February 12, 2026 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.
- Isar Aerospace touts its new 40,000 square meter headquarters/rocket factory
It plans to produce up to 40 rockets per year once fully operational. Of course, the company needs to successfully launch its rocket first.
- New ‘sungrazing’ comet could become visible to the naked eye, if the sun doesn’t destroy it
The odds of it surviving its close approach, around a half million miles on April 4, are very slim.
- France commits €1 billion to support replenishment of Eutelsat’s OneWeb constellation
The writer of the tweet thinks this deal by France is absurd and will simply be a waste of money. And based on OneWeb’s performance so far in competing with Starlink, this opinion could very well be right.
- On this day in 1970 Japan became the fourth country to launch its own satellite on its own rocket
The satellite, Ohsumi, operated for less than a day, though it remained in orbit until 2003.
- On this day in 1984, Challenger became the first shuttle to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida
Previously all shuttles landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
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 from 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
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.
- Isar Aerospace touts its new 40,000 square meter headquarters/rocket factory
It plans to produce up to 40 rockets per year once fully operational. Of course, the company needs to successfully launch its rocket first.
- New ‘sungrazing’ comet could become visible to the naked eye, if the sun doesn’t destroy it
The odds of it surviving its close approach, around a half million miles on April 4, are very slim.
- France commits €1 billion to support replenishment of Eutelsat’s OneWeb constellation
The writer of the tweet thinks this deal by France is absurd and will simply be a waste of money. And based on OneWeb’s performance so far in competing with Starlink, this opinion could very well be right.
- On this day in 1970 Japan became the fourth country to launch its own satellite on its own rocket
The satellite, Ohsumi, operated for less than a day, though it remained in orbit until 2003.
- On this day in 1984, Challenger became the first shuttle to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida
Previously all shuttles landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
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 from 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
Wow: Vast has been selected by @NASASpaceOps for the sixth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. Launching no earlier than summer 2027, the commercial crew will spend up to 14 days aboard the station.
Link to Vast press release: https://www.vastspace.com/updates/vast-selected-by-nasa-for-sixth-private-astronaut-mission-to-international-space-station
Big win for Vast. I think Bob predicted a good likelihood this would happen.
I don’t know if this will get through, but I’m getting the following message when trying to post a comment:
I have no idea what it means.
mkent: I will send this to Shane. I have no idea what it means, if anything.
New ISS crew launched.
The Europeans, and especially the French, really seem to want a Europe-based LEO internet constellation, rather than see a reliance on the United States for yet one more strategic market or capability. Which I can at least understand, objectively.
But someone responding on that tweet made an interesting point: “I think the point is that most companies like Eutelsat & Oneweb will have a very hard time existing if Amazon Leo is also fully ramped and operational besides Starlink. Telco’s already indicated they are not going to support IRIS2 if they can get better quality and pricing from other constellations.”
So either 1) this is just one component of a fiscal boost to Eutelsat/OneWeb and we have yet to see what else is planned, or 2) this financing deal was all that could be managed at this time and it’s only meant to buy some time, or 3) the French government doesn’t know what the heck it is doing.
By the way, it looks like Starship is GO for Ship return at Boca Chica/Starbase. The FAA has released a Finding of No Significant Impact and the “Final Tiered Environmental Assessment for Updates to Airspace Closures for Additional Launch Trajectories and Starship Boca Chica Landings of the SpaceX Starship-Super Heavy Vehicle at the SpaceX Boca Chica Launch Site in Cameron County, Texas”
It was issued yesterday, and just made public this morning, apparently.
https://x.com/DJEsmeraldMusic/status/2022313321374900649
Draft: https://t.co/aFqOP5pYgb
Final: https://t.co/nu2Gi50njn
At phys-
“‘Dynamic plastic delocalization’ can slow metal alloy cracking, engineers find”
“Why metal microstructures matter: A.I. pinpoints stress hotspots to guide safer designs”
”France commits €1 billion to support replenishment of Eutelsat’s OneWeb constellation…”
This is just another example of European “third-way” socialism. It’s the standard operating procedure for their aerospace industry: Pick a market identified by American capitalism, enter it with large government subsidies, and try to take it over with even more subsidies. They did that with Airbus jetliners, Ariane launch vehicles, Airbus and Thales comsats, and now OneWeb internet satellites. IRIS2 will be their attempt to do the same with Starlink.
It can work if the subsidies are large enough, but 1) while their aerospace industry is arguably better off, the rest of their economy suffers for it, and 2) they can never lead in innovation since the first step in the process is always American. So America leads, China is America’s fast follower, and Europe is America’s slow follower.
So America has the Orbcomm, Globalstar, Iridium, Starlink internet, Amazon Leo, Starlink direct-to-cell, Lynk Global, and AST SpaceMobile commercial constellations as well as the Starshield and PWSA government constellations. And Europe has OneWeb, originally an American constellation designed and built in America but brought out of bankruptcy by a European government.
Innovative leader vs. slow follower.
Richard M,
This French investment in Eutelsat/OneWeb may, indeed, turn out to be a waste of money, but compared to putting the same amount into the notional IRIS2, it looks sober and conservative. I think IRIS2 is already effectively stillborn – the official death notice is simply yet to be posted.
That said, it’s hardly obvious that OneWeb will have much of a future. Given that OneWeb has never been a retail consumer-oriented service provider, it’s real nemesis will probably be neither Starlink nor Amazon Leo so much as Blue Origin’s recently announced TeraWave. With three US-based LEO broadband mega-constellations that, in combination, will cover every class of customer and use case, OneWeb faces what can only be fairly described as daunting prospects going forward.
Hello Dick,
“Given that OneWeb has never been a retail consumer-oriented service provider, it’s real nemesis will probably be neither Starlink nor Amazon Leo so much as Blue Origin’s recently announced TeraWave.”
No, this is a good point. I agree.
And yes, OneWeb is going to require more state subsidies if things go on like this. Indeed, it may require more than subsidies, if you get my drift . . .
It’s yet one more area of economic competition where Europe is falling behind — badly. But this was a choice. All of these terrible policies that are killing their economies — and their demographics — are choices.