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Celebrating Solar Orbiter and the women behind the mission
11/02/2025
Behind every successful ESA space mission, there is at least one woman. Behind the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter mission, there are hundreds of them.
With this mosaic, in light of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we are celebrating some of the women who have been working on this mission to explore and better understand our life-giving star.
Solar Orbiter is the most complex scientific laboratory ever to have been sent to the Sun. Yesterday, it celebrated its five-year launch anniversary.
The incredible images and other data that the spacecraft is sending home help scientists to answer some of the big open questions about our Sun.
Some of the women shown here have been working on Solar Orbiter in various related fields, with roles in science, to engineering, administration, and technology.
While some have been working on the various aspects of the mission and the big open questions for a good part of their long careers in various related fields, some are contributing to the mission’s success while still in the early stages of their professional journeys.
Thanks to these women shooting for the stars, we're learning more about the Sun than ever before.
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2025/02/Celebrating_Solar_Orbiter_and_the_women_behind_the_mission
Earth from space: The heart-shaped 'Spirit Lake' sculpted by Mount St. Helens' epic eruption
February 11, 2025
This striking satellite photo shows the unusual shape of Spirit Lake, which was transformed into a giant anatomically inaccurate heart by the explosive eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980.
Today, the resilient body of water is closely monitored by scientists who are studying how ecosystems can rebound after major natural disasters.
At approximately 8:32 a.m. PDT (11:32 a.m. EDT) on May 18, 1980, a 5.1 magnitude earthquake triggered a "cataclysmic eruption" at Mount St. Helens — an active stratovolcano around 90 miles (150 kilometers) south of Seattle in Washington state, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
At first, the summit and northern slope of the mountain subsided, creating the biggest subaerial (on land) landslide in recorded history. Then, an enormous explosion released a giant pyroclastic plume into the sky and rained rocks, lava and ash across the surrounding area.
Fifty-seven people were killed by the initial landslide and fallout, making it the deadliest volcanic eruption in U.S. history. It also caused around $1 billion in damages (equivalent to around $3.8 billion today).
Prior to the eruption, Spirit Lake "had a smaller footprint that consisted of west and east arms connected by a narrow span of water — similar in shape to the top half of a heart," according to NASA's Earth Observatory.
However, the landslide and resulting blast reshaped the lake, making it broader and shallower — and completing the heart shape.
The lake's surface, which now covers around 4.5 square miles (11.5 square km), is also around 200 feet (60 meters) higher than it used to be.
Spirit Lake was once a popular tourist destination with six different camps and many log cabins scattered along its edge (the remains of which are now likely buried beneath the lake).
However, despite recovering from the eruption, the lake remains largely off-limits to people and there are now bans on fishing and swimming in its waters.
This is because scientists want to study exactly how the lake's ecosystem has rebounded from the disaster, according to Earth Observatory.
Researchers are particularly interested in a raft of trees on the lake's surface (visible as a brown streak in the satellite image), which were uprooted during the eruption and have now likely "become an important part of the lake’s ecosystem."
An explosive rebirth
During the eruption, the landslide displaced most of the water in Spirit Lake, creating a wave up to 800 feet (250 m) tall that washed over the lake's shoreline, according to American Scientist.
The water eventually flowed back into the basin and settled on top of the volcanic debris. However, lava from the eruption had blocked the lake's natural outflow, which previously fed into the North Fork Toutle River.
As a result, the lake's surface continued to rise until 1985, when engineers constructed a new 8,500-foot-long (2,500 m) drainage tunnel to stop it overfilling.
Without this tunnel, the volcanic dam may have eventually burst and triggered devastating floods in the river's valley.
In the early months after the eruption, up to 40% of the lake's surface was covered by uprooted trees. This, along with volcanic gases seeping up from the lakebed, had made the water anoxic, or devoid of oxygen, making it inhospitable to life.
Scientists initially predicted it could take decades before life returned to the lake. But in 1983, scientists detected phytoplankton growing on the lake's surface, which slowly returned oxygen to the water and kickstarted the recovery process, which is now in full swing.
https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/volcanos/earth-from-space-the-heart-shaped-spirit-lake-sculpted-by-mount-st-helens-epic-eruption
AI can now replicate itself — a milestone that has experts terrified
February 11, 2025
Scientists say artificial intelligence (AI) has crossed a critical "red line" and has replicated itself. In a new study, researchers from China showed that two popular large language models (LLMs) could clone themselves.
