TYB
https://www.space.com/the-universe/rogue-exoplanet-or-failed-star-james-webb-space-telescope-looks-into-a-new-cosmic-case
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ad9eaf
James Webb Space Telescope dives into the atmosphere of a mystery rogue planet or failed star
March 3, 2025
Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have peered into the atmosphere of a cosmic body that could be a rogue planet or a "failed star." Either way, the world wanders the cosmos without a parent.
The cosmic orphan, or "free-floating planetary-mass object," designated SIMP 0136 drifts through the universe around 20 light-years from Earth — and it does so without a stellar anchor.
SIMP 0136 has a mass that's around 13 times the mass of Jupiter, but it is around the same size as the solar system gas giant. Discovered in 2003, SIMP 0136 rotates so rapidly that a day on this rogue world lasts just around 2.4 Earth hours.
There is a possibility that SIMP 0136 isn't a planet at all but is an object called a "brown dwarf," a stellar body that forms like a star but fails to gather enough mass to trigger the nuclear fusion of hydrogen to helium in its core.
The confusion arises from the fact that these "failed stars" have a lower mass limit of around 13 times the mass of Jupiter — right around the mass of SIMP 0136, in fact.
Because SIMP 0136 is relatively bright for an isolated planetary mass object and its light isn't contaminated by the light of a parent star, it has been a popular target for astronomers.
Thus, even before the JWST examined this object, a range of ground-based instruments as well as the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes had studied it. These investigations, however, left astronomers with some puzzles surrounding SIMP 0136.
Astronomers had previously discovered that SIMP 0136 fluctuates in brightness. It was reasoned that these changes couldn't simply be the result of clouds on the Jupiter-size world alone, but rather have to do with a complex combination of atmospheric factors.
Using the JWST, the team was able to monitor infrared light from SIMP 0136 for two full rotations, observing variations in the world's cloud layers, temperature and even its chemistry.
Many of the details the scientists observed were previously hidden from view.
"We already knew that it varies in brightness, and we were confident that there are patchy cloud layers that rotate in and out of view and evolve over time," Allison McCarthy, study team leader and a researcher at Boston University, said in a statement.
"We also thought there could be temperature variations, chemical reactions, and possibly some effects of auroral activity affecting the brightness, but we weren't sure."
Thousands of invisible rainbows
Observing SIMP 0136 with the JWST over two rotations allowed the team to use the telescope's Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) as well as its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI).
This meant the researchers could collect data in a wide range of wavelengths of infrared light.
The result was hundreds of highly detailed light curves showing how each wavelength of infrared light changed in brightness as SIMP 0136 rotated.
"To see the full spectrum of this object change over the course of minutes was incredible," Johanna Vos , the team's principal investigator and a researcher at Trinity College Dublin, said in the statement.
"Until now, we only had a little slice of the near-infrared spectrum from Hubble, and a few brightness measurements from Spitzer."
The researchers noticed that the infrared light from SIMP 0136 had distinct light curve shapes, with some wavelengths brightening while others dimmed; the rest did not change at all.
They reasoned there must be various factors influencing these variations.
"Imagine watching Earth from far away. If you were to look at each color separately, you would see different patterns that tell you something about its surface and atmosphere, even if you couldn’t make out the individual features," Philip Muirhead, study team member and a researcher at Boston University, said in the statement.
"Blue would increase as oceans rotate into view. Changes in brown and green would tell you something about soil and vegetation."
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To assess what is causing the light variations of SIMP 0136, the team developed atmospheric models to determine which regions of the atmosphere were responsible for which wavelength of light.
"Different wavelengths provide information about different depths in the atmosphere," McCarthy said.
"We started to realize that the wavelengths that had the most similar light-curve shapes also probed the same depths, which reinforced this idea that they must be caused by the same mechanism."
One band of infrared wavelengths originated from deep into the atmosphere of SIMP 0136 where the team suspects patchy clouds of iron particles lurk.
Another wavelength grouping is thought to come from higher in the atmosphere and patchy clouds of silicates.
The final set of wavelengths are theorized to originate from high above these clouds in relation to the temperature of SIMP 0136. Brighter areas could correspond with auroras detected around SIMP 0136 in radiowaves.
Alternatively, these bright patches could be the result of hot gas traveling upwards through the atmosphere of SIMP 0136.
There are light curves that the JWST saw from SIMP 0136 that can't be explained by either the object's clouds or its temperature.
These could be influenced by the carbon chemistry of SIMP 0136's atmosphere, as pockets of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide rotated in and out of the JWST's view.
Another explanation could be chemical reactions causing changes in the atmosphere of SIMP 0136.
"We haven't really figured out the chemistry part of the puzzle yet, but these results are really exciting because they are showing us that the abundances of molecules like methane and carbon dioxide could change from place to place and over time," Vos said.
"If we are looking at an exoplanet and can get only one measurement, we need to consider that it might not be representative of the entire planet."
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SpaceX launches 21 Starlink satellites to orbit, loses Falcon 9 booster after landing
March 3, 2025
The Falcon 9 rocket flying the mission lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 9:24 p.m. ET (0224 GMT on March 3), carrying the Starlink 12-20 mission — which included 13 satellites with direct-to-cell capability — to low Earth orbit.
The Falcon 9's first stage returned to Earth a little more than eight minutes after liftoff.
The booster, known by the designation B1086, touched down in the Atlantic Ocean on SpaceX's "Just Read the Instructions" droneship, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) off the coast of Florida.
However, that booster was lost shortly after landing.
"Following the successful landing, an off-nominal fire in the aft end of the rocket damaged one of the booster's landing legs, which resulted in it tipping over," SpaceX wrote in a mission description.
"While disappointing to lose a rocket after a successful mission, the team will use the data to make Falcon even more reliable on ascent and landing."
This was the fifth and final launch for the B1086 booster, which flew three previous Starlink missions, as well as the GOES-U and Maxar 3 missions.
