streak. Stay tuned for updates.
EchoStar sells spectrum licenses to SpaceX for $17 billion while buying into Starlink
EchoStar today announced it has sold two of its spectrum licenses to SpaceX for $17 billion, in a deal that will also allow EchoStar’s customers to access Starlink.
EchoStar has entered into a definitive agreement with SpaceX to sell the company’s AWS-4 and H-block spectrum licenses for approximately $17 billion, consisting of up to $8.5 billion in cash and up to $8.5 billion in SpaceX stock valued as of the entry into the definitive agreement. Additionally, the definitive agreement provides for SpaceX to fund an aggregate of approximately $2 billion of cash interest payments payable on EchoStar debt through November of 2027.
In connection with the transaction, SpaceX and EchoStar will enter into a long-term commercial agreement, which will enable EchoStar’s Boost Mobile subscribers – through its cloud-native 5G core – to access SpaceX’s next generation Starlink Direct to Cell service.
Essentially, in exchange for the spectrum EchoStar is investing in SpaceX.
EchoStar also today canceled a contract it had signed in early August with the satellite company MDA to build its own 100 satellite constellation designed to provide direct-to-cellphone service, competing with Starlink and AST SpaceMobile. EchoStar will no longer build a rival constellation.
Wall Street apparently liked this deal, as EchoStar’s stock value quickly rose about 19%. It also appears the deal resolves questions the FCC had raised about EchoStar recent activities.
EchoStar today announced it has sold two of its spectrum licenses to SpaceX for $17 billion, in a deal that will also allow EchoStar’s customers to access Starlink.
EchoStar has entered into a definitive agreement with SpaceX to sell the company’s AWS-4 and H-block spectrum licenses for approximately $17 billion, consisting of up to $8.5 billion in cash and up to $8.5 billion in SpaceX stock valued as of the entry into the definitive agreement. Additionally, the definitive agreement provides for SpaceX to fund an aggregate of approximately $2 billion of cash interest payments payable on EchoStar debt through November of 2027.
In connection with the transaction, SpaceX and EchoStar will enter into a long-term commercial agreement, which will enable EchoStar’s Boost Mobile subscribers – through its cloud-native 5G core – to access SpaceX’s next generation Starlink Direct to Cell service.
Essentially, in exchange for the spectrum EchoStar is investing in SpaceX.
EchoStar also today canceled a contract it had signed in early August with the satellite company MDA to build its own 100 satellite constellation designed to provide direct-to-cellphone service, competing with Starlink and AST SpaceMobile. EchoStar will no longer build a rival constellation.
Wall Street apparently liked this deal, as EchoStar’s stock value quickly rose about 19%. It also appears the deal resolves questions the FCC had raised about EchoStar recent activities.
Two more launches today
As expected, SpaceX and China completed launches today.
First SpaceX launched another 24 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg in California. The first stage completed its 20th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacitic.
Next, China placed an unspecified “group” of “remote sensing” satellites into orbit, its Long March 6A rocket lifting off from its Taiyuan spaceport in northeast China. No word on where the rocket’s lower stages crashed inside China.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
114 SpaceX
51 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia
SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 114 to 88.
As expected, SpaceX and China completed launches today.
First SpaceX launched another 24 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg in California. The first stage completed its 20th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacitic.
Next, China placed an unspecified “group” of “remote sensing” satellites into orbit, its Long March 6A rocket lifting off from its Taiyuan spaceport in northeast China. No word on where the rocket’s lower stages crashed inside China.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
114 SpaceX
51 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia
SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 114 to 88.
China yesterday completed two launches
China yesterday successfully completed two launches using different rockets from two different spaceports in the country’s interior.
First, its Long March 3C rocket launched a classified technology test satellite, the rocket lifting off from its Xichang spaceport in southwest China. No real information about the satellite was released, though its name, Shiyan, is part of a series of satellites that tests new designs for communications and remote sensing.
Next, the pseudo-company Galactic Energy placed three satellites into orbit, its solid-fueled Ceres-1 rocket lifting off from the Jiuquan spaeport in northwest China. Once again, little information was released about the satellites’ purpose.