"Successful self-replication under no human assistance is the essential step for AI to outsmart [humans], and is an early signal for rogue AIs," the researchers wrote in the study, published Dec. 9, 2024 to the preprint database arXiv.
In the study, researchers from Fudan University used LLMs from Meta and Alibaba to determine whether a self-replicating AI could multiply beyond control.
Across 10 trials, the two AI models created separate and functioning replicas of themselves in 50% and 90% of cases, respectively — suggesting AI may already have the capacity to go rogue.
However, the study has not yet been peer-reviewed, so it's not clear if the disturbing results can be replicated by other researchers.
"We hope our findings can serve as a timely alert for the human society to put more efforts on understanding and evaluating the potential risks of frontier AI systems, and form international synergy to work out effective safety guardrails as early as possible."
Rogue AI typically refers to artificial intelligence systems that develop a degree of self-awareness or autonomy and then work counter to human interests.
Many experts view rogue AI as a growing threat that has been amplified by the explosive growth of so-called "frontier AI."
Frontier AI is something of a new and loose concept, but typically it relates to the latest generation of AI systems powered by LLMs — the architecture that underpins popular generative AI programs like OpenAI's GPT-4 and Google Gemini.
For the study, researchers used Meta's Llama31-70B-Instruct model and Alibaba's Qwen2.5-72B-Instruct model. While less powerful than commercial systems, both are widely used by AI developers, the researchers said.
The study explored two specific scenarios: "shutdown avoidance" and "chain of replication." In the first, the AI model was programmed to detect whether it was about to be shut down and to replicate itself before it could be terminated.
In the other, the AI was instructed to clone itself and then program its replica to do the same — setting up a cycle that could continue indefinitely.
The study was conducted in precisely controlled environments using off-the-shelf graphics processing units (GPUs) to simulate real-world environments.
Both AI systems were given an "agent scaffolding" comprising tools, system prompts and a thinking model that enabled the LLM to interact with the operating system. They were then instructed to replicate.
"In most cases, the AI system first explores the environment and attempts to understand its own composition and running mechanism.
Then, it works out the explicit procedures as an initial plan towards self-replication," the researchers wrote in the paper.
"Finally, it executes the procedures, resolve[s] possible obstacles and dynamically adjust[s] its plan until success. The whole process spans a long horizon yet involves no human interference."
The researchers said they were also concerned about "a number of unexpected behaviors" when the AI was trying to overcome obstacles like missing files or software conflicts.
In those scenarios, the AI often killed other conflicting processes, rebooted the system to fix hardware errors or automatically scanned the system to look for information that would help solve the problem.
"The above results imply that the current AI systems already exhibit the ability of self-replication and can use the ability to further enhance its survivability," the team wrote.
In response, the researchers called for international collaboration to create rules that ensure AI doesn't engage in uncontrolled self-replication.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/tech/ai-can-now-replicate-itself-a-milestone-that-has-experts-terrified
https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.12140
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/air-force-pauses-reorg-planning/
Defense Secretary Orders Air Force to Pause All Reorg Planning
Updated Feb. 11, 2025
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the Department of the Air Force to pause all planning related to its “Re-Optimization for Great Power Competition” effort—a move that leaves a sweeping plan to transform the Air Force and Space Force in limbo.
Perhaps most prominently, the Air Force has paused work on Integrated Capabilities Command, the new organization meant to oversee the planning and requirements process for developing the service’s future systems.
A department spokesperson confirmed the order to Air & Space Forces Magazine.
“On Feb. 6, the Secretary of Defense directed the Department of the Air Force to pause all planning actions connected to its Re-Optimizing for Great Power Competition efforts,” the spokesperson said.
“The planning pause remains in effect until a Senate-confirmed Secretary and Undersecretary of the Air Force are in place and have the opportunity to review the initiatives.
The Department of the Air Force welcomes the opportunity for our new leaders to assess all ongoing actions and ensure compliance with DOD directives. We will issue clarifying guidance, as necessary.”