The Falcon 9's upper stage, meanwhile, continued its ascent to orbit, where it deployed the 21 Starlink satellites about 65 minutes after liftoff as planned.
The new batch of Starlinks adds to SpaceX's growing megaconstellation of space-based broadband satellites, designed to provide high-speed internet access across the globe.
This launch marked SpaceX's 26th Falcon 9 mission of 2025, of which 19 have been dedicated to the company's Starlink network.
SpaceX currently has more than 7,000 operational Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit, according to a database created by astronomer Jonathan McDowell, who regularly tracks the Starlink constellation.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/spacex-launches-21-starlink-satellites-in-overnight-falcon-9-launch-loses-booster-after-landing-video
Trans airmen, Space Force personnel have until March 26 to resign under Trump order: Memo
March 3, 2025 11:01am EST
The Pentagon is urging transgender military personnel in the Air Force and Space Force to "separate voluntarily" by the end of the month, saying that individuals with gender dysphoria are "incompatible with the high mental and physical standards necessary for military service."
Troops have until March 26 to resign, according to a memorandum filed Sunday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia as part of Talbott v. Trump – one of the first lawsuits filed against President Donald Trump's executive order barring transgender troops from the military – by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
"Service members eligible for voluntary separation pay will be paid at a rate that is twice the amount for which the service member would have been eligible under involuntary separation pay," the memo, signed by Acting Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Gwendolyn R. DeFilippi on March 1, states.
Cross-sex hormone treatments will continue for service members who have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria that began prior to a separate memo issued last week until the "separation is complete" by direction of a Department of Defense medical provider "in order to prevent further complications."
However, transgender service members are required to adhere to conduct matching their biological sex, "effective immediately," including in showers, bathrooms and living quarters, until their withdrawal is completed. Physical dress and fitness standards must also match service members' biological sex, the memorandum states.
Last week's internal Pentagon memo states that service members who are transgender or otherwise exhibit gender dysphoria are prohibited from military service unless they obtain an exemption.
"The Air Force memo is consistent with this purge of highly accomplished, dedicated transgender service members," attorney Jennifer Levi of Glad Law told Fox News Digital in a statement Monday.
"It is shameful. The memo also demonstrates the chaos and havoc being wreaked by this administration in ways that undermine our national security."
The Trump administration's transgender military ban is currently facing legal challenges, and the Justice Department filed a complaint against the presiding judge, Ana Reyes, accusing her of potential bias and misconduct. There are currently a handful of lawsuits specifically challenging Trump's gender-related executive orders.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trans-airmen-space-force-personnel-have-until-march-26-resign-under-trump-order-memo
Astranis demonstrates GPS capability in race for Space Force contract
March 4, 2025
Astranis, a San Francisco-based manufacturer of small telecommunications satellites, announced it successfully demonstrated it can transmit GPS signals using its geostationary broadband communications satellite payload.
The test, conducted at the company’s headquarters, positions Astranis as a contender in the U.S. Space Force’s Resilient GPS (R-GPS) program, a new initiative aimed at augmenting the existing GPS constellation with smaller, cost-effective satellites.
Astranis is working under an $8 million U.S. Space Force contract for the Resilient GPS (R-GPS) initiative.
The company is competing with L3Harris and Sierra Space for the next phase of the program when the Space Force is expected to select a vendor to deploy eight R-GPS satellites by 2028. As many as 24 R-GPS spacecraft could be acquired subsequently.
The demonstration proved that Astranis’ technology is compatible with existing GPS user equipment, the company said March 4 in a statement.
During the demonstration at its headquarters, Astranis used a flight-heritage software-defined radio — the same technology employed in its communications satellites — to transmit GPS waveforms.
The positioning, navigation, and timing algorithms came from its partner and subcontractor, Xona Space Systems.
Engineers successfully transmitted a GPS civilian navigation signal through the Astranis payload and demonstrated signal acquisition and recovery of legacy navigation messages containing position, time, and other navigation-related data using an off-the-shelf GPS receiver.
Competitors in R-GPS
Neither L3Harris nor Sierra Space have publicly announced comparable demonstrations of R-GPS capabilities.
Sierra Space reported in January that its satellite design passed an early Systems Requirements Review.
Meanwhile, L3Harris, a veteran in the GPS navigation payload market, is drawing on its experience with the U.S. Air Force’s Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3), a next-generation PNT testbed designed to operate from geostationary orbit.
Andrew Builta, vice president and general manager of surveillance systems at L3Harris’ space business, said NTS-3’s innovations — such as reprogrammable signals and enhanced power for targeted interference resistance — will inform the R-GPS program.
Although NTS-3 was delivered to the Air Force more than a year ago, it has yet to launch due to certification-related delays with United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket.
“Once NTS-3 is launched, we’ll have a much clearer picture of how the technology performs on orbit,” Builta said. “That will be critical in helping de-risk the R-GPS program.”
The Space Force envisions R-GPS satellites as a cost-efficient supplement to traditional GPS satellites.
While they will lack some of the features of the full-scale GPS constellation, they are expected to provide essential GPS signals for both military and civilian applications.
Traditional GPS satellites can cost between $200 million and $300 million each, while the more compact R-GPS satellites are expected to come in at a fraction of that cost — ranging from $50 million to $80 million each.
Builta noted that L3Harris is currently assessing satellite bus suppliers and partners capable of meeting the program’s schedule targets.
“R-GPS is a fast-moving program, operating at a much faster pace than most satellite programs,” he said.
“We’re not just looking at whether we can build these satellites, but also whether our supply chain can keep up with the required rate of production.”
https://spacenews.com/astranis-demonstrates-gps-capability-in-race-for-space-force-contract/
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna Joins Matt Gaetz To Discuss The Epstein Files, The DOJ, FBI And Current AG
March 4, 2025
Premiered 30 minutes ago
Florida Congresswoman, Anna Paulina Luna, joins The Matt Gaetz Show saying she is "not confident" that the Epstein client list will be released and the removal of the FBI director following accusations from the DOJ he was withholding thousands of documents related to the Epstein Files.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh6M_JrLSJs
SpaceX scrubs Starship launch
March 3, 2025
SpaceX called off the latest test flight of its Starship/Super Heavy vehicle March 3 after it was unable to resolve issues with the rocket in the final minutes of the countdown.