With each launch, China’s state-run press also provided no information about where the lowers stages of both rockets landed inside China. This is especially of concern for the Long March 3C, which uses very toxic hypergolic fuels that can dissolve the skin.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
113 SpaceX
50 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia
SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 113 to 87.
These numbers should change again by the end of today, with both SpaceX and China planning an additional launch each.
China yesterday successfully completed two launches using different rockets from two different spaceports in the country’s interior.
First, its Long March 3C rocket launched a classified technology test satellite, the rocket lifting off from its Xichang spaceport in southwest China. No real information about the satellite was released, though its name, Shiyan, is part of a series of satellites that tests new designs for communications and remote sensing.
Next, the pseudo-company Galactic Energy placed three satellites into orbit, its solid-fueled Ceres-1 rocket lifting off from the Jiuquan spaeport in northwest China. Once again, little information was released about the satellites’ purpose.
With each launch, China’s state-run press also provided no information about where the lowers stages of both rockets landed inside China. This is especially of concern for the Long March 3C, which uses very toxic hypergolic fuels that can dissolve the skin.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
113 SpaceX
50 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia
SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 113 to 87.
These numbers should change again by the end of today, with both SpaceX and China planning an additional launch each.
Volonaut – Test flight of Airbike prototype
An evening pause: Someday relatively soon, this prototype will be available for purchase, though at present it does not appear to me to be ready for prime time.. Where would you go this weekend if you had one?
Hat tip Cotour, who adds, “I bet you did not know that there is now a flying barbeque. I like mine medium rare.”
The Cracker Barrel kerfuffle proves the now powerful reach of the alternative/conservative press
While much of the entire “controversy” over the decision by Cracker Barrel to change and then restore its old logo seemed to me to be a tempest in a teapot, the fact that the firestorm itself quickly forced Cracker Barrel to back down tells us something far more important: The alternative press (mostly conservative) is no longer confined to the fringes of culture, but now has real reach throughout society.
This cultural change can’t be underlined enough. For most of my long life, conservative news and cultural outlets had little impact on the general culture. They would make their points, often cogently and based on facts, and find themselves generally ignored. Only a decade ago, when conservatives complained about the leftward drift by major corporations or universities into racial quotas, bigotry, blacklists, censorship, and totalitarian Marxism, few noticed and more significantly, the companies or universities shrugged off the criticisms nonchalantly, as if the complaints were nothing more than a tiny gnat flying about in the air.
I speak from experience, because a decade ago I was posting regularly about this drift in both universities and corporations, was getting my posts picked up by many conservative news aggregates, and yet those posts had no impact at all. Nothing changed. If anything, the corporations and universities cited actually accelerated their racial quotas and their emphasis on bigotry, blacklists, censorship, and totalitarian Marxism.
No more. In the past four years the general culture and how it gets its information has fundamentally changed. That culture now listens to the right, and the result is fast and immediate change.
The Cracker Barrel kerfuffle proves this. Cracker Barrel proudly announced its logo change on August 19, 2025. In less than 24 hours numerous conservatives across the entire internet were lambasting the company about it, accusing the company of abandoning its past and going woke. This comment was quite typical:
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September 5, 2025 Quick space links
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.
- AST SpaceMobile updates the status of its next eleven BlueBird satellites, all in various stages of production
#6 is ready for shipment, and the company hopes to begin launching one every one or two months, beginning next year.
- Startup PERSEI Space plans to test the use of tethers to remove space junk
The concept, using the electromagnetic force produced as the tether moves through the Earth’s magnetic field to lower defunct satellites, is actually an old one. There have been a number of attempts to test it previously, especially by the space shuttle, but every time technical problems prevented the test from succeeding.
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.
- AST SpaceMobile updates the status of its next eleven BlueBird satellites, all in various stages of production
#6 is ready for shipment, and the company hopes to begin launching one every one or two months, beginning next year.
- Startup PERSEI Space plans to test the use of tethers to remove space junk
The concept, using the electromagnetic force produced as the tether moves through the Earth’s magnetic field to lower defunct satellites, is actually an old one. There have been a number of attempts to test it previously, especially by the space shuttle, but every time technical problems prevented the test from succeeding.