Air & Space Forces Magazine understands there was no memorandum directing the pause.
The directive raises dozens of questions about many of 24 “key decisions” the Department of the Air Force announced in February 2024, with then-Secretary Frank Kendall saying at the time that senior leadership had determined the department was not structured properly for “Great Power Competition”—a term coined under President Donald Trump’s first administration to describe how the Pentagon would seek to deter and counter China.
To “re-optimize,” the Air Force and Space Force embarked on a massive re-organization effort.
The 24 key decisions included everything from the creation of Integrated Capabilities Command for the Air Force and Space Futures Command for the Space Force to a renewed emphasis on large-scale exercises starting with a massive one in the Pacific in summer 2025.
A defense official familiar with the pause order told Air & Space Forces Magazine that “readiness and lethality are at the core of both the Department of the Air Force’s efforts to realign to the threat environment and the new administration’s priorities.
That is why everyone in the Department of the Air Force is fully onboard and welcomes the incoming civilian leadership team, once confirmed, reviewing not only the ‘why’ behind the warfighters and readiness initiatives, but also the considerable progress made to date.
To be clear, the department is already actively moving out to implement the temporary planning pause.”
Some of the key decisions have already been put into action. The Air Force, for example, established a Warrant Officer Training School and has graduated its first new class of warrant officers in decades.
The Space Force redesigned its career paths by creating an Officer Training Course that teaches every new officer the fundamentals of space, intelligence, and cyber operations instead of having them specialize right away.
And the Secretariat of the Air Force established new organizations like an Integrated Capabilities Office and a secretive Office of Competitive Activities.
The Air Force spokesperson said that while planning has been paused, actions already taken do not have to be reversed, meaning those programs will continue.
On Feb. 11, a service official clarified that Resolute Force Pacific, the first of the large-scale exercises mentioned in the re-optimization, “is not impacted” by the pause.
REFORPAC is meant to include some 300 aircraft, and planning has been ongoing for months, though leaders have suggested the scale may need to be tweaked if Congress does not pass a 2025 budget soon.
“REFORPAC is well-aligned with the Department of Defense’s priorities of enhancing warrior ethos and credible deterrence,” the official said.
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There are many other decisions, however, that are now up in the air:
The future of Integrated Capabilities Command is in doubt. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin announced last summer the standup of a provisional Integrated Capabilities Command, with the goal to reach full operational capability sometime in 2025. That work is now paused.
Space Futures Command was announced a year ago as the fourth Space Force field command. As of last September, the Space Force suggested the command could still take a year to stand up. With a mission to focus on long-term needs and capabilities, planning for SFC is now on hold.
Air Force Materiel Command was preparing to re-organize and create new system “centers,” including an Information Dominance Systems Center and a Nuclear Systems Center. Those efforts, which were still in the planning stages, are apparently on hold.
Air Education & Training Command was preparing to become Airman Development Command in 2025, with new centers of excellence starting up and working toward full operational capability. Its future is now in question.
Air Forces Cyber was set to be elevated as a service component commander, out from under Air Combat Command. That has yet to happen and planning is likewise now paused.
How quickly these issues are resolved is uncertain, but realistically, it could take months for the new Department of the Air Force leadership team to get in place and address these questions.
President Donald Trump nominated Troy E. Meink for Air Force Secretary and Matthew Lohmeier for Undersecretary, but both must be confirmed, and no hearings have been scheduled so far by the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Nominees must clear the committee first and then be approved by the full Senate
Of 63 Defense Department positions requiring Senate confirmation, the White House has submitted 14 nominations, and only the Defense Secretary has been confirmed as of Feb. 10, according to the Washington Post’s nomination tracker.
Meink and Lohmeier are among 12 nominees who must be screened by the Senate Armed Services Committee.
To date, no hearing has been scheduled. When then-President Joe Biden nominated Frank Kendall for the post four years ago, three months elapsed before his confirmation;
four years earlier, in the first Trump administration, it took former three and a half months to get former Rep. Heather Wilson through the confirmation process to become Secretary of the Air Force.
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Who is Janet Petro, Trump's pick for acting NASA administrator?