The company had been working towards a liftoff at 6:45 p.m. Eastern of the Flight 8 mission from its Starbase test site at Boca Chica, Texas.
During the countdown, SpaceX said they saw an issue with the Super Heavy booster that might cause the company to go into a hold at the T-40 second mark.
That hold did take place, and while the hosts of the SpaceX launch webcast stated that the booster issue appeared to be resolved, there was another, unspecified issue with the Starship upper stage.
Several minutes later the countdown resumed, only to stop a few seconds later and recycled to the T-40 second mark.
The company then scrubbed the launch for the day. “Standing down from today’s flight test attempt.
Starship team is determining the next best available opportunity to fly,” the company stated on social media. That could be as soon as March 4, SpaceX noted on its webcast.
“Too many question marks about this flight and then we were 20 bar low on ground spin start pressure,” SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk posted.
“Best to destack, inspect both stages and try again in a day or two.”
This will be the first Starship/Super Heavy mission since the failed Flight 7 mission Jan. 16 where contact with Starship was lost about eight and a half minutes after liftoff.
The company announced Feb. 24 that it concluded the vehicle suffered a “harmonic response several times stronger in flight than had been seen during testing” that stressed propellant lines.
That caused leaks that created fires in the aft “attic” section of the vehicle, causing all but one of the six engines there to perform controlled shutdowns.
SpaceX said it made changes to hardware in the vehicle and operations to prevent similar damage from happening again. It also added vents and a gaseous nitrogen purge system to reduce the flammability of the attic section.
The company said the experience of Flight 7 was part of the company’s overall approach to vehicle development that rapid iteration.
“We fly to learn and we’re learning a lot,” SpaceX’s Kate Tice said during the company’s launch webcast.
Starship Florida preview
SpaceX used the launch webcast to provide an update on its plans to build and launch Starship vehicles from Florida.
“Expansion of Starship production and launch operations in Florida will enable SpaceX to significantly increase the build and flight rates for Starship,” the company stated in an update posted on its website.
“With production, integration, refurbishment, and launch facilities in Florida as well as Texas, we will be in a position to quickly ramp Starship’s launch rate via rapid reusability.”
That includes construction of a Starship integration facility called Gigabay at the Kennedy Space Center.
The facility, about 115 meters tall, will have 11 times the square-footage as SpaceX’s Megabay factory at Starbase and 24 “work cells” for integration and refurbishment of vehicles, versus five at Megabay.
SpaceX said it expects Gigabay to be completed by the end of 2026. Another Gigabay will be built at Starbase, also slated to be done by the end of 2026.
Starship vehicles will initially be shipped from Starbase to Florida until SpaceX builds both the Gigabay as well as facility like Starbase’s Starfactory for manufacturing Starships.
SpaceX said it is also working to complete a Starship launch pad at Launch Complex 39A at KSC.
The launch tower there is complete and SpaceX said it will install the pad’s deflector system, which provides water for cooling and sound suppression, in the coming months.
“Pending completion of environmental reviews, SpaceX intends to conduct Starship’s first Florida launch from LC-39A in late 2025.”
The company added it is continuing to pursue use of Space Launch Complex 37 at neighboring Cape Canaveral Space Force Station as a second Starship launch facility.
That pad was most recently used by United Launch Alliance’s Delta 4, which has been retired.
SpaceX said it has obtained a limited “right of entry” to the pad to conduct additional due diligence as part of an environmental review led by the Department of the Air Force.
Work on that environmental assessment started a year ago, and according to the website for the study, a draft environmental impact statement is scheduled to be released in the spring for public comment, followed by a final version and record of decision in the fall.
https://spacenews.com/spacex-scrubs-starship-launch/
America’s First Unmanned Fighters Are Here: YFQ-42 and YFQ-44
March 3, 2025
The Air Force’s first two Collaborative Combat Aircraft are fighters, the first uncrewed aircraft to carry such a designation, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin announced in a keynote address at the AFA Warfare Symposium on March 3.
General Atomics’ CCA will be called the YFQ–42A and Anduril Industries’ CCA will be dubbed the YFQ–44A.
Under Air Force naming conventions, Y designates prototype, F means fighter, and Q means unmanned. Once a prototype moves into production, the Air Force would drop the Y from the prefix.
The chief said the unveiling represented far more than a name.
“We have two prototypes of Collaborative Combat Aircraft that were on paper less than a couple of years ago,” Allvin said.
“For the first time in our history, we have a fighter designation in the YFQ-42 Alpha and the YFQ-44 Alpha—maybe just symbolic, but it’s telling the world that we are leaning into a new chapter of aerial warfare.”
CCA drones are designed to be “loyal wingmen” that can fly alongside new and existing crewed fighter jets, including the F-35 Lightning II.
The Air Force believes a single manned fighter can control a larger number of drones than originally envisioned and can do so using less-sophisticated autonomous technology.
“It’s a recognition that we’re moving into a new era of manned human-machine teaming, as we build out our force design,” Allvin said in an interview with Air & Space Forces Magazine.
Anduril released a statement hailing the milestone.
“Together, in close partnership with the Air Force, we are pioneering a new generation of semi-autonomous fighter aircraft that is fundamentally transforming air dominance by delivering highly capable, mass-producible, more affordable, and more autonomous aircraft by the end of the decade,” said Anduril senior vice president of engineering Jason Levin.
“It reinforces what we already knew: our CCA is a high performance aircraft designed specifically for the air superiority mission, acting as a force multiplier for crewed aircraft within the real constraints of cost and time.”
General Atomics sounded a similar refrain.