Astrobotic signs launch deal with Norway’s Andoya spaceport
Proposed spaceports surrounding Norwegian Sea
The American lunar lander startup Astrobotic (which is now also a rocket startup) has signed a launch deal with Norway’s Andoya spaceport, where the company intends to launch its proposed reusable Xodiac rocket.
Astrobotic will perform their initial European Xodiac launch campaign operations from Andøya Space starting in 2026. Andøya Space will provide various services, including ground operations, flight preparation, and infrastructure support.
It will be wise to remain skeptical about Astrobotic’s rocket. The company owns the rights and technology of the vertical take-off-and-landing hopper developed and successfully tested by Masten Space System (which Astrobotic took over in 2022), but it also claimed in 2024 it would begin flying an upgraded suborbital version by 2025. No such flights appear on the horizon at this moment.
At the same time, developing a new rocket always involves delays. It will be quite exciting if Astrobotic succeeds in entering the launch market in the next year or so.
As for the Andoya spaceport, it continues to be in the lead among the four spaceports proposed surrounding the Norwegian Sea. Norway has made its licensing arrangement smooth and easy, the spaceport is well located, and it already has another launch contract with the German rocket startup Isar Aerospace, which attempted its first launch there earlier this year (albeit a failure). Moreover, Andoya has signed an agreement with the U.S. allowing American commercial companies to launch there, which is likely why Astrobotic made its deal.
Esrange’s location in the interior places it at a disadvantage, while red tape have badly stymied the two spaceports proposed in the United Kingdom.
Hat tip to BtB’s stringer Jay.
Proposed spaceports surrounding Norwegian Sea
The American lunar lander startup Astrobotic (which is now also a rocket startup) has signed a launch deal with Norway’s Andoya spaceport, where the company intends to launch its proposed reusable Xodiac rocket.
Astrobotic will perform their initial European Xodiac launch campaign operations from Andøya Space starting in 2026. Andøya Space will provide various services, including ground operations, flight preparation, and infrastructure support.
It will be wise to remain skeptical about Astrobotic’s rocket. The company owns the rights and technology of the vertical take-off-and-landing hopper developed and successfully tested by Masten Space System (which Astrobotic took over in 2022), but it also claimed in 2024 it would begin flying an upgraded suborbital version by 2025. No such flights appear on the horizon at this moment.
At the same time, developing a new rocket always involves delays. It will be quite exciting if Astrobotic succeeds in entering the launch market in the next year or so.
As for the Andoya spaceport, it continues to be in the lead among the four spaceports proposed surrounding the Norwegian Sea. Norway has made its licensing arrangement smooth and easy, the spaceport is well located, and it already has another launch contract with the German rocket startup Isar Aerospace, which attempted its first launch there earlier this year (albeit a failure). Moreover, Andoya has signed an agreement with the U.S. allowing American commercial companies to launch there, which is likely why Astrobotic made its deal.
Esrange’s location in the interior places it at a disadvantage, while red tape have badly stymied the two spaceports proposed in the United Kingdom.
Hat tip to BtB’s stringer Jay.
A simple phone device for kids
A British company is selling a very simple phone device for young children that allows them to stay in contact with their parents, including GPS location, without giving them a touchscreen and any access to the web.
The Messenger, from London-based outfit Karri, is meant to help kids aged 5-13 become more independent, while giving their parents peace of mind. It’s designed entirely around voice messaging, so you can chat with your child one-on-one, or connect them with other family members in a group conversation.
This is actually the company’s second-generation Messenger with an improved design over the first from 2023. It features a dot matrix display, a speaker, and most importantly, a “slide to talk” button in the center. Slide it down to listen to a voice message you’ve just received, slide up and hold to record a reply, and short slide up to send it off.
Considering the increasing evidence that smartphones do real damage to kids during their development ages, this kind of option makes sense. So does a simple flip phone, but this device provides a simpler and more limited alternative.
A British company is selling a very simple phone device for young children that allows them to stay in contact with their parents, including GPS location, without giving them a touchscreen and any access to the web.