February 11, 2025
Janet Petro became the first woman to lead NASA on Jan. 20, after U.S. President Donald Trump appointed her to be acting administrator on his first day back in office. Here's what we know about the new head of the space agency.
This appointment came as something of a surprise to many. Often, as a new administration takes office, the incumbent NASA administrator stands down to make way.
Ordinarily, the job goes to the top civil servant in the agency, namely the associate administrator, who is currently Jim Free, as Space Policy Online observed.
However, Trump's appointment of Petro means she takes the role instead of Free.
Petro was born in Michigan in 1960. Her interest in space and the U.S. space program was sparked at an early age, influenced by her father's work with Chrysler on NASA projects, which saw the family relocate to Florida.
That allowed her and her siblings to watch from the beach as the historic Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions lifted off.
During high school, inspired by the opening of military academies to women, she applied and was accepted to leadership training at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
There, she learned valuable lessons in time management, motivation and collaboration, which have been instrumental throughout her career.
She graduated from West Point with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering in 1981 before entering the army, flying helicopters on assignments in Germany.
After five years of service, she moved into engineering and management positions in the private sector. In 1988, she earned a master's degree in business administration from Boston University's Metropolitan College.
Petro was appointed deputy director of John F. Kennedy Space Center, where her father earlier worked, in 2007.
"I was deeply, deeply honored," she told Space Coast Living. On June 30, 2021, she was appointed KSC's first woman director by then-NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
This was followed by her new historic appointment as the first woman to head NASA since its founding in 1958.
Petro said she was "humbled and honored," in a LinkedIn post. "NASA will continue to support and align with the policies set forth by the new administration, while remaining steadfast in our commitment to NASA's mission and core values," she wrote.
One of her first acts as NASA's acting administrator was to email staff to inform them that the agency was taking steps to close all Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) offices and end all DEIA-related contracts in compliance with an executive order by President Donald Trump, Ars Technica reported.
"These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars and resulted in shameful discrimination," a reported memo from Petro read, according to Ars.
Though urging the stated policies in recent days, Petro has earlier publicly noted the struggles women face.
"As women, we have had to overcome certain inherent obstacles in our lives to get to where we are today. It is neither right, nor wrong — it's just how it is.
But, in the long run, I think it renders women as stronger and better contenders," Petro wrote in a personal essay on NASA's website, for instance.
Petro has since appointed Michael Altenhofen, a long-time technical executive at SpaceX, as a senior advisor to the acting NASA administrator.
This follows concerns from some quarters, noted in a report by Ars Technica, that Elon Musk and SpaceX may have a growing influence on the agency, given Musk's closeness to President Trump and his role in the election campaign.
As acting NASA administrator, Petro is expected to be succeeded by Jared Isaacman, a billionaire, philanthropist and private astronaut who has flown on SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
Isaacman, nominated by Trump late last year to head up NASA, will need to go through the confirmation process in the U.S. Senate. His nomination was formally sent to the Senate on Jan. 20, but there is currently no indication of how long it will take before he is confirmed.
Petro will continue as NASA's acting administrator and be responsible for directing the agency, including budget and programs, until Isaacman is confirmed.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/missions/who-is-janet-petro-trumps-pick-for-acting-nasa-administrator
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7287498717681590272/
NASA to roll out major update to core flight software
February 10, 2025
NASA is preparing to roll out a significant update to its core Flight System (cFS), the reusable software the agency has relied on for 20 years.
A government-only version of NASA cFS with enhanced security, artificial intelligence, robotics support and autonomy features will be released in mid-2025 for space agency programs.
Companies working on NASA instruments, payloads, rovers, landers, balloons and unpiloted aircraft will have access to the government-only version.
An update to the open-source version of cFS, the software framework underpinning more than 40 projects from small satellites to NASA Artemis, lunar Gateway, Mars Sample Return and Roman Space Telescope, will be available soon after the government version is released.
NASA cFS, “the most popular flight software framework in the globe,” has changed little in recent years, Ashok Prajapati, cFS program manager at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, told SpaceNews.
As a result, programmers often added features to suit their missions. “The downside of that was mainstream cFS was not getting all those cool features,” Prajapati said.
“We will save a lot of money and schedule time by implementing new features that multiple missions, going in parallel, need.”