“YFQ-42A will be critical in securing air dominance for the Joint Force in future conflicts, leveraging autonomous capabilities and crewed-uncrewed teaming to defeat enemy threats in contested environments,” GA said in a statement.
“It is designed to integrate seamlessly with current and next-generation crewed aircraft, expanding mission capabilities and ensuring continued air dominance.
In short, YFQ-42A provides fighter capacity—affordable mass—at a lower cost and on a threat-relevant timeline.”
The service has become increasingly bullish on the CCA program, which is part of the Next-Generation Air Dominance portfolio, which may also include a penetrating crewed fighter.
A decision of the future of the crewed NGAD fighter will be up to the next Secretary of the Air Force and the Trump administration.
“If we’re in this dangerous and dynamic time, I want to give the president as many options as we possibly can,” Allvin said in his keynote.
“So that means yes, keep on the modernization. Yes, NGAD. Yes, CCA. … That’s what it is going to take.”
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/americas-first-unmanned-fighters-yfq-42-yfq-44/
Hegseth directs civilians to prepare 5 bullet points on weekly work
March 3, 2025
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday signed a memorandum to all Defense Department civilian employees directing them to prepare five bullet points detailing their work accomplishments from the prior week.
On Monday, March 3, those same employees can expect an email from the Defense Department requesting that same information, he wrote.
Within 48 hours they are expected to reply to that email, with their accomplishments included, and add their supervisors as recipients.
The responses, Hegseth said in a video statement released today, will be consolidated internally within the department in order to satisfy related directives from the Office of Personnel Management.
Last weekend, OPM sent a request for the same information, but the department's Office of Personnel and Readiness told employees to stand down on the request.
Now that the department has worked with OPM to get more clear guidance on what is expected, Hegseth said employees can start writing their submissions.
"The Department of Defense initially paused this directive … but now requires all DOD civilian employees to submit five bullets on their previous week's achievements," Hegseth said in his memorandum.
According to guidance from the secretary, it is an email from the Defense Department employees should respond to.
That email will come Monday, and responses to it should not include classified or sensitive information.
Additionally, Hegseth said in his memorandum, non-compliance may lead to further review.
Civilian employees who will not have email access in the 48 hours following delivery of the email due to being on leave, shift work or other reasons, are to complete the request within 48 hours of regaining access, the secretary wrote.
Additionally, civilian employees who do not typically have email access will work with their supervisors to meet the request.
In his video statement to the civilian workforce, Hegseth said civilian employees are important to the department's mission, and that submitting five bullet points about their work will support that.
"Our civilian patriots who dedicate themselves to defending this nation working for the Department of Defense are critical to our national security," he said in his video statement.
"As we work to restore focus on DOD's core warfighting mission under President Trump's leadership, we recognize that we cannot accomplish that mission without the strong and important contributions of our civilian workforce."
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4090628/hegseth-directs-civilians-to-prepare-5-bullet-points-on-weekly-work/
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4093782/saltzman-outlines-space-force-priorities-whats-necessary-to-achieve-them/
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4093775/remarks-by-cso-gen-chance-saltzman-at-the-2025-air-and-space-forces-association/
Saltzman outlines Space Force priorities, what’s necessary to achieve them
March 3, 2025
Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman spelled out the Space Force’s priorities and the path it must follow to ensure space superiority during a high-profile keynote address March 3.
“It is our job to contest and control the space domain, to fight and win so that we assure freedom of action for our forces while denying the same to our adversaries,” Saltzman told Guardians, Airmen, industry partners and elected officials in closely watched remarks at the Air and Space Forces Association Warfighter Symposium.
If that wasn’t clear enough, Saltzman offered additional clarity moments later on why maintaining dominance in space is essential to the nation’s security and economic well-being.
“Fighting against a near-peer threat that has unfettered access to space while we do not is a recipe for death and destruction,” he said.
“Even in a stalemate, where both we and our adversaries retain spacepower, there will be an unacceptable cost in American blood and treasure.”
Saltzman said the goal is achieving “space control,” the service’s newest core function that captures how Guardians achieve space superiority.
“Space control encapsulates the mission areas required to contest and control the space domain – employing kinetic and non-kinetic means to affect adversary capabilities, from disruption to degradation to destruction,” he said.
“It includes things like orbital warfare and electromagnetic warfare, and its counterspace operations can be employed for both offensive and defensive purposes at the direction of combatant commanders.
If we’re going to truly embrace our status as space warfighters, then we need to also embrace our fundamental responsibility for space control,” he said.
Saltzman also said, that perfecting the Space Force is an urgent endeavor that requires nimble change and performance.
“Transform into a warfighting service now – the nation needs us. The enemy is not waiting. We must succeed. We will succeed because so much is riding on our success,” he said.
Saltzman’s underlying points were consistent with those he has emphasized since becoming the service’s ranking military leader in October 2022.
The Space Force was born on Dec. 20, 2019, in recognition that every aspect of military life and operations, whether on land, sea, air or cyber, has a direct connection to space.
The joint force cannot operate without the capabilities provided through space, nor can modern commerce.
The nation’s economy, its infrastructure, banking system and communication all depend on space to operate and thrive.
Given that central role, Saltzman said the United States and its allies must have confidence that they can operate – and survive – without fail in an environment that has become more crowded and adversarial.
“I’ve said that we must think of space as a warfighting domain rather than just a collection of support functions.
That the Space Force must organize, train, equip and conduct warfighting operations as an integral part of the joint and combined force,” Saltzman said.
“For this reason, Guardians are the warfighters with the unique education, training and experience required to achieve space superiority.
… Space superiority is the reason that we exist as a service, and the vagaries of warfighting must inform everything we do if we are going to succeed,” he said.
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Even with that clarity of mission and purpose, Saltzman acknowledged more is needed. “The Space Force we have is still not the Space Force we need.
We have come a long way, but I think we can all acknowledge there is still work to be done,” he said.
Saltzman highlighted some of the efforts and programs designed to push the service’s evolution faster and with more precision.