The Messenger, from London-based outfit Karri, is meant to help kids aged 5-13 become more independent, while giving their parents peace of mind. It’s designed entirely around voice messaging, so you can chat with your child one-on-one, or connect them with other family members in a group conversation.
This is actually the company’s second-generation Messenger with an improved design over the first from 2023. It features a dot matrix display, a speaker, and most importantly, a “slide to talk” button in the center. Slide it down to listen to a voice message you’ve just received, slide up and hold to record a reply, and short slide up to send it off.
Considering the increasing evidence that smartphones do real damage to kids during their development ages, this kind of option makes sense. So does a simple flip phone, but this device provides a simpler and more limited alternative.
Amazon gets first airline customer for its Kuiper constellation
Amazon yesterday signed up its first airline customer, JetBlue, the airline agreeing to provide in-flight WiFi to its passengers using the Kuiper constellation.
Amazon’s satellite internet service, Project Kuiper, will partner with JetBlue to provide in-flight Wi-Fi starting in 2027. It’s Project Kuiper’s first deal with an airline as it aims to keep up with the SpaceX-owned Starlink, which has already snagged satellite internet agreements with United Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Air France, and several others.
JetBlue must have gotten a truly great deal to go with Kuiper. It could start providing Starlink to passengers now if it wished, instead of waiting until 2027 with Kuiper. And even that date remains uncertain, considering how few satellites Amazon has so far launched (just over a hundred) when it needs at least 1,600 by next July to meet its FCC license requirements.
Amazon yesterday signed up its first airline customer, JetBlue, the airline agreeing to provide in-flight WiFi to its passengers using the Kuiper constellation.
Amazon’s satellite internet service, Project Kuiper, will partner with JetBlue to provide in-flight Wi-Fi starting in 2027. It’s Project Kuiper’s first deal with an airline as it aims to keep up with the SpaceX-owned Starlink, which has already snagged satellite internet agreements with United Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Air France, and several others.
JetBlue must have gotten a truly great deal to go with Kuiper. It could start providing Starlink to passengers now if it wished, instead of waiting until 2027 with Kuiper. And even that date remains uncertain, considering how few satellites Amazon has so far launched (just over a hundred) when it needs at least 1,600 by next July to meet its FCC license requirements.
SpaceX launches another 28 Starlink satellites
SpaceX in the wee hours last night successfully placed another 28 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from the Kennedy Space Centery in Florida.
The first stage completed its 27th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic. SpaceX now has one booster with 30 flights and three with 27 flights, putting these stages in the same league with the three most flown space shuttles, Discovery (39), Atlantis (33), and Columbia (28). Expect these boosters to all pass Discovery in the near future, with several more Falcon 9 boosters about to enter this league as well.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
113 SpaceX
48 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 113 to 85.
SpaceX in the wee hours last night successfully placed another 28 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from the Kennedy Space Centery in Florida.
The first stage completed its 27th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic. SpaceX now has one booster with 30 flights and three with 27 flights, putting these stages in the same league with the three most flown space shuttles, Discovery (39), Atlantis (33), and Columbia (28). Expect these boosters to all pass Discovery in the near future, with several more Falcon 9 boosters about to enter this league as well.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
113 SpaceX
48 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 113 to 85.
Bulgaria & Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra – Cosmic Voices
An evening pause: Performed live 2015. Stay with it. Though the opening is less appealing, it gets far better.
Hat tip Judd Clark.
A glittering false-color image from Webb
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, reduced and sharpened to post here, was released today by the science team of the Webb Space Telescope. It shows in infrared false colors a spectacular star-forming region about 5,500 light years away, surrounded by glowing clouds.
Called Pismis 24, this young star cluster resides in the core of the nearby Lobster Nebula, approximately 5,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Scorpius. Home to a vibrant stellar nursery and one of the closest sites of massive star birth, Pismis 24 provides rare insight into large and massive stars. Its proximity makes this region one of the best places to explore the properties of hot young stars and how they evolve.
