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EU Threatens Russia With Sanctions Over Possible Hostilities in Space
January 29, 2025
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Wednesday that the bloc could impose sanctions in response to hostile actions in space, citing increasing threats from Russia.
"We are already the targets of hybrid warfare, including in space, with systematic jamming of satellite navigation signals," Kallas told a conference in Brussels.
"There are risks to our satellites, the ground infrastructure and our space industries from kinetic, electronic and high-energy weapons."
The former Estonian prime minister pointed to Russia's previous test of an anti-satellite missile and a cyberattack on a space system just before its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
She urged the EU's 27 member states to strengthen their ability to counter threats in space, stressing the need for improved monitoring and attribution of attacks.
She also suggested expanding the bloc's mutual defense clause to include space-based threats.
"On retaliation, we are looking into punitive options," Kallas said, noting that the EU could impose sanctions similar to those already levied against Russian intelligence agents for cyberattacks.
"We need to think about how best we can apply this to space," she said, adding that the EU should work closely with the United States in space defense.
"The U.S. is the EU's most important security partner on the ground. We must be allies in space too," she said.
Her comments come as the EU considers a more coordinated approach to space security.
The bloc's space commissioner recently proposed a "European Space Shield" to unify member states' efforts in protecting critical space assets.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/01/29/eu-threatens-russia-with-sanctions-over-possible-hostilities-in-space-a87788
Happy Lunar New Year 2025! Chinese astronauts send Year of the Snake greeting from Tiangong space station
January 28, 2025
Happy Lunar New Year!
Wednesday (Jan. 29) welcomes the Lunar New Year, a holiday with deep cultural and familial significance that is celebrated worldwide.
The Lunar New Year occurs on the second new moon that follows the Winter Solstice, which means the date changes from year to year and can typically fall anywhere from Jan. 21 to Feb. 20.
During the Lunar New Year period, families and loved ones gather to eat traditional holiday foods and pay their respects to their ancestors.
There are also parades worldwide featuring fireworks and colorful dancers with dragons or lions, and people typically exchange gifts.
Lunar New Year celebrations last until the night of the first full moon to follow the holiday, which this year occurs on Feb. 12.
2025 welcomes the Year of the Snake, the sixth animal in the twelve-year cycle of animals in the Chinese zodiac.
Each year is associated with one of the 12 animals, which some people believe represents characteristics of those born in those years.
In Chinese mythology, snakes are thought to be sensitive, resourceful, introverted and wise, according to ChineseNewYear.net.
People born in 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013 and now 2025 are associated with the snake, per the Chinese zodiac.
Like billions of other people around the world, the astronauts aboard China's Tiangong space station (or taikonauts, as they're known at home) are celebrating the Lunar New Year holiday.
In a video shared by China Central Television, the crew of the current Shenzhou-19 mission held up paper cuttings of the Chinese character 福 (fu, meaning "good luck" or "fortune") and sent home a holiday greeting.
"We are in the space home of the Chinese people, wishing you all a happy Chinese New Year!," the taikonauts said in the message.
"We wish the people of the whole country good health and all the best in the Year of Snake! May our great motherland enjoy harmony and prosperity!"
Lunar New Year is celebrated by people worldwide, but is most prevalent throughout China and other Asian countries.
Lunar New Year celebrations have been celebrated for thousands of years.
The timing of the holiday is rooted in the traditional Chinese calendar, which is known as a lunisolar calendar.
This means it follows the changing positions of the sun and moon in addition to the phases of the lunar cycle.
While the Gregorian calendar is used worldwide for official purposes such as government and business, many holidays, festivals and other celebrations and rites still follow traditional lunisolar calendars.
Because it is celebrated so widely throughout many parts of the world, the Lunar New Year period sees the world's largest annual human migration each year.
In China, there is a term for the annual travel rush: "Chunyun," or "spring transportation," named for the Chinese term for the Lunar New Year period, "Spring Festival."
https://www.space.com/the-universe/moon/happy-lunar-new-year-2025-chinese-astronauts-send-year-of-the-snake-greeting-from-tiangong-space-station-video
NASA Jet Propulsion Lab opens doors after LA fires, helps firefighter helicopters refuel
January 29, 2025
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) began resuming normal operations this week after major wildfires that have been causing widespread devastation across Southern California since early January forced its closure.
JPL, which runs many of NASA's high-profile robotic missions, is located at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains just north of L.A. and was shuttered a day after the Eaton Fire ignited near the Altadena community on Jan. 7.
The fire raged very close to the agency's campus. Firefighters kept the deadly flames from reaching the historic lab, but it remained closed except for a small number of essential personnel.
That left the mission control center for the Deep Space Network (DSN) empty for the first time since it opened 60 years ago.
The lab fully opened to all employees again starting on Monday (Jan. 27) following "repairs, cleanup and extensive safety monitoring," according to the JPL emergency information site.
