Iran launches another satellite
Iran today claimed its second satellite launch in less than four months, placing a smallsat into an orbit its state-run press said was 466 miles high.
As yet this launch has not been confirmed by the U.S. military or any other sources. Like its previous launch in September, the information released is so slim it is unclear if the satellite is in orbit or not. This launch however used a new three-stage solid-fueled rocket dubbed Qaem-100, and from the image released, appears powerful enough to do the job.
Meanwhile, SpaceX once again scrubbed a Starlink launch, the third time in three days, due to weather, illustrating once again that despite the company’s almost clockwork ability to launch, its goal of reaching 150 launches in 2024 could be stymied simply by not having enough clear days where weather is not a problem.
The 2024 launch race:
6 SpaceX
5 China
1 India
1 ULA
1 Japan
1 Iran
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 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
Iran today claimed its second satellite launch in less than four months, placing a smallsat into an orbit its state-run press said was 466 miles high.
As yet this launch has not been confirmed by the U.S. military or any other sources. Like its previous launch in September, the information released is so slim it is unclear if the satellite is in orbit or not. This launch however used a new three-stage solid-fueled rocket dubbed Qaem-100, and from the image released, appears powerful enough to do the job.
Meanwhile, SpaceX once again scrubbed a Starlink launch, the third time in three days, due to weather, illustrating once again that despite the company’s almost clockwork ability to launch, its goal of reaching 150 launches in 2024 could be stymied simply by not having enough clear days where weather is not a problem.
The 2024 launch race:
6 SpaceX
5 China
1 India
1 ULA
1 Japan
1 Iran
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 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
I note with interest that the Ukrainian armed forces claim to have struck at two strategic locations in Russia, one a refinery near Leningrad, and the other a weapons factory near Tula. Both these locations are hundreds of kilometers remote from the Ukraine theater of operations. The website UnderstandingWar.org says these were drone strikes, perhaps implying more of a nuisance strike than a devastating one, but no results are mentioned.
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-january-21-2024
Ray Van Dune: Your comment on the Ukraine war I think suggests to me that it is time this week for another update. Most coverage today continues to view the war through narrow lenses, thus giving I think a distorted view.
I would appreciate hearing from knowledgeable readers on their opinion of the quality of information on the UnderstandingWar.org website.
My impression is that Ukraine may be doing better than is being reported in the western media, but that it is hardly “winning”.
For example the Russian Black Sea Fleet seems to have been heavily constrained in its range of operations. However, the relevance of this fleet’s power may have been overestimated by Russia anyway, and may have actually been a convenient distraction from Russia employing its overwhelmingly strong landward position to the East.
The attacks on Leningrad and Tula may likewise indicate a Ukrainian willingness to turn away from a Crimean focus, toward attacking Russian military infrastructure proper.
Ray Van Dune: The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which runs this website, is an excellent source of credible information about all major conflucts going on worldwide. In the case of the Ukraine, however, you must always recognize that it favors the Ukraine and wants Russia defeated. It reports events accurately, but often spins things in that direction.
For example, its reports will provide a lot of information about the Russian military, its forces inside and around the Ukraine, their placement, their strategies, their quantities. This is good informantion. ISW however almost never provides any similar military details about Ukrainian forces or positioning. This lack is clearly to protect Ukrainian interests.
If you view ISW as comparable to American reporting during World War II, you will benefit. The reporting is honest, but it without doubt favors one side over the other. And in both cases — then and now — I believe that favoritism was and is for good and moral reasons.
Mr. Zimmerman,
I suggest that you spare us your planned article about the Ukraine War because I can tell you in advance (based on your previous articles on the subject) that it will be pretty much worthless. They are simply unable to understand, for whatever reason (I suspect ideological delusion) what is going on in the war, what kind of war Russia is waging and that is for Ukraine (and by extension the US), the war has been lost for some time. They prefer to take the path we know you take, which is to simply be ignorant and give in to the propaganda and lies presented in the US media rather than question these things.
Wow questioning the validity of an opinion article long before its even written.
I guess they have to attack the source and writer ahead of time now because attacking the facts is obviously not working.
That feint your ignoring could be the real attack.
Any attack into Russia proper tends to move defensive units away from the front.