At the heart of this glittering cluster is the brilliant Pismis 24-1. It is at the center of a clump of stars above the jagged orange peaks, and the tallest spire is pointing directly toward it. Pismis 24-1 appears as a gigantic single star, and it was once thought to be the most massive known star. Scientists have since learned that it is composed of at least two stars, though they cannot be resolved in this image. At 74 and 66 solar masses, respectively, the two known stars are still among the most massive and luminous stars ever seen.
…Super-hot, infant stars –some almost 8 times the temperature of the Sun – blast out scorching radiation and punishing winds that are sculpting a cavity into the wall of the star-forming nebula. That nebula extends far beyond NIRCam’s field of view. Only small portions of it are visible at the bottom and top right of the image. Streamers of hot, ionized gas flow off the ridges of the nebula, and wispy veils of gas and dust, illuminated by starlight, float around its towering peaks.
The universe is truly beautiful, if we look at it the right way.
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, reduced and sharpened to post here, was released today by the science team of the Webb Space Telescope. It shows in infrared false colors a spectacular star-forming region about 5,500 light years away, surrounded by glowing clouds.
Called Pismis 24, this young star cluster resides in the core of the nearby Lobster Nebula, approximately 5,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Scorpius. Home to a vibrant stellar nursery and one of the closest sites of massive star birth, Pismis 24 provides rare insight into large and massive stars. Its proximity makes this region one of the best places to explore the properties of hot young stars and how they evolve.
At the heart of this glittering cluster is the brilliant Pismis 24-1. It is at the center of a clump of stars above the jagged orange peaks, and the tallest spire is pointing directly toward it. Pismis 24-1 appears as a gigantic single star, and it was once thought to be the most massive known star. Scientists have since learned that it is composed of at least two stars, though they cannot be resolved in this image. At 74 and 66 solar masses, respectively, the two known stars are still among the most massive and luminous stars ever seen.
…Super-hot, infant stars –some almost 8 times the temperature of the Sun – blast out scorching radiation and punishing winds that are sculpting a cavity into the wall of the star-forming nebula. That nebula extends far beyond NIRCam’s field of view. Only small portions of it are visible at the bottom and top right of the image. Streamers of hot, ionized gas flow off the ridges of the nebula, and wispy veils of gas and dust, illuminated by starlight, float around its towering peaks.
The universe is truly beautiful, if we look at it the right way.
The beginnings of the first political coup in American history
Obama pontificating just before his election in 2012.
The change he brought was to toss the Constitution
in the trash heap.
Doug Ross has created a very readable six-part series, with illustrations, outlining in great detail and in dramatic form the corruption of the FBI and the entire intelligence community in the latter years of the Obama administration, beginning first with an extensive cover-up of Hillary Clinton’s illegal use of a private server for sending classified emails, followed by the initial stages of the Russian collusion hoax against Trump that was also used to justify spying on his campaign.
The series admits to be being a dramatization, but is also is based entirely on actual facts that are now documented and known. Nothing of substance or importance here has been made up. And by giving the story a slight patina of drama it becomes much more readable and understandable.
Take a short bit of time and read it all. The actions of numerous dishonest and power-hungry individuals in the FBI, the Justice Department, the Obama White House, and other agencies, will leave you appalled. And heading the list is Barack Obama, taking actions that were unquestionable illegal, immoral, and above all treasonous. He conspired with federal workers to not only cover up crimes, but to attempt to overthrow the elected president of the United States.
The key quote that describes quite succinctly the unconstitutional nature of this scandal comes from part 4, by Rick Ledgett, then deputy director of the National Security Agency.
“This is evidence of systematic violation of Americans’ constitutional rights.”
All six parts can be found at the links below. The series presently ends in May 2016, but Ross fully intends to continue it through the 2016 election and beyond, covering the entire Russian collusion hoax created by the intelligence community, under orders of Barack Obama, that worked to undermine and overthrown Donald Trump’s election as president.
Every American should read it all. It gives a good picture of the initial process that allowed utter evil to take over the entire Democratic Party.
Sunspot update: In August sunspot activity continued to rise
Time for this month’s sunspot update. To do this each month I begin by taking NOAA’s own monthly update of its graph of sunspot activity and annotating it with extra information to illustrate the larger scientific context.