Throughout the firefighting efforts in the area, JPL made its helicopter emergency landing facility available to support firefighting helicopters protecting the surrounding neighborhoods, Veronica McGregor, who is the media relations manager at JPL, recently told Space.com via email.
"While it was too windy for the helicopters on the first day of the fire, the site has been used extensively for refilling helicopters in the days since then," she wrote. "We will continue to provide any assistance we can to local agencies."
The DSN operations, which had been temporarily relocated to a backup operations center at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Barstow, ensured that no science data from the more than 40 missions it manages was lost during the fire threat.
These operations, too, have since returned to JPL and are now running normally, McGregor said. "During the fire, JPL facilities, labs and hardware were secured and protected," she added.
As of Tuesday (Jan. 28), the wind-driven Eaton Fire has scorched over 14,000 acres and remains 99 percent contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire).
The L.A. fires have killed nearly 30 people and left tens of thousands more without homes, including more than 200 JPL employees who lived in Altadena.
"Our immediate concerns are with our neighboring communities and our employees," McGregor said.
Over 100 additional others, including JPL director Laurie Leshin, are displaced long term after their houses and neighborhoods were reduced to rubble, Eos reported.
"For people whose houses are lost, who don't have lots of other places to go, they can come to the lab," Leshin told Eos.
"I have to tell you, I did it myself last week, and being in a familiar environment felt really good. I think there is something about being grounded in a routine that is really helpful at this time."
A dedicated team at JPL has been providing employees with support throughout, including a disaster relief fund it started in partnership with Caltech, which has raised over $2 million for staff and students affected by the fires.
"The response has been overwhelming," Whitney Haggins, a JPL employee who lost her home in the Eaton Fire, told ABC news. "I can say the JPL family is really taking care of us and trying to do whatever they can to assist."
"I know I have the love and support of so many people, so that will help sustain me," she added. "I will rebuild. I will be back here."
Even as JPL remained closed due to the fire threat, its workforce continued to gear up for a busy year with two missions that could launch as soon as February — the sky-mapping SPHEREx space observatory and the Lunar Trailblazer satellite designed to hunt for water on the moon's surface.
Looking ahead, the U.S.-India NISAR satellite, whose U.S. component is led by JPL is scheduled to lift off in March to study Earth's surface and its changes, followed by the Sentinel-6B satellite launch aimed at monitoring sea level rise as well as an experiment onboard the International Space Station later in the year.
"We're really grateful for the space community and their care at this challenging time," Leshin told the Los Angeles Times. "But exploration continues, so we will be back."
https://www.space.com/the-universe/climate-change/nasa-jet-propulsion-lab-opens-doors-after-la-fires-helps-firefighter-helicopters-refuel
https://emergency.jpl.nasa.gov/#
U.S. Space Force Rapid Capabilities Office selects companies for tech accelerator
January 29, 2025
The U.S. Space Force’s Space Rapid Capabilities Office (Space RCO) announced Jan. 29 it selected 10 companies to participate in its inaugural Prime Fusion Pilot Accelerator Program, an initiative aimed at fast-tracking technologies to protect military satellites from orbital threats.
The program, run in partnership with defense contractor FedTech, is designed to identify emerging space technologies that could enhance the safety of satellites in orbit.
Space RCO, headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, focuses on the rapid acquisition and delivery of critical space systems.
The accelerator will focus on satellite defense technologies, including onboard satellite sensors, anomaly detection software, and ground-based tracking systems to monitor and report potential threats such as space debris and adversarial activity.
“The goal is to seamlessly integrate new and innovative technologies into satellites offered by prime integrators, creating adaptable space assets with built-in awareness,” the Space RCO said in a statement on Jan. 29.
The Space RCO, established by Congress in 2018, serves as a specialized unit within the Space Force dedicated to the expedited development and deployment of space capabilities.
Companies team up
The accelerator’s first cohort consists of five two-company teams, each bringing specialized expertise in satellite technology and situational awareness:
Active Vigilance – Turion Space: Active Vigilance specializes in automated onboard anomaly detection. Turion Space develops spacecraft capable of docking and maneuvering.
Digantara – Anduril: India-based Digantara is focused on space situational awareness, using a network of nanosatellites and a cloud-based analytics platform to track and assess space debris.
Anduril Industries, a U.S. defense technology firm, is known for integrating artificial intelligence into defense systems.
Geost – Impulse Space: Geost manufactures space domain awareness payloads that track and identify objects in space. Impulse Space specializes in in-space transportation.
Raptor Dynamix – True Anomaly: Raptor Dynamix, a defense contractor leveraging AI for geospatial intelligence, teams up with True Anomaly, which develops spacecraft designed for military orbital operations and space domain awareness.
TRL11 – BlackVe: TRL11 is working to bring full-motion video capabilities to space for applications like satellite docking and debris removal. BlackVe focuses on developing spacecraft technologies for military applications.