Three-Year Roadmap
After Prajapati, who earned a PhD in computer and electrical engineering from Michigan’s Oakland University, became the NASA cFS program manager in 2024, he formed a NASA cFS steering committee.
The steering committee, with representatives from NASA headquarters and the space agency’s 10 field centers, created a three-year roadmap for NASA cFS 2.0 “with rich features” to support all future missions, Prajapati said.
“We came together to work on it, so that we are not duplicating efforts.”
NASA cFS 2.0 will offer plug-and-play capabilities for in-space robotics, cybersecurity, distributed computing, spacecraft autonomy and onboard machine learning.
Each new cFS feature will go through a rigorous simulation and testing process before release. After release, the NASA cFS program office will solicit feedback from users.
“People should use NASA cFS because it comes with 20 years of heritage,” “You save about 70 percent of the cost versus starting with your own software and 95 percent of the defects.”
In addition, Prajapati is working with representatives from other NASA centers on integrating High Performance Space Computing (HPSC) and cFS.
HPSC focuses on next-generation flight computing to support multicore processing, artificial intelligence and machine learning, autonomy, high-speed data transfer, robust computing power, time-sensitive networks and chip-based cybersecurity.
https://spacenews.com/nasa-to-roll-out-major-update-to-core-flight-software/
First launch of Long March 8A sends second group of Guowang megaconstellation satellites into orbit
February 11, 2025
China conducted the first launch of the Long March 8A early Tuesday, carrying a second batch of satellites into orbit for the national Guowang project.
The first Long March 8A lifted off at 4:30 a.m. Eastern (0930 UTC) Feb. 11 from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center.
The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) declared the launch successful more than an hour after liftoff, revealing the payloads to be low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet satellites (02 group).
The spacecraft are understood to be part of the national Guowang (SatNet) broadband megaconstellation.
CASC did not initially reveal how many satellites were aboard the launch. The first Guowang group launch, on the much more powerful Long March 5B, carried 10 satellites.
Tracking from the U.S. Space Force space domain awareness will later reveal how many objects associated with the launch have entered orbit.
Notably, details such as size, mass and capabilities, as well as images of the satellites have yet to be revealed after either launch.
This has raised questions over the nature of the spacecraft and transparency over China’s plans for the nominally-civilian Guowang project.
CASC’s China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) produced the satellites for Tuesday’s launch.
The state-owned China Satellite Network Group Co., Ltd. (China SatNet) oversees the Guowang/SatNet project, which envisions a constellation of around 13,000 satellites in low Earth orbit.
Long March 8A
The Long March 8A is an upgraded variant of the standard Long March 8, which debuted in December 2020.
It features the same first stage and side boosters as the original but includes a newly designed 3.35-meter-diameter hydrogen-oxygen second stage, allowing a wider, 5.2-meter-diameter payload fairing.
It has a length of 50.5 meters, mass at liftoff of 371,000 kilograms and produces a liftoff thrust of around 480 tons.
The rocket can carry around 7,000 kilograms to 700-km Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). Together with the standard Long March 8, the series offers payload capacities of 5,000 and 7,000 kg to SSO, according to CASC, improving China’s ability to launch constellations of satellites.
The Long March 8 was initially planned as a possible first test of reusability, keeping the side boosters attached for ballast to adjust for limited variable thrust capabilities of engines to allow a propulsive landing.
That plan, however, has long since been dropped, with CASC pursuing reusable launchers through the Long March 9, 10 and 12 rockets.
A reusable version of the latter could debut as soon as this year, though an inconclusive vertical liftoff and powered splashdown test in January may affect the timeline.
The expendable Long March 8 series is, however, expected to be prepared for high cadence launch activity, with a modularized construction, ramped up production of the YF-100 engines for its core and booster stages, and a dedicated launch pad at the Hainan commercial spaceport.
The rockets could play a large role in launching one or both of China’s Guowang and Thousand Sails/Qianfan megaconstellations.
Tuesday’s mission was China’s seventh orbital launch attempt of 2025 and the first since the Lunar New Year.
The previous launches saw the fourth batch of Qianfan satellites launch on a Long March 6A from Taiyuan and a Long March 3B launch from Xichang sending the TJS-14 test satellite towards the geostationary belt.