One example he highlighted is Integrated Mission Deltas, organizations which combine operations, capabilities development and sustainment to enhance delivery of combat effects.
Four have been created to date, with more planned. “They empower mission owners with the authority and resources they need to oversee their readiness,” Saltzman said.
Soon-to-be working in tandem are units called System Deltas that are designed to focus acquisition activities within mission areas to further enhance delivery and collaboration.
To ensure a steady stream of high-caliber, effective leaders, Saltzman said, the Space Force has taken a novel approach to training by creating the Officer Training Course, which provides a 12-month initial skills training for new officers that provides a foundational understanding of all elements of spacepower.
“Once they graduate, junior officers will have the baseline understanding of all disciplines needed for effective mission operations.
In the future, regardless of their career path, all officers will have the training and experience to speak fluently and engage collaboratively across all essential functions of U.S. Space Force missions,” he said.
One other critical piece, Saltzman said, is the formation of Space Futures Command, which is designed to be “a long-term, institutional mechanism to ensure our technical advantage.”
This command will be the leading edge in designing “the Objective Force – to envision, validate and describe in detail the force we need to win wars and maintain our space advantage into the future,” he said.
Even with that clarity of mission and purpose, Saltzman acknowledged more is needed.
“The Space Force we have is still not the Space Force we need. We have come a long way, but I think we can all acknowledge there is still work to be done,” he said.
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Russian fighter jet provokes French Reaper drone over Mediterranean, French Defense Minister says
March 4, 2025 8:48 PM
A Russian Su-35 fighter jet engaged in a dangerous provocation against a French Reaper drone over the Mediterranean Sea on March 2, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu reported on March 4.
"The Russian Su-35 fighter jet behaved dangerously toward the French Reaper drone… Three consecutive approaches could have led to the loss of control of the drone," Lecornu posted on X.
The incident occurred on March 2 while the French drone was conducting an observation mission in the eastern Mediterranean.
Lecornu condemned the maneuver as "intentional, unprofessional, and aggressive," calling it unacceptable.
"France will continue to take measures to protect freedom of navigation in international air and sea space," he said.
This is not the first such incident involving Russian military aircraft. A Russian fighter jet forced down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea on March 14, 2023.
In December, two Dutch F-35 fighter jets intercepted Russian aircraft over the Baltic Sea, according to the Netherlands Defense Ministry.
Russian military aircraft frequently operate without transponders or flight plans over the Baltic and Black Seas, maneuvers often seen as testing NATO's response capabilities.
https://kyivindependent.com/russian-fighter-jet-confronts-french-reaper-drone-in-mediterranean-france-reports/
https://twitter.com/SebLecornu/status/1896929663118680335
New Chinese EV Launches Drone From The Roof While Driving
Mar 04, 2025, 01:38pm EST
Chinese EV maker BYD is partnering with drone manufacturer DJI to make science fiction Blade Runner-style movie magic real: a drone that launches from the roof of your car while driving.
It even has gull-wing-style doors that open the drone launch pad for take-off. It’s now available in mainland China for 16,000 yuan, or about $2,200 USD.
Press the launch button from the car’s large touchscreen, and two panels slide up and to the side, revealing a roof-mounted drone launching platform that can be used while the car in in motion, though likely only at slower speeds.
BYD and DJI are “aiming to transform cars into mobile entertainment and exploration platforms,” says an official Chinese government news source.
This will offer “a vertical field of view to capture travel moments in real time.”
The drone, like all DJI drones, can be told to follow the car for action shots, presumably in the countryside far from cities, buildings, power lines, and people.
And, when it comes back to the car, it can connect and recharge in its launching platform.
Reportedly, it can follow the car at speeds of up to 54 km/h, or 33.5 miles/hour, and can automatically return from a distance of 2 kilometers, or just over a mile.
Two things are immediately obvious: first, this is super-sexy and amazingly cool, and second, it’s an absolute safety nightmare that probably wouldn’t get regulatory permission anywhere in the world beyond some spots in China.
In addition it doesn’t improve the car’s looks, adding a large bump on the rear of an SUV’s roof.
Another thought: this clearly has military implications.
Russian’s invasion and ongoing war against Ukraine has taught us that drones are essential elements of modern warfare, and being able to launch them on-the-go from vehicles is easily foreseeable as part of the future of combat.
BYD is now the world’s largest EV maker, having supplanted Tesla in 2024 by manufacturing 1,777,965 electric cars, and is expanding in to Hungary and Turkey, as well as Mexico.
Base models are priced extremely low, around $10,000. The company just raised $5.6 billion USD in a share sale on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
You have to think that this announcement is kind of a splashy way to celebrate the car-maker’s fundraise, but is likely not going to be something that is widely available.
From a legal perspective, even its home country of China has specific legal restrictions on where and how you can fly drones, including that operators must maintain visual contact with their drones during flight: somewhat hard to do while you’re also driving.
But … it does look like amazing fun. Unfortunately, it’s probably not coming to any car you can buy in North America or Europe any time soon.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2025/03/04/new-chinese-ev-launches-drone-from-the-roof-while-driving/
https://www.twz.com/sea/mysterious-naval-vessel-spotted-in-washington-state-is-a-new-darpa-drone-ship
Mysterious Naval Vessel Spotted In Washington State Is A New DARPA Drone Ship
March 4, 2025
Aslender, partially covered naval ship that recently emerged in Washington state is the Defiant, a new medium-sized uncrewed surface vessel (USV) designed from the keel up to operate without any humans ever onboard.
Developed under the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) program, Defiant could be an important stepping stone for the U.S. Navy’s ambitions to add larger and more capable USVs to its fleets.
DARPA confirmed to TWZ that construction of the Defiant, also known by the hull code USX-1, was completed earlier this month.
As noted, the first indications that the vessel had been launched came from residents in Washington state who spotted it being pushed by a tug through the Saratoga Passage in Puget Sound north of Seattle.
