Assist. prof @GWTweets | book # 1: "Weapons in Space" | Book # 2 "Wiring an Empire" (contracted w/ MIT Press) | RT ≠ endorsement
Probably in an archive
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First copies of my book have arrived! Celebrating with my wonderful partner, @Fiona_Cunning, makes it all the more special
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The family tree behind this rocket body reaches all the way back to Sputnik.
SL-4 R/B (68753) is the spent rocket body from a Soyuz-2.1b launch from Plesetsk in April 2026.
Soyuz belongs to the R-7 rocket family, the same lineage that carried Sputnik 1 into orbit in 1957. Nearly 70 years later, that lineage continues to evolve, putting new hardware into space.
Through our Non-Earth Imaging, we can see the rocket body tumbling in orbit, with the main body and engine nozzles visible.
Images taken from an average distance of 321.31km with an average resolution of 25 cm/px.
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The Defense Intelligence Agency has released its latest report on challenges to space security:
dia.mil/Articles/Press-Relea…
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Aaron Bateman retweeted
COSMOS 2612 (SSC.68762) walks up to ICEYE-X36 (SSC.59103)
In July we posted on the Cosmos 2609–2614 group. Back then we flagged COSMOS 2612 as the satellite best placed to reach ICEYE-X36. Three months later, it did.
Analysis via COMSPOC SSA.
On 1 October COSMOS 2612 raised its orbit ~47 km. The higher orbit gave it a fast catch-up drift, and it passed ICEYE-X36 at ~55 km on 5 October and again on 12 October. Within about two hours of the second pass it made two retrograde burns (~27 m/s total) and dropped back to ICEYE-X36’s altitude, ~515 km behind it. Between 13 and 16 October seven small burns (~5 m/s total) closed that gap.
By 16 October COSMOS 2612 was in ICEYE-X36’s plane (within 0.003°) and at its altitude. Since the two share a plane, there are no plane crossings to wait for. From 16–18 October they spent ~24 hours within 2 km of each other and ~12 hours within 1 km. First pass was ~220 m (max uncertainty ~490 m) near 14:03 UTC on 16 October. It then held 2–4 km behind before drawing level on 17 October and settling into a centred safety ellipse around ICEYE-X36, which it held for the rest of the day. Closest pass in our solution was ~60 m (max uncertainty ~950 m) near 14:18 UTC. By late on 17 October it had drifted ~2 km ahead, then trimmed back for a third pass at ~260 m (max uncertainty ~160 m) near 01:58 UTC on 18 October. Relative speed at the closest points was 0.15–0.9 m/s, walking pace or slower. Slow walk-past, not a fly-by . ICEYE-X36 did not maneuver.
COSMOS 2612 burned away at 12:30 UTC on 18 October, braked on 19 October, and is now holding ~480 km from ICEYE-X36 in the same orbit.
We’ve seen this sequence before. COSMOS 2581, 2582 and 2583 (SSC.62902/62903/62904) have been running it against each other since February 2025: raise, phase, drop to co-altitude, close at under half a meter per second, hold, depart, loiter. Since August 2025 we’ve logged more than 170 sub-km conjunction events within that trio, several down to single-digit meters. Until now, every target had been one of their own. This is the first non-cooperative one.
@planet4589
@shell_jim
@IntegrityISR
@ObservableSpace
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Aaron Bateman retweeted
A great video from @WSJ on what the real world space weapons Meadowlands and Bounty Hunter look like and are used in combat operations around the world wsj.com/us-news/the-space-fo…
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Aaron Bateman retweeted
Space Force plans wider global deployment of satellite jammers spacenews.com/space-force-pl…
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Soviets have deployed Korund and then Korund-M systems during tv Cold War, to support the SMFs and NCA users.
This system used sats on Molnya orbits and C-band comms, with parallel 2k baud lines available.
This provided a redundant alternative to landlines.