This annotated graph showing the August activity is below, and for the third month in a row sunspot activity increased (as indicated by the green dot), so that the August number of sunspots now closely matched the April 2025 prediction by NOAA’s panel of solar scientists that the Sun was finally beginning its ramp down from solar maximum.
» Read more
Time for this month’s sunspot update. To do this each month I begin by taking NOAA’s own monthly update of its graph of sunspot activity and annotating it with extra information to illustrate the larger scientific context.
This annotated graph showing the August activity is below, and for the third month in a row sunspot activity increased (as indicated by the green dot), so that the August number of sunspots now closely matched the April 2025 prediction by NOAA’s panel of solar scientists that the Sun was finally beginning its ramp down from solar maximum.
» Read more
Gemini South telescope captures Comet 3I/Atlas’s growing tail
Click for original image.
Using the Gemini South telescope in Chile, astronomers have taken new images of interstellar Comet 3I/Atlas as it moves through the solar system, this time capturing the slow growth of its tail.
The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, shows that tail trailing off to the left. The stars are streaks because it required four exposures in different wavelengths to produce the image. The comet was held steady while the stars shifted after each exposure.
In the images captured during the session, the comet displays a broad coma — a cloud of gas and dust that forms around the comet’s icy nucleus as it gets closer to the Sun — and a tail spanning about 1/120th of a degree in the sky (where one degree is about the width of a pinky finger on an outstretched arm) and pointing away from the Sun. These features are significantly more extended than they appeared in earlier images of the comet, showing that 3I/ATLAS has become more active as it travels through the inner Solar System.
So far, all the evidence continues to show that though 3I/Atlas has an interstellar origin, it is a relatively ordinary comet, simply unique in the manner all objects of a category are unique. As the scientists pour over the comet’s spectroscopy we might find its make-up is somewhat different than comets from our own solar system, but the data so far suggests that the differences are not likely to be that startling.
Click for original image.
Using the Gemini South telescope in Chile, astronomers have taken new images of interstellar Comet 3I/Atlas as it moves through the solar system, this time capturing the slow growth of its tail.
The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, shows that tail trailing off to the left. The stars are streaks because it required four exposures in different wavelengths to produce the image. The comet was held steady while the stars shifted after each exposure.
In the images captured during the session, the comet displays a broad coma — a cloud of gas and dust that forms around the comet’s icy nucleus as it gets closer to the Sun — and a tail spanning about 1/120th of a degree in the sky (where one degree is about the width of a pinky finger on an outstretched arm) and pointing away from the Sun. These features are significantly more extended than they appeared in earlier images of the comet, showing that 3I/ATLAS has become more active as it travels through the inner Solar System.
So far, all the evidence continues to show that though 3I/Atlas has an interstellar origin, it is a relatively ordinary comet, simply unique in the manner all objects of a category are unique. As the scientists pour over the comet’s spectroscopy we might find its make-up is somewhat different than comets from our own solar system, but the data so far suggests that the differences are not likely to be that startling.
Yesterday’s Senate hearing on Artemis: It’s all a game!
Ted Cruz, a typical Congressional porkmeister
The Senate hearing that was held yesterday, entitled “There’s a Bad Moon on the Rise: Why Congress and NASA Must Thwart China in the Space Race”, was clearly organized by Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to promote a continuation of the SLS, Orion, and Lunar Gateway parts of NASA’s Artemis program. And he was able to do so because senators from both parties felt the same way. They all want to continue this pork, and don’t really care whether those expensive assets can really accomplish what they promise.
Furthermore, the hearing was also structured to allow these politicians to loudly proclaim their desire to beat China back to the Moon, using this pork. They want the U.S. first, but they are almost all want to do this through a government-run program.
As such, the choice of witnesses and the questions put to them were carefully orchestrated to push this narrative. To paraphrase: “We have to beat China to the Moon! And we have make sure a NASA program runs the effort! And above all, we mustn’t let Donald Trump cut any of NASA’s funding, anywhere!”
It was therefore not surprising that the most newsworthy quote from the hearing was the comments by former NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine about Starship and how its choice as a manned lunar lander was a bad one, and that it was likely going to the prime reason China will put humans back on the Moon ahead of us.
