THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION IS OLD AND LEAKY. SHOULD IT BE DECOMMISSIONED SOONER RATHER THAN LATER? - Imagine you live in a house with walls that are just 2.54 mm thick. On the other side of your walls is certain death. Now imagine that there’s a crack in the outer wall of your living room, with oxygen being sucked out. And you can’t fix it. Sounds pretty terrifying, doesn’t it? But that’s exactly what has been going on aboard the International Space Station (ISS). For years.   More
(Source: CBC - Jun 15)

SPACEX UNVEILS AI1 ORBITAL DATA CENTER SATELLITE, TARGETS 1 GW SPACE COMPUTE BY LATE 2027 - SpaceX has disclosed the design of AI1, its first-generation orbital data center satellite, as part of the company's record-setting $75 billion initial public offering on the Nasdaq. The AI1 spacecraft delivers 150 kW of peak compute power and 120 kW average, spans 70 meters tip-to-tip — wider than a Boeing 747 — and stands 20 meters tall when deployed. Prototype units are planned for launch in early 2027, with commercial deployment and volume production to follow by the end of that year.   More
(Source: MLQ.ai - Jun 15)

SATELLITES OVERWHELM SPACE TELESCOPES WITH “RAILROAD” TRACKS - There’s bad news to report on the clear skies front. A new paper, available as a preprint on arXiv from researchers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California, reports that 73.3 percent of images the agency’s new SPHEREx space telescope collected between May and September of last year were contaminated by at least one artificial satellite trail. And it’s only going to get worse from here.   More
(Source: IEEE Spectrum - Jun 15)

WHY IS THE US SPACE FORCE RESEARCHING 'ORBITAL WAREHOUSES'? - The U.S. military is looking into putting "orbital warehouses" into orbit around Earth where fuel and other materials could be stored for easy pickup by future spacecraft on satellite servicing missions. A new U.S. military challenge aims to "accelerate operational logistics" for to help the U.S. Space Force keep its satellites active and respond in a timely fashion to threats. The challenge was created amid repeated warnings that China and Russia are actively maneuvering their own satellites close to U.S. spacecraft in orbit and launching new types of orbital weaponry.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jun 14)

SPACEX LAUNCHES STARLINK MISSION FROM CAPE CANAVERAL AS STOCK TRADES ON THE NASDAQ FOR FIRST TIME - SpaceX celebrated its landmark stock market debut Friday morning with the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The mission marked the 650th flight of the company’s flagship launch vehicle and the 68th Falcon 9 mission of 2026. Carrying out the Starlink 10-54 flight, SpaceX deployed 29 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites into low Earth orbit. The rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at 8:37 a.m. EDT (1237 UTC), under an hour before trading opened on the Nasdaq Stock Market. After clearing the launch pad, Falcon 9 headed northeast on its ascent path.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 13)

LONG MARCH 5 LAUNCHES CLASSIFIED SATELLITE, ZHUQUE-2E LOFTS DIRECT-TO-DEVICE TEST SATS - China has conducted a pair of launches to advance its communications capabilities, using the country’s largest rocket and a commercial launcher. The Long March 5 lifted off at 3:30 a.m. Eastern (0730 UTC) June 11 from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan island, targeting geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO). The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) confirmed the success of the launch, revealing the previously undisclosed payload to be the Tongxin Jishu Shiyan-25 (TJS-25).   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jun 12)

ELON MUSK WANTS TO PUT 1 MILLION AI SATELLITES IN SPACE. HERE'S HOW SPACEX COULD DO IT - SpaceX CEO Elon Musk outlined more details for his company’s planned data centers in space ahead of a widely anticipated IPO on Thursday (June 11) expected to make him a trillionaire. A new half-hour video offers a typical Elon Musk fireside chat about where the billionaire founder of SpaceX wants to be taking his technology next.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jun 12)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 24 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM VANDENBERG - SpaceX launched its next Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Thursday morning, a day before the company’s stock becomes publicly available on the Nasdaq. The Starlink 17-44 mission added another 24 broadband internet satellites to the company’s low Earth orbit constellation. There are more than 10,500 Starlink satellites currently in orbit. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East happened at 8:05:59 a.m. PDT (11:05:59 a.m. EDT / 1505:59 UTC). The rocket flew on a south-southwesterly trajectory upon leaving the pad.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 12)

RUSSIA’S ANSWER TO STARLINK LOSES ONE OF ITS FIRST SATELLITES - Bureau 1440, the Russian company building the “Rassvet” low-Earth orbit satellite internet service, has confirmed the loss of one of its first operational satellites, launched in March. The remaining 15 satellites from the batch are functioning normally, the company said. The project – Moscow’s domestic alternative to SpaceX’s Starlink – is slated for commercial launch by 2027.   More
(Source: Kyiv Post - Jun 11)

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