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I am now in the final week of my July fund-raising campaign for Behind the Black, celebrating its 14th anniversary. Thank you all, from the people who have donated small amounts to those who have given large sums. I cannot truly express how much your support means to me.

 

The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in the past two weeks has the mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.

 

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China launches GPS-type satellite

China yesterday launched another one of its Beidou GPS-type satellites using its Long March 3C rocket.

This is their fourth backup BeiDou placed in orbit, and the 45th total that has been launched.

The leaders in the 2019 launch race:

7 China
5 SpaceX
4 Europe (Arianespace)
3 Russia

The U.S. still leads China 10 to 7 in the national rankings.

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 you can buy it directly from the author and get an autographed copy.

 
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.


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"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

2 comments

  • Marcus Sammer

    Robert,

    First, I’d like to say I enjoy your posts of launch rankings (among others).

    I know you’ve given reasons for not showing countries with only one launch, and for why SpaceX is broken out separately, etc., but I cannot remember them all. I would personally enjoy the rankings more if they included all the countries, even those with only one launch. Also, I’d love to see the full U.S. breakdown each time. I believe you are currently including the Electron rocket in the U.S. launches, but I don’t remember off the top of my head if they’ve had two or three launches this year. And then the other 2 or three launches? Of course I can look up all this information easily enough, but part of why I like to come over to Behind the Black is the quick pleasure I get from seeing stats like these.

    Thanks for listening. :)

  • Marcus Sammer: I will give a full listing of all launches when I do my annual worldwide analysis come January. I can’t provide all of this information in every post, as it would make the post too unwieldy.

    Use Behind the Black as an information source. There is a search box on BtB that I myself use all the time to find past data. Use it. For example, try searching for “Electron” to find references to all the Rocket Lab launches.

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