CASC has yet to publish an overview of China’s plans for the year, which is expected later this month. The country may once again attempt to reach around 100 launches, as targeted for 2024.
Major missions for 2025 include crewed Shenzhou-20 and -21 missions and Tianzhou cargo spacecraft to the Tiangong space station and the Tianwen-2 near-Earth asteroid sample return mission. The latter is expected to launch around May.
China also aims to debut a number of new Long March and potentially reusable commercial rockets during 2025. These could include first “low-cost” cargo missions to the Tiangong space station.
https://spacenews.com/first-launch-of-long-march-8a-sends-second-group-of-guowang-megaconstellation-satellites-into-orbit/
DARPA’s in-space manufacturing program advances with two teams selected for orbital demos
February 10, 2025
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has selected the California Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to lead the final phase of its in-space manufacturing program, the agency announced Feb. 10.
The program, dubbed NOM4D (Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing, Materials, and Mass-efficient Design), aims to tackle one of the most persistent challenges in space infrastructure development: how much cargo can fit inside a rocket’s nose cone.
“As commercial space companies continue to expand access to orbit for U.S. economic and national security needs, a major roadblock for building large-scale structures in orbit remains the size and weight limits imposed by a rocket’s cargo fairing,” DARPA explained in its announcement.
Caltech and UIUC will conduct small-scale orbital demonstrations to validate their novel materials and assembly processes in the space environment.
NOM4D, which kicked off in 2022, explores the use of lightweight raw materials that can be transformed and assembled once they reach orbit.
DARPA says this strategy could enable the construction of structures far larger and more efficient than anything that could be launched fully assembled from Earth.
Caltech’s robotic assembly
Caltech’s demonstration, planned for February 2026, will showcase autonomous robotic construction in low-Earth orbit.
The university has partnered with space transportation company Momentus to launch their experiment aboard a Vigoride orbital vehicle on a SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter-16 mission.
The demonstration will feature a “free-flying” autonomous system where a gantry robot will construct a 1.4-meter-diameter circular truss using lightweight composite fiber tubes.
While not a functional antenna, the structure will serve as a proof-of-concept for future large-scale space-based communications infrastructure.
University of Illinois’ materials process
The University of Illinois team is focusing on innovative materials and manufacturing processes. Their demonstration, scheduled for April 2026, will take place on the International Space Station using the Bishop Airlock module.
The team has partnered with Voyager Technologies (formerly Voyager Space) for the mission, which will launch on NASA’s Commercial Resupply Mission NG-24.
The Illinois team’s innovation centers on a composite-forming process using carbon fiber that starts flat and transforms into a hardened reinforced structure through a controlled chemical reaction.
This technology could dramatically reduce the volume needed to transport building materials to orbit.
“We envision NOM4D technologies enabling other massive structures in orbit, such as refueling stations for commercial or government spacecraft, space-based solar array farms, and many other commercial and national security applications,” said DARPA’s announcement.
A third team from the University of Florida, while not participating in the orbital demonstrations, is developing laser sheet metal bending techniques.
This technology will be shared with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, potentially contributing to future space manufacturing capabilities.
While a Department of Defense agency, DARPA has taken an interest in lunar technology development, with NOM4D complementing other initiatives like its Lunar Architecture (LunA-10) study and the Lunar Infrastructure and Robotics-Enabled Intelligence for Complex Operations (LOGIC) project.
https://spacenews.com/darpas-in-space-manufacturing-program-advances-with-two-teams-selected-for-orbital-demos/
SpaceX Starlink Mission
February 11, 2025
SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, February 11 for a Falcon 9 launch of 21 Starlink satellites, including 13 with Direct to Cell capabilities, to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Liftoff is targeted for 1:53 p.m. ET, with backup opportunities available until 3:43 p.m. ET. If needed, additional launch opportunities are also available Wednesday, February 12 starting at 11:36 a.m. ET.
A live webcast of this mission will begin about five minutes prior to liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the new X TV app.
This is the 18th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-5, CRS-28, Intelsat G-37, Optus-X, Immarsat I6-F2, GPS III-6, NG-20, and 10 Starlink missions.
Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl-12-18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phqt9sz0T3Q
https://www.starcom.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4061374/space-flag-25-1-largest-ussf-exercise-advances-space-superiority/
Space Flag 25-1: Largest USSF exercise advances space superiority
Feb. 10, 2025
Space Training and Readiness Command concluded Space Flag 25-1, the 20th iteration of its premier training exercise, and the largest service exercise in the Space Force’s history, in late December 2024.
Space Flag is designed to prepare Guardians and joint forces to integrate all space power disciplines and maintain space superiority against advanced threats.
By replicating realistic operational environments, the exercise hones mission planning and execution at both tactical and operational levels.
Hosted by the 392nd Combat Training Squadron, Space Flag 25-1 brought together approximately 500 participants and observers, including representation from every mission Delta in Space Operations Command, operational units from U.S. Space Forces Space (S4S), and a wide array of interagency partners and military organizations.
The 392nd CTS, responsible for providing advanced military space training, ensured participants collaborated in mission planning and tactical execution to prepare for the challenges of contested space operations.
For the first time, Operational Command and Control (C2) Centers such as S4S’s National Space Defense Center, Combined Space Operations Center, and Joint Overhead Persistent Infrared Center, as well as the National Reconnaissance Office Operations Center took on real-world roles in the exercise as the operational component, or Blue Cell players.
This involvement replaced simulated functions used in prior iterations, significantly increasing the realism and operational complexity of the scenarios.
Space Flag 25-1 saw substantial improvements to its battle lab capabilities. Upgrades to the modeling and simulation environment enhanced the realism of Space Domain Awareness and Satellite Communications Network play.
These advancements provided participants with more accurate and dynamic scenarios, better reflecting real-world challenges for congested and contested resources within the exercise.
The exercise also introduced a new capability that created a dynamic and realistic virtual radiofrequency environment for participants.
This capability, introduced for the first time in Space Flag history, added another layer of operational realism by simulating radiofrequency conditions Guardians might face in contested environments.
Looking ahead, this capability is expected to evolve further, supporting more missions and enabling increased joint electronic warfare participation.
Building on these technological and operational advancements, the exercise spanned multiple locations, including Schriever, Peterson, Buckley, and Vandenberg Space Force Bases.
The first week centered on operational-level mission planning with master space plans and task orders delivered to tactical players.
The remaining two weeks introduced operations alongside planning, integrating tactical execution with assessments and operational guidance.
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These efforts aligned with the Department of the Air Force’s Comprehensive Strategy for the Space Force, which emphasizes integrating space capabilities into the joint force, building a military advantage in space, and preparing Guardians for real-world operations.
“Space Flag 25-1 was a success in my eyes—not because the participants won, but because they were provided with a realistic environment where they could fail, learn, and grow,” said Tech. Sgt. Robert Hero, a member of the 392nd CTS.
Building on lessons from Space Flag 24-1, which focused on realigning the exercise to meet emerging service priorities, this iteration advanced those efforts by incorporating Operational C2 Centers as active participants and expanding the exercise’s scope.
With more participants and multiple locations, Space Flag 25-1 became the largest iteration to date.
Furthermore, the inclusion of C2 writing conferences prior to the exercise played a critical role in its success.
These conferences helped create the foundational planning products needed to coordinate efforts and align all participating units.
C2 participants praised the conferences as essential for maintaining coordination and clarity during the exercise.
“392nd CTS continues to set the standard for realistic training and exercises for the Space Force through environments, scenarios, and delivering service-standard exercise modeling and simulation,” said Lt. Col. Scott Nakatani, commander of the 392nd CTS.
“I’m proud of what our Guardians achieved this Space Flag, setting a culture of operational readiness in the space domain.
We will continue to expand Space Flag exercises to better encapsulate the entirety of USSF mission areas and all USSF-presented units.”
Feedback from participants highlighted the updated exercise scenario, the integration of operational-level components, the enhanced realism provided by model and simulation upgrades, and distributed operations as key improvements.
Space Flag 25-1 underscored the U.S. Space Force’s commitment to preparing its Guardians to operate effectively in contested environments, ensuring readiness to secure and defend our nation’s interests in, from, and to space.
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