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Rocket Lab launches mystery satellite for 'confidential commercial customer'
November 21, 2025
The liftoff, which occurred at 7:43 a.m. EST (1243 GMT) from Rocket Lab's New Zealand site, came as something of a surprise.
The company formally announced the impending launch of its workhorse Electron rocket less than five hours ahead of time.
The mission, called "Follow My Speed" was a complete success, Rocket Lab announced via X on Thursday morning.
"Today's 'Follow My Speed' mission marks 18 launches with 100% mission success for 2025 — more than any other year in Electron's history — making our rocket the most frequently flown orbital small launch vehicle in the world," the company said in another Thursday X post.
Fifteen of those 18 launches have been orbital missions.
The other three were suborbital flights involving HASTE, a modified version of the 59-foot-tall (18-meter-tall) Electron that allows customers to test hypersonic technologies in the space environment.
We don't know much about "Follow My Speed."
Rocket Lab described the mission in vague terms only, saying that its goal was "to deploy a single satellite for a confidential commercial customer."
Keeping things so close to the vest isn't exactly odd for launch companies, who regularly loft national-security payloads or commercial satellites with sensitive, proprietary tech.
Rocket Lab, for example, launched five satellites for a confidential customer just three months ago.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/rocket-lab-launches-mystery-satellite-for-confidential-commercial-customer-video
https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1991587074391306583
https://rocketlabcorp.com/updates/two-launches-in-two-days-from-two-hemispheres-rocket-lab-beats-annual-launch-record-with-back-to-back-electron-missions/
https://www.youtube.com/@RocketLabCorp
Space-based US solar firm breaks world record for beaming wireless electricity
Nov 21, 2025 08:42 AM EST
Space-based