Great British Space Stuff

Russia targets UK military satellites on weekly basis Moscow is attempting to collect information from UK spacecraft, according to the MoD.

BBC News - Russia targets UK military satellites on weekly basis - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

What Germany’s $41B investment in space could mean for Europe Germany will invest 35 billion euros ($41.1 billion) into defense space technologies within the next five years — an unprecedented amount for any European country. The decision, made in response to rising tensions with Russia, has been hailed a “watershed moment” for the German and European space sector, and experts say could spur a new era in European space cooperation. 

What Germany’s $41B investment in space could mean for Europe

Germany will invest 35 billion euros ($41.1 billion) into defense space technologies within the next five years — an unprecedented amount for any European country. The decision, made in response to rising tensions with Russia, has been…

Firefly Aerospace lost the first stage of their Flight 7 rocket yesterday.

No injuries were reported. Firefly had hoped to fly the Flight 7 booster before the end of the year.

Video from a nearby auto parts store.

The five secret commercial satellites launched by Electron on Aug 23 have finally been identified in Space-Track as Calistus A to Calistus E, with the launching state identified as Rwanda. This flag-of-convenience basically confirms the satellites belong to E-Space. None have yet manuevered.

I think the polls will turn as the better Labour policies kick in and Reform get increasingly found out at council and policy level. But although optimistic am not complacent - agree that Labour will lose if nothing changes.

All fair points, and certainly agree we shouldn't consider any party has an innate right to power. Personally think Reform success in v large part is due to extraordinary right wing bias in media (plus Russia funding) and they're eminently beatable if Lab step up.

They give a good impression of that. But their 'advanced tech' from space programme to weapons to solar is based on Western research and innovation that has been (admittedly often v ingeniously) built upon. They won't win the superpower game until their primary research and innovation matches up.

You're right, I mistook your point. I agree that Labour need to focus on their own policies rather trying to out-Reform Reform. If they do that, I think they can still comfortably beat Reform; and there is no other party that can do that (poss the LDms, but will never vote for them again post-fees).

Reform, the Russian-funded and tasked party of selfish billionaires? Yeah - actively working against our national defence interests, actively working against the rights of the majority of people in this country - it'll be a cold day in hell before I vote for them. I said VIABLE.

Hard disagree. I remember the Tories in 1995 - Labour aren't that. We should be holding Starmer and co to account (and to Labour principles), not giving up. Much as I love Green social policy I couldn't vote for a party without the first clue on Defence. Still no VIABLE Labour alternative right now.

These two mosaics are mine (my pointing and my current investigations) . They were not supposed to be stitched together because of paralax, but that works 😍

Interstellar visitors like comet 3I/ATLAS are the most common objects in the Milky Way: 'There's almost always one within the solar system' "There's almost always one within the solar system."

"Interstellar visitors like comet 3I/ATLAS are the most common objects in the Milky Way: 'There's almost always one within the solar system'"

I'm that case we should try to intercept a couple of them. I am glad ESA is already developing their comet interceptor.

"The democratization of space technology has shifted traditional notions of who can wield space capabilities in war and created new motivations for warring sides to deny the advantages that satellites provide," writes the CSIS Aerospace Security Project.

Read more: www.csis.org/analysis/cha...

#NASABudget watching the Planetary Society presentation on the NASA Budget. You can see in this graphic how much the agency gets as compared with the whole govt. PS the Reconciliation Bill was NOT a budget

If the Administration really wants to win a new Space Race then these are the competitors. They have a plan and stick to it. America - not so much. Indeed we cut ourselves off at the knees and then complain about it.

Former NASA chief says United States likely to lose second lunar space race “It is highly unlikely the United States will beat China’s projected timeline.”…

"Bridenstine ... criticized the complex nature of SpaceX's Starship-based lunar lander, which NASA selected in April 2021 as a means to get astronauts down to the lunar surface and back. The proposal relies on #Starship being refueled in low-Earth orbit by multiple Starship tanker launches."

A series of concentric black and white ovals against a black background, with a dim red dot in the lower left of one of the paths of a black ring. The ovals are dust rings around a young star, and the red dot is a 5 Jupiter mass exoplanet called WISPIT 2b.

Proud supervisor moment: #LeidenObservatory graduate student Richelle van Capelleveen led one of two papers on our discovery of WISPIT 2b, a 5 Jupiter mass exoplanet clearing a path in a circumstellar disk. Laird Close and his team saw it in H-alpha, indicating gas accretion #astrodon 🔭 🧪

On August 13, Sun Yat-sen University's Tianqin laser ranging station bounced a signal off the next‑generation lunar retroreflector, NGLR‑1, on the Blue Ghost lander, picking up a return signal. www.sysu.edu.cn/news/info/21...

If you want to learn more about the X-37B's first 7 missions, check out @swfoundation.bsky.social's fact sheet here: www.swfound.org/publications...

SpaceX patch for X-37B OTV-8

Source: www.spacex.com/launches/uss...

That's undoubtedly true - and China does have a track record of indigenising and evolving technology lifted from elsewhere so, who knows, maybe one of them will match the F9.

And it's an interesting attempt, thanks for compiling. Can't help but disagree that the 'most significant factor' driving the similarities are 'market forces in China though' - I suspect forty-plus years of technology transfer and pervasive cyber espionage have more to do with it.

...and finally for today, made from Navcam images taken two days ago, a wonderful new view of Perseverance with the Big Country martian landscape stretched out behind her... This took ages to make so I hope you like it enough to Share it! Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/S Atkinson

UK independent space agency scrapped to cut costs Britain's space agency is set to be scrapped - a scientist fears the UK space sector could fall behind as a result

🙄🙄🙄 BBC News - UK independent space agency scrapped to cut costs
www.bbc.com/news/article...

The trick to this shot is holding on to the lightning tower really, really tight. #SF106

Today we have lost a quiet giant. (August 7, 2025)
Jim Lovell carried courage and hope into the darkness – and taught us that even the longest journey is possible with a heart full of light.
His star will never fade.

Www.contactlight.de
Www.forallmankind.de

Yay for all of this except 'longer, darker nights' - don't want to be thinking about those yet!

NASA’s Europa Clipper Radar Instrument Proves Itself at Mars - NASA The agency’s largest interplanetary probe tested its radar during a Mars flyby. The results include a detailed image and bode well for the mission at

The REASON Ice Penetrating Radar produced good test data when we flew by Mars! All looking good for seeing inside #Europa in a few years. www.nasa.gov/missions/eur...

Multi angle replay of Starship S37's 6 engine ~10 second static fire test on the Pad 1 OLM from @nasaspaceflight_ig camera angles. Based on past tests, we expect S37 to next be removed and returned to MB2, while the Pad is prepared for flight configuration.
Starbase Live 24/7 nsf.live/starbase

The Chinese govt has now launched a total of 39 sats in their internet constellation; the satellites are currently at altitudes in the 1000 to 1180 km range.