January 4, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- SpaceX aiming to do two launches on the same day this weekend, from opposite coasts
The launch from Vandenberg is a set of Starlink satellites, while the Kennedy launch is a set of OneWeb satellites. The author at the link breaks down the number of launches last year at each pad, and notes SpaceX’s goals this year.
- Launch of China’s Long March 7A now set for January 8-9, 2023
This launch was originally set for December but was postponed. It is unclear whether it will be China’s first launch in 2023.
- Norfolk Naval Station by Taijing-3-01 remote sensing satellite, Sept 2022
China gives us a hint at its satellite reconnaissance capability, which according to Jay, in this case has less resolution than Google Earth.
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In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
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Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- SpaceX aiming to do two launches on the same day this weekend, from opposite coasts
The launch from Vandenberg is a set of Starlink satellites, while the Kennedy launch is a set of OneWeb satellites. The author at the link breaks down the number of launches last year at each pad, and notes SpaceX’s goals this year.
- Launch of China’s Long March 7A now set for January 8-9, 2023
This launch was originally set for December but was postponed. It is unclear whether it will be China’s first launch in 2023.
- Norfolk Naval Station by Taijing-3-01 remote sensing satellite, Sept 2022
China gives us a hint at its satellite reconnaissance capability, which according to Jay, in this case has less resolution than Google Earth.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows 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. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
My best guess is that the image was intentionally less sharp to surprise the U. S., later. “Gosh! If that’s all the better the Reds can do, why spend time, effort, and money on cloaking?”
The good Colonel is correct. I seriously doubt they released the fully resolved image.
But even then, put two or three images together, and you can refine the resolution.
Analysis all the way down to the smallest pixel can reveal all kinds of detail. NRO has been doing it for decades.
And I, for one, do not underestimate the Chinese.
Norfolk is wide open anyway. Anyone with a motor boat can drive through Chesapeake bay with a go pro on the bow, and record activity. Plenty of small aircraft can fly near enough with todays optics to see the big stuff like this. Naval vessels in port cannot be hidden. Yamamoto knew this, and used it to his advantage.
I am also reminded of the “Big Carrier” debate. Is is better to have 10 or so big super carriers, (only a portion of which can be at sea at any given time) or is should we be building many less expensive carriers.
Guys, I was poking fun at the Chinese. They were trying to shock people with their picture of Norfolk. Anyone with a satellite can take photos. We have been taking satellite photos for over sixty years. Sometimes when the Chinese try to look and sound serious, the propaganda comes off as comical.
One item that was not posted was a video of a Chinese rocket to Mars, but they screwed up and used the planet Venus. Another video from a few years ago was showing off one of their new J-Class jets and they mixed in scenes from the movie “Top Gun”.
I do take them seriously as I watch their developments in technology from their pseudo-companies. I note and compare their engines, the rocket capabilities, and their improvements to Russian technology. I have been following them since I first heard about their manned space program-“Project 921” in 1998 (I thought it was going to be a mini shuttle like Hermes, but it is a copy of a Soyuz). You learn to sift through to the good information and weed out the propaganda.
” ‘Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak” – Sun Tzu, A long time ago.