This area of the Sound is also just a few miles from the U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island. User @IntelWalrus on X was first to bring this to our attention.
The 180-foot-long, 240-metric ton Defiant is now set to “undergo extensive in-water testing, both dockside and at sea” and “is scheduled to depart for a multi-month at sea demonstration in spring 2025,” according to DARPA.
It is unclear where exactly the vessel is currently docked. Serco Inc. is the primary contractor for the USV, which it has been developing since 2020.
The company has told TWZ in the past that the core Defiant USV without any add-on mission systems has an approximately $25 million price tag.
The U.S. military has historically categorized uncrewed vessels like Defiant with lengths under 200 feet and displacements under 500 tons but that are larger than ones with speedboat and jetski-type designs, as medium USVs (MUSV).
Large USVs (LUSV) have been defined as ones up to 300 feet long and that displace up to 2,000 tons.
A picture of Defiant in the Puget Sound, as well as additional images DARPA has now released, show much of the vessel literally still under wraps.
However, the overall hullform, along with the mast at the center sporting various commercial navigation radars and other antennas, is in line with models and computer-generated renders of the design shown in the past.
An additional smaller mast with more radars and other antennas is also present on the bow.
Other details about Defiant as it exists now are limited and TWZ has also reached out to Serco for more information. NOMARS program requirements DARPA released in the past called for designs capable of long-duration open-ocean operation with distributed hybrid power generation, podded propulsors, and high-capacity batteries, as well as a high-degree of hydrodynamic efficiency.
The NOMARS program has also put an emphasis on a concept called “graceful degradation” wherein “individual equipment to fail over time by having enough system-level redundancy to meet full system requirements at speeds of at least 15 knots after one year at sea.”
As designed, Defiant has large open spaces on top of its deck in front of and behind its main mast for add-on payloads.
Secro has shown models loaded with standard shipping containers, which could hold an array of different mission systems, as well as general cargo.
The company has also shown how the USV might be armed using what BAE Systems is now marketing as the Adaptable Deck Launching System (ADL).
The ADL is a modular angled launcher designed to fire missiles from the same canisters used with the Mk 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) found on many U.S. and foreign warships.
As such, ADLs can launch a variety of surface-to-air, anti-ship, and land-attack missiles, as well as anti-submarine rockets.
Defiant, at least initially, is intended primarily as a testbed to demonstrate the ability of such a vessel to operate autonomously for extended periods without any humans ever being onboard, even just to monitor systems and provide extra margins of safety.
“The NOMARS program aims to challenge the traditional naval architecture model, designing a seaframe (the ship without mission systems) from the ground up with no provision, allowance, or expectation for humans on board,” DARPA says on its website.
“By removing the human element from all ship design considerations, the program intends to demonstrate significant advantages, to include: size, cost, at-sea reliability, greater hydrodynamic efficiency, survivability to sea-state, and survivability to adversary actions through stealth considerations and tampering resistance.”
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Last year, DARPA, in cooperation with the U.S. Navy, conducted a successful test of an at-sea refueling system developed to support the NOMARS mission.
Two Navy USVs, the Ranger and the Mariner, which are converted offshore support vessels that retain the ability to operate in crewed mode, were used to demonstrate the refueling system.
“Fueling at sea (FAS) for USVs presents a problem that needs to be solved as current FAS solutions use personnel to handle lines and hoses on the platform being refueled,” according to a press release DARPA put out in December.
“Requiring personnel on the USV for the operation adds significant constraints on USV design and operations, as the vessel must then be designed with considerations for safety of the humans on board, even if for a short period of time. It can also be risky and sometimes dangerous to transport personnel to a USV in rough seas or high winds.”
“For the recent test, USV Ranger carried a receiving station representative of the system that will be on the NOMARS USV Defiant, and USV Mariner carried a refueling ‘mini-station,’ custom-designed by NOMARS prime contractor Serco Inc,” the release added.
“While there were personnel aboard both vessels during the event, no people were involved with operations on the receiving side.”
However, Serco has already been actively pitching Defiant as at least a pathway to a range of operational capabilities, including new armed USVs and ones capable of acting as uncrewed logistics platforms.
The company has already been working on a larger USV concept called Dauntless leveraging the work done under NOMARS, which could be armed with up to four ADLs, as well as carry other payloads.
Defiant was also designed with ease of production in mind and Serco has previously told TWZ that the USVs could be produced outside of traditional shipyards, including by railworks, if needed.
This could make the design, or future variants or derivatives thereof, very attractive to the U.S. Navy, which has been facing increasingly worrisome struggles to acquire traditional crewed warships.
That has come amid broader concerns about U.S. shipyard capacity, or the lack thereof, for building new naval vessels and maintaining existing ones.
The U.S. shipbuilding industry continues to be grossly outpaced by that of China, America’s current chief global competitor, despite efforts to narrow the gap in recent years.
Earlier this year, the Navy announced plans to simplify its USV acquisition strategy to focus on smaller, simpler, and more interchangeable designs rather than larger and exquisite ones.
The service had previously been working toward fielding distinct fleets of MUSVs and LUSVs.
“The designs already exist, and we must not over-spec this,” Rear Adm. William Daly, head of the Navy’s surface warfare division (N96), told an audience, including TWZ, at the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium in January.
“We’ve also had sufficient funding and experimentation to date to know what we need.”
“Many of the payloads are ready and tested. [Concepts of operation] are coalescing,” Daly added. “Let’s move faster. This is efficient, this is effective, and this is scalable.”
DARPA’s NOMARS program, especially now with Defiant about to head off for its first at-sea demonstrations, looks set to be another important part of the U.S. military’s uncrewed naval future.
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‘Pushpa’ joins India’s only avian squad trained to hunt drones
March 3, 2025
HYDERABAD: The Intelligence and Security Wing (ISW) of Telangana police has a new addition: Pushpa.
No, it isn't the red sandalwood smuggler from the silver screen, but a majestic Bonelli's Eagle that soars in the skies and hunts down drones.
