July 10, 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.
Note: X now appears to require log in to view videos. You can get around this by clicking on the three dots at the top right to get the embed code. Ask for the code for an “embedded video.” The video will then be available for watching.
- A picture of the factory floor where Thales-Alenia is building the hulls of two of Axiom’s space station modules.
A lot of stuff for sure, all of which still needs to be assembled.
- Eight NATO allies launch HALO satellite constellation initiative
The nations are Denmark, Canada, Finland, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and Turkey. No U.S. The constellation will supposedly provide “high-speed communications, intelligence and missile tracking,” though these are usually done by completely different satellite constellations.
- Astra shows off video of an engine static fire test
Jay: “An X commenter asked what fuel they are using for that dark exhaust. One guy answered best: ‘Investor’s money’.” Still, the company has been surviving on its engine sales, even if no one believes its new rocket is real.
- On July 10, 1962 AT&T’s Telstar-1 was launched on a Thor-Delta rocket purchased from NASA for $3 million
The satellite successfully relayed TV broadcasts from Europe to the U.S. AT&T hoped to build a constellation of satellites then to provide this service, but was blocked by Congress and President Kennedy, who passed a law creating the quasi-private company Comsat and requiring all American communciations satellites to be launched by it. That law squelched the American satellite industry — and the American launch industry — for more than a decade.
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
“Eight NATO allies launch HALO satellite constellation initiative”
Yeah, right. Initiatives are the only thing they can afford to launch. Since Trump turned off the spigot of American taxpayers subsidizing these Marxist EU countries they don’t have enough money to even fund their bloated bureaucracies.
Canada’s military has a total of 4 submarines (all diesel-electric) and only one of them is currently operational.