The accelerator will culminate in a March 2025 pitch event in Albuquerque, where teams will present their solutions to Space RCO leadership and industry representatives.
https://spacenews.com/u-s-space-force-rapid-capabilities-office-selects-companies-for-tech-accelerator/
Air Force Conducts More Deportation Flights with Armed Security Forces ‘Ravens’
Jan. 29, 2025
The U.S. Air Force carried out deportation flights to Ecuador and Guatemala earlier this week, U.S. officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine, as the Pentagon continues to fly migrants out of the country at the direction of President Donald Trump.
On Jan. 28, a U.S. Air Force C-17 carrying detained migrants took off from Biggs Army Airfield in El Paso, Texas. It landed in Ecuador later that evening.
A C-17 transporting a deportation flight also took off from El Paso on Jan. 27 for Guatemala, the third such flight to the country.
The flight to Ecuador has not been previously reported, and neither flight has been officially announced.
Those C-17 flights follow a high-profile spat with Colombia, which turned away two C-17s on Jan. 26. Colombia later relented in the face of pressure from the Trump administration and sent its own air force planes to transport the deportees.
U.S. aircrews participating in the deportation missions have included armed Air Force Security Forces personnel, known as Phoenix Ravens, defense officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine.
A photo released by the Department of Defense of the inside of a C-17 deporting migrants on a flight out of Tucson International Airport, Ariz., shows at least two U.S. service members carrying what appear to be M4 rifles.
“We can confirm the C-17 aircrews conducting deportation flights include RAVENS, who are specially trained Security Forces personnel dedicated to providing force protection for Mobility Air Force aircraft transiting through austere locations with potentially high terrorist and criminal threat levels,” a defense official told Air & Space Forces Magazine.
“These personnel are strictly responsible for the security of the aircrew and aircraft and they do not engage in interdiction or law enforcement activities.”
In-flight law enforcement on the deportation flights is the responsibility of Department of Homeland Security personnel, officials said.
From the outset of the Pentagon’s effort to rush 1,500 troops to the border and transport migrants, which it first announced Jan. 22, defense officials have said U.S. military personnel are not carrying out law enforcement activities.
U.S. troops are prohibited from performing law enforcement duties under the Posse Comitatus Act.
Trump said in an executive order that the use of the U.S. military is justified because he has declared a border emergency to stop “forms of invasion including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities.”
The border deployments have included U.S. military police, who were transported on USAF aircraft. The military’s role may expand in the days ahead, the Trump administration indicated Jan. 29.
Trump directed the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security to “take all appropriate actions to expand the Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to full capacity to provide additional detention space for high-priority criminal aliens unlawfully present in the United States,” according to a memo issued by the White House.
“We’re ramping up for the possibility to expand mass deportations because President Trump is dead serious about getting illegal criminals out of our country,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Fox News.
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/air-force-conducts-more-deportation-flights-armed-security-forces/
Russian drone strike on Ukrainian apartment block kills four and injures nine
January 30, 2025
A Russian drone strike tore through an apartment building in north-eastern Ukraine, killing four people and wounding nine others including a child, officials said.
The Shahed drone hit the residential block in Sumy just after 1am on Thursday, blasting a hole through the wall and shattering windows, according to the regional administration.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack as "a terrible tragedy, a terrible Russian crime".
The strike comes as the war approaches its fourth year next month, with UN figures showing more than 10,000 Ukrainian civilians killed since the conflict began.
Civilians have also endured hardship caused by Russian attacks on the power grid that have denied them heating and running water.
Many have been evacuated from areas along the roughly 600-mile front line where Ukrainian defences are straining to hold the bigger Russian army at bay.
Russia launched more than 80 drones at Ukraine overnight, the air force reported, in what are common night-time barrages.
Most of the drones were shot down or stopped by electronic jamming, it said. In Ukraine's southern Odesa region, Russian drones damaged a hospital and two apartment buildings, regional head Oleh Kiper wrote on Telegram.
No one was injured, he said. In the Poltava region of central Ukraine, emergency services pulled four people from under rubble and almost 120 others were evacuated after a Shahed drone destroyed a stable, according to authorities.
There was no immediate information on whether any horses were harmed.
https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/world/russian-drone-strike-on-ukrainian-apartment-block-kills-four-and-injures-nine/ar-AA1y76nv
Army says West Bank bombers among 10 killed in drone strike last night
January 30, 2025 3:55 pm
The IDF says 10 Palestinians killed in a drone strike in the West Bank town of Tamun last night were all terror operatives, including two behind a deadly bombing attack.
According to the military, Omar Basharat and Muntaser Ali Muhammad Bani Odeh detonated a bomb in Tamun on January 20, which killed Sgt. First Class (res.) Eviatar Ben Yehuda and injured several others.
The pair were also behind additional shooting and bombing attacks in the West Bank, the army says. It does not detail allegations against the other eight.
Hamas says five of those killed in the drone strike were members of the terror group.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/army-says-west-bank-bombers-among-10-killed-in-drone-strike-last-night/
https://twitter.com/IAFsite/status/1884958446782484990