Pushpa, along with Ambush, Missile, Prithvi, and another unnamed entrant, comprise the Garuda Squad – India's only avian drone hunting squadron.
The now five-member squad that first took root in 2019, comprises small-bodied kites and eagles trained to provide aerial surveillance to VIPs and VVIPs in public spaces, without the deployment of radio frequency jammers.
The avian squad put up its first show on Feb 28 at the passing out parade of police canines at the Integrated Intelligence Training Academy (IITA) in Moinabad on the city outskirts in Rangareddy district.
"The use of birds is a unique way to provide anti-drone cover in a way that VIPs can use their electronic devices, like phones, to make important calls or send messages.
While it was conceptualised six years ago, it took time to nurture, train and deploy them in our ranges to check their operational capabilities," said an official at IITA. "We chose the names because they are catchy."
Explaining why they created an avian squad, officials said that training birds is both a cheaper and reliable alternative to the conventional methods of counter-drone tactics.
Mainstream methods include radio frequency (RF) jammers, high-power microwave pulses, and GPS spoofing devices.
"While these devices disable drones by interfering with their communication and navigation systems, eagles go straight for the prey," the official said.
The counter-drone birds are fitted with specialised nets to their talons, and when they approach the prey (drone), its rotors get stuck in them and are incapacitated.
Once the handler gives a call, the bird flies directly to them and hands over the drone.
According to IITA officials, the avian squad has been attracting a lot of attention both at home and internationally. France and countries from the West Asia have also expressed interest in the technology.
"We got several calls enquiring about our birds. Many also made enquiries regarding our training methodologies," he added.
In India, interest is very high among central police forces, state police and even the premier National Security Guards (NSG), the official said.
https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/India/pushpa-joins-india-s-only-avian-squad-trained-to-hunt-drones/ar-AA1Acuy9
Wildfires are a no-drone zone in North Carolina
03/04/2025
We need your help in keeping pilots, wildland firefighters and the public safe.
By law, wildfires are a no-drone zone in North Carolina. N.C.G.S. §15A-300.4 prohibits any person, entity or state agency from using an unmanned aircraft system, i.e., drone, within either a horizontal distance of 3,000 feet or a vertical distance of 3,000 feet from any wildfire within the jurisdiction of the N.C. Forest Service.
Exceptions to this law include a person operating an unmanned aircraft system with the consent of the official in responsible charge of management of the wildfire.
Before deploying a drone near or above a wildfire, please coordinate all drone activity with the N.C. Forest Service on-scene representative to ensure drone activity does not interfere with or disrupt N.C. Forest Service air operations.
Firefighting aircraft that respond to wildfires fly low in support of ground personnel. Drones can pose a serious threat to pilot and public safety.
A drone that disrupts air operations also puts firefighters, residents and property at risk of loss to wildfire.
https://bladenonline.com/wildfires-are-a-no-drone-zone-in-north-carolina/
https://www.commercialuavnews.com/congress-ready-for-another-run-at-counter-drone-legislation
Congress Ready For Another Run At Counter-Drone Legislation
March 4, 2025
The US Congress appears poised to make another push to pass counter-drone legislation after efforts last year failed, seeking to develop regulations for expanding authority beyond the federal government to confront rogue drones.
Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), chair of the House of Representatives aviation subcommittee, during a Feb. 6 hearing called for Congress to “establish a properly scaled, well-balanced and legally sound framework for counter-drone authorities and the corresponding technologies.”
He noted existing technology that could jam unauthorized drones cannot be used by state and local law enforcement—even when UAVs are in airspace over airports—because the federal government has lagged in developing rules.
“In the federal government, what we do is we want to kick the can down the road and just have more studies,” he said. “I'm done with all the studying. Let's come up with a solution to the problem.”
Lawmakers are tasked with determining who beyond the federal government should be able to use counter-UAS technology and what mitigation means would be allowed.
Regulations governing both the use of counter-drone technology and airspace restrictions have to be balanced so authorized commercial operations can continue to operate effectively and the industry can grow, Commercial Drone Alliance (CDA) Executive Director Lisa Ellman said.
Lawmakers and regulators should support “scaling authorized and legitimate commercial drone operations for all kinds of beneficial use cases,” she told Commercial UAV News. “But then we can focus on preventing the careless, the clueless and, very importantly, the criminal.”
Currently, five federal agencies have authority to engage in counter-drone activities of varying degrees: The departments of Defense, Energy, Homeland Security (DHS) and Justice (DOJ), as well as the FAA.
DHS and DOJ have the most direct authority to engage in counter-drone action, but even their authorization to do so has been repeatedly temporarily extended. Legislation could potentially solidify the authorization for those agencies to engage in counter-drone activities longer term.
Ellman said there are circumstances when counter-drone authority should be expanded beyond the federal government.
“We think in areas which are highly-sensitive airspace, whether around nuclear facilities or prisons or at sporting events, it makes sense that you would need the states or localities, not just the federal government, because there's no way that the federal government has the resources to be everywhere all the time,” she explained.
Ellman testified at the House aviation subcommittee hearing, encouraging lawmakers to set regulations to keep pace with counter-drone technology development.
Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport has a drone detection system that Chris McLaughlin, the airport’s executive vice president of operations, said identifies over 5,000 “legitimate drone flights in our five-mile radius annually.”
He told lawmakers that every year “about 150” drones are operated “inappropriately.” But the airport and local authorities cannot take any counter-drone measures.
Vic Moss, the CEO of the Drone Service Providers Alliance, said expanding authority to conduct drone mitigation should be defined and limited.
"I think there needs to be an expansion of mitigation,” he told Commercial UAV News. “But under very, very carefully controlled situations. You can't have drone mitigation technology in the back of every cop car.”
Currently, any counter-drone action taken, whether non-kinetic (hacking, jamming) or kinetic, falls under federal criminal statutes regarding interference with an aircraft.