» Read more
Spanish startup signs three customers for first flight of its returnable capsule
The Spanish startup Orbital Paradigm today announced it has signed up three customers for the first flight of a subscale version of its Kestrel returnable capsule.
As it prepares for the inaugural flight of its return capsule, Orbital Paradigm has developed a subscale prototype to validate key technologies that will be used aboard Kestrel. According to the company, the prototype was built in less than a year for under €1 million.
In a 4 September announcement, Orbital Paradigm stated that its KID demonstrator will carry payloads for ALATYR (France), Leibniz University Hannover (Germany), and an undisclosed third customer. While the 4 September announcement did not include details about the Leibniz University Hannover payload or that of the undisclosed customer, ALATYR CEO Emeric Lhomme said his company’s payloads would demonstrate its robotic laboratory technology, which is designed to support microgravity research and production.
The company is also planning a second test flight with another subscale test spacecraft. Once operational in the 2030s, the company hopes to fly Kestrel monthly on three month missions.
The returnable capsule industry is certainly heating up. The American company Varda might have been first to do this in 2023-2024, but since then the field has gotten very crowded. In the U.S. we now have Inversion Space, Sierra Space, and even SpaceX using Starship.
In Europe we have The Exploration Company in France with its Nyx capsule, the German startup Atmos with its Phoenix capsule, the Spanish startup PLD with its Lince capsule, and the Luxembourg startup Space Cargo with its Bentobox capsule.
In addition, both China and Russia have recently flown returnable capsules, though it is not clear either has profit in mind.
This flood of startups strongly suggests there is great interest in the investment community for manufacturing products in space. While it is likely some of these startups will go belly-up, their number tells us that there is money to be made in this area, now that the cost of launch has dropped so significantly. With the expected advent of new rocket companies in the next two years, that cost will lower even further.
The Spanish startup Orbital Paradigm today announced it has signed up three customers for the first flight of a subscale version of its Kestrel returnable capsule.
As it prepares for the inaugural flight of its return capsule, Orbital Paradigm has developed a subscale prototype to validate key technologies that will be used aboard Kestrel. According to the company, the prototype was built in less than a year for under €1 million.
In a 4 September announcement, Orbital Paradigm stated that its KID demonstrator will carry payloads for ALATYR (France), Leibniz University Hannover (Germany), and an undisclosed third customer. While the 4 September announcement did not include details about the Leibniz University Hannover payload or that of the undisclosed customer, ALATYR CEO Emeric Lhomme said his company’s payloads would demonstrate its robotic laboratory technology, which is designed to support microgravity research and production.
The company is also planning a second test flight with another subscale test spacecraft. Once operational in the 2030s, the company hopes to fly Kestrel monthly on three month missions.
The returnable capsule industry is certainly heating up. The American company Varda might have been first to do this in 2023-2024, but since then the field has gotten very crowded. In the U.S. we now have Inversion Space, Sierra Space, and even SpaceX using Starship.
In Europe we have The Exploration Company in France with its Nyx capsule, the German startup Atmos with its Phoenix capsule, the Spanish startup PLD with its Lince capsule, and the Luxembourg startup Space Cargo with its Bentobox capsule.
In addition, both China and Russia have recently flown returnable capsules, though it is not clear either has profit in mind.
This flood of startups strongly suggests there is great interest in the investment community for manufacturing products in space. While it is likely some of these startups will go belly-up, their number tells us that there is money to be made in this area, now that the cost of launch has dropped so significantly. With the expected advent of new rocket companies in the next two years, that cost will lower even further.
SpaceX gets FAA approval to double its annual launches from Cape Canaveral
After several years of paperwork, the FAA yesterday approved SpaceX’s request to double its launch rate at the Space Force’s Cape Canaveral spaceport.
In addition to the annual launch increase from 50 launches to up to 120, the Federal Aviation Administration’s environmental review also approved a new on-site landing zone that could accommodate up to 34 booster landings per year. These boosters are the reusable first-stage portions of Falcon 9 rockets that SpaceX lands and refurbishes for future flights.
