October 17, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- FCC approves SpaceX revised Starlink satellite license [pdf]
SpaceX must launch half of this constellation, about 3,750 satellites, by November 19, 2024, and the other half no later than November 19, 2027.
- India targets its first manned landing on the Moon by 2040
This was simply Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s opportunity to give his Kennedy-like Moon speech, something politicans have been doing over and over again since 1961. Only Kennedy met his goals. All the others have simply been empty political speeches that were never fulfilled.
This is not to say India won’t try, as it certainly appears that the new colonial movement in space is heating up. It just means we should not take his speech very seriously.
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.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- FCC approves SpaceX revised Starlink satellite license [pdf]
SpaceX must launch half of this constellation, about 3,750 satellites, by November 19, 2024, and the other half no later than November 19, 2027.
- India targets its first manned landing on the Moon by 2040
This was simply Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s opportunity to give his Kennedy-like Moon speech, something politicans have been doing over and over again since 1961. Only Kennedy met his goals. All the others have simply been empty political speeches that were never fulfilled.
This is not to say India won’t try, as it certainly appears that the new colonial movement in space is heating up. It just means we should not take his speech very seriously.
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.
Are these the same Starlink satellites that FAA has identified as a mortal risk?
Yes, the killer satellites from outer space!
Wait till the Chinese Mega-Constellation Satellites start flying!
When JFK set the goal he gave 8 years to do it. It would take 6 years to accomplish a soft landing unmanned, and 7 for the goal he set.
India has already done a soft landing unmanned and has 7 years left for the manned mission goal.
So they really should be able to do it.
They just need to make the right build vs buy decisions and they dont have time to fool around. When private citizens are buying their way to and from LEO you have to wonder that you just need a two person LEM, and a way to get the delta-v to the moon and back.
India should offer SpaceX a launch base for Starship in return for guaranteed access to lift its space station and lunar components. That might induce the Fish and Wildlife Service to stop stalling…