Taking out a drone would violate the Aircraft Sabotage Act, according to Catherine Cahill, director of the Alaska Center for UAS Integration at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
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Testifying at the House hearing on regulating counter-drone measures, she added that “tapping into the communications between the UAS and its operator potentially violates [multiple federal laws including] the Pen/Trap Statute, the Wiretap Act, the Aircraft Sabotage Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and others designed to protect the privacy of US citizens.
Therefore, anyone conducting counter-UAS activities must receive relief from these statutes or face imprisonment.”
Interfering with the operation of an aircraft can lead to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison.
Cahill warned lawmakers that allowing kinetic actions poses dangers. “Examples of kinetic solutions include: nets, collisions with other UAS, projectiles and lasers, among others,” she said.
These solutions, she added, “have the potential to adversely impact authorized UAS, manned aircraft [and] people or property on the ground …
If a counter-UAS system operator disables or destroys a UAS, the UAS, or fragments of the UAS, will fall on whatever is below them or is located wherever they finally crash.
This could cause human injuries or fatalities, property damage [and] risk to other systems.”
House members on both sides of the aisle have expressed interest in reviving legislation along the lines of previous bills that had bipartisan support, yet “we were unable to get the [legislation] over the finish line last year,” Nehls said.
Previously-proposed House bills—such as the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act and the Safeguarding the Homeland from the Threats Posed by UAS Act—mandated the creation of a counter-drone pilot program in which designated state and local authorities could trial counter-UAV technology under oversight of federal agencies.
“There needs to be a pilot program to enable the testing of mitigation technologies in various types of environments, and the pilot program needs to be large enough that we have an actual sample size over the course of several years,” Ellman said.
Voss said it is important that drones continue to be defined as aircraft in legal terms, with all of the protections from operational interference that come from that designation.
“I don't think you want to classify drones differently,” he explained. “If you start trying to do that, you're going to open up a can of worms …
You could write language that would allow there to be an exception under very specified conditions where you can operate a UAS mitigation system legally. So, you can write language for an exception without having to change the actual language of the law that protects drones.”
Voss met this month with Congressional staff working on the issue and said he heard strong support for a counter-drone pilot program being included in any legislation.
The program would likely see the federal agencies authorized to perform counter-drone activities each train and oversee a number of state and local authorities trialing UAV mitigation technologies.
For now, the FAA’s remote identification requirement for all drones operating in the National Airspace System, which went into effect last year, is seen as a step forward for helping authorities track down bad actors.
But taking direct action against a drone remains illegal, a blanket ban that Congress may finally start to roll back.
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US set to house nuclear weapons in Britain for first time in decades - at location 'targeted by Russian drones'
Updated: 4 March 2025, 11:45
New satellite imagery, published as part of a report from the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), suggest that an estimated 22 disused nuclear bunkers at Suffolk's RAF Lakenheath have seen extensive renovation in recent months.
It's thought the nuclear reactivation of the airbase was made as early as 2021, with the newly-released report suggesting the fast-tracking of plans following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The FAS confirmed the documents and images “show that the United States Air Force (USAF) is re-establishing its nuclear mission on UK soil for the first time in nearly two decades”.
Rumours of re-activation follow a string of drone incidents affecting a number of air bases across the UK in November - including RAF Lakenheath.
A number of unidentified drones were spotted over three airbases in Britain, with the reports confirmed by the United States Air Force (USAF).
The bases were reportedly the target of some sort of Russian drone surveillance operation.
A number of unidentified drones were spotted across multiple sites - RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall, in Suffolk, and RAF Feltwell, with around 60 British troops deployed to investigate the incident.
Read more: Twenty thousand troops from 'some random country' won't bring peace, JD Vance dismisses Starmer's peace plan
Read more: Europe 'is in an era of re-armament', says Ursula Von Der Leyen announcing 800 billion euro boost to defence spending
A Nato document, published in 2023, adds weight to the suggestion that nuclear weapons are set to be housed at the location, as well as Pentagon procurement documents detailing a new facility at the airbase.
The FAS adds the re-activation “appears to be a direct reaction to the worsening political and military relations with Russia, resulting from its invasions of Ukraine, frequent nuclear warnings and Russian deployment of increasingly capable long-range conventional weapons”.
According to The Telegraph, the FAS confirmed a further six bunkers are being revamped at Lakenheath, with the work described as "ongoing".
The bunkers are thought to comprise of a series of protective aircraft shelters, built over underground vaults each designed to house four nuclear warheads.
The report also suggested there were “no known public indications that nuclear weapons have been deployed to Lakenheath” yet.
It added such a move could “complicate Russia’s targeting strategy”.
At the time of the drone sightings, a former security minister called for an "urgent investigation" into reports of Russian links to the drones.
Labour frontbencher Lord Coaker warned at the time that those responsible for the spate of recent illegal airborne incursions faced up to 14 years in jail under national security laws.
New evidence of the movements of three individuals with alleged links to the Kremlin at the time of the sightings now suggests a Russian state link to the drone activity, according to an investigation by the i newspaper.
https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/uk/us-set-nuclear-weapons-in-britain-for-first-time-in-two-decades/
Drone Footage Shows Building Flattened by Gas Explosion in Northern Spain
Tue 4 March 2025 at 4:18 am GMT-8
At least 18 people were injured in a gas explosion that destroyed a building in Mieres, Spain, on March 3, local authorities said.
The Emergency Service of the Principality of Asturias (SEPA) said 18 people were injured in the explosion, at least three of whom were injured critically.
One of the critically injured people was transported to a burn unit in Madrid and the other two were taken to a hospital in nearby Oviedo, SEPA said.
Two additional victims are under observation at nearby hospitals in Mieres and Langreo.
SEPA said its teams were searching for anyone trapped beneath the rubble on Tuesday morning, before demolition work begins.
According to SEPA, 49 people have been relocated to new residences following the explosion. Credit: Policía Nacional via Storyful
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/drone-footage-shows-building-flattened-121813671.html