The review, finalized on Wednesday, found what’s known as a “Mitigated Finding of No Significant Impact,” meaning the proposed changes “would not significantly impact the quality of the human environment” under federal law, with impacts reduced by specific protective measures. [emphasis mine]
The highlighted words illustrate the absurdity of these environmental reviews. We know without doubt and without any major review that rocket launches do no harm to the environment or wildlife. We have seven decades of data in Florida proving it.
According to the article both the FAA and the Space Force still need to issue further approvals before this request can go forward. Expect the Space Force to agree, without much bother. The FAA needs to amend SpaceX’s launch licenses, and this should also happen relatively quick, especially with Trump as president.
After several years of paperwork, the FAA yesterday approved SpaceX’s request to double its launch rate at the Space Force’s Cape Canaveral spaceport.
In addition to the annual launch increase from 50 launches to up to 120, the Federal Aviation Administration’s environmental review also approved a new on-site landing zone that could accommodate up to 34 booster landings per year. These boosters are the reusable first-stage portions of Falcon 9 rockets that SpaceX lands and refurbishes for future flights.
The review, finalized on Wednesday, found what’s known as a “Mitigated Finding of No Significant Impact,” meaning the proposed changes “would not significantly impact the quality of the human environment” under federal law, with impacts reduced by specific protective measures. [emphasis mine]
The highlighted words illustrate the absurdity of these environmental reviews. We know without doubt and without any major review that rocket launches do no harm to the environment or wildlife. We have seven decades of data in Florida proving it.
According to the article both the FAA and the Space Force still need to issue further approvals before this request can go forward. Expect the Space Force to agree, without much bother. The FAA needs to amend SpaceX’s launch licenses, and this should also happen relatively quick, especially with Trump as president.
Cargo Dragon completes test burn to raise ISS’s orbit
The cargo Dragon that docked with ISS in late August successfully completed yesterday an engine burn lasting more than five minutes to see if it could raise ISS’s orbit.
On Wednesday, Sept. 3, SpaceX’s Dragon completed an initial burn to test the spacecraft’s new capability to help maintain the altitude of the International Space Station. Two Draco engines located in the trunk of Dragon, which contains an independent propellant system, were used to adjust the space station’s orbit through a maneuver lasting five minutes, three seconds. The initial test burn increased the station’s altitude by around one mile at perigee, or low point of station’s orbit, leaving the station in an orbit of 260.9 x 256.3 miles. The new boost kit in Dragon will help sustain the orbiting lab’s altitude through a series of longer burns planned periodically throughout the fall of 2025.
The Dragon will remain docked with ISS until December. It is expected it will do additional test burns during that time.
NASA wishes to get this capability from its own spacecraft so as to no longer have to rely entirely on the Russians, who have traditionally done these orbital adjustments using its Progress cargo freighters. SpaceX likely also wants to do these tests as an adjunct to its contract to build the de-orbit vehicle that will bring ISS down, after it is retired.
The cargo Dragon that docked with ISS in late August successfully completed yesterday an engine burn lasting more than five minutes to see if it could raise ISS’s orbit.
On Wednesday, Sept. 3, SpaceX’s Dragon completed an initial burn to test the spacecraft’s new capability to help maintain the altitude of the International Space Station. Two Draco engines located in the trunk of Dragon, which contains an independent propellant system, were used to adjust the space station’s orbit through a maneuver lasting five minutes, three seconds. The initial test burn increased the station’s altitude by around one mile at perigee, or low point of station’s orbit, leaving the station in an orbit of 260.9 x 256.3 miles. The new boost kit in Dragon will help sustain the orbiting lab’s altitude through a series of longer burns planned periodically throughout the fall of 2025.
The Dragon will remain docked with ISS until December. It is expected it will do additional test burns during that time.
NASA wishes to get this capability from its own spacecraft so as to no longer have to rely entirely on the Russians, who have traditionally done these orbital adjustments using its Progress cargo freighters. SpaceX likely also wants to do these tests as an adjunct to its contract to build the de-orbit vehicle that will bring ISS down, after it is retired.
September 3, 2025 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Embedded below the fold in two parts.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
» Read more
Embedded below the fold in two parts.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
» Read more