Mid-1970s graphic depicting concept for "hardened" comms in HEO and GEO for nuclear command and control
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Mid-1970s graphic depicting concept for "hardened" comms in HEO and GEO for nuclear command and control
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Aaron Bateman retweeted
How Does Starshield Work and Who Controls It?
Useful graphic explainer here---> wsj.com/business/telecom/how… @MerrillMSherman @DrewFitzGerald Elizaveta Galkina
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Declassified map of the Department of Defense's Pacific Ionospheric Scatter System, completed in the early 1960s, as a low data rate comms network connecting defense installations across the region.
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Aaron Bateman retweeted
Space Force retires Cold War-era missile-warning constellation after final maneuver exercise spacenews.com/space-force-re…
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Aaron Bateman retweeted
A Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter is joining the National Air and Space Museum collection. The F-117 is the world’s first true operational stealth combat aircraft.
Transferred from the U.S. Air Force and prepared for public display by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, our F-117 will make its debut at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in late October. Learn more: s.si.edu/4yAERA4
ALT A stealth aircraft, identified as the F-117 Nighthawk, is positioned inside a spacious hangar. The aircraft has a distinct angular design, and the hangar features a high, curved ceiling with industrial lighting. Various equipment and tools are visible along the hangar walls.
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This report overlooks how U.S. ISR and comms facilities in Australia are vital for U.S. global military power projection. Downgrading the U.S. - Aus alliance would be detrimental to U.S. national interests. I talk about this in my recent Intl Security article, see below:
Bombshell report from @jekavanagh that has the Japanese strategic community buzzing.
The proposal:
— Explicitly say the U.S. will not defend Taiwan
— End defense treaties with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Australia
— Drastically reduce U.S. forces in Asia
My take: Retreating to the second island chain does not preserve the balance of power more cheaply. It changes the balance of power.
A Second Island Chain Strategy for Asia — Defense Priorities
defensepriorities.org/explai…
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Recruitment ad from the 1950s for technical manpower to operate and maintain the DEW Line radars and White Alice communications networks, key parts of the early U.S. NC3 infrastructure.
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Aaron Bateman retweeted
💥 🛰️ Debris event from USSF's "LDPE-1" GEO Satellite on 27 July 2026.
The Long Duration Propulsive ESPA-1 (LDPE-1) appears to have experienced a debris event on 27 July 2026 at 12:50 UTC (+/- 30 min). This is satellite 49818 in the @SpaceTrackOrg catalog (Int Des 2021-118B).
Two public sources of data corroborate the event:
1️⃣ orbital position information from @S4S_SDA via space-track.org (see graphic below) and
2️⃣ seven new objects appeared in the Vimpel catalog which associate back to LDPE-1 at a time concurrent with the orbit change--to within a ~ 1 hr window 2 sigma'ish
Thankfully LDPE-1 was operating in a supersynchronous orbit ~365 km above GEO altitude, or clear of the GEO Protected Region at the time of the event, and fully remains clear of the GEO Protected Region. The last noted meaningful maneuver was in April 2026, but predominant sources indicate the satellite was still active.
Unfortunately, some of the debris generated now encroaches into the GEO Protected Region.
LDPE-1 is a Northrop Grumman "ESPAStar" payload. There are several ESPAStar payloads active in GEO today with more missions planned. Hopefully the systemic root cause of the debris event is not something that could be repeated in the other platforms.
#SpaceDebris #LongTermSustainmentOfSpace #SpaceDomainAwareness #SpaceDomainNormsOfBehavior
Orbit data from @S4S_SDA via space-track.org, used with permission per ODR 24-002-4.
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The NRO today announced the award of the Commercial RF Capabilities Augmentation (CRFCA) contract to HawkEye 360, Inc., continuing NRO’s efforts to operationalize and expand the IC and DOW's use of U.S. commercial RF capabilities.
Press Release: bit.ly/4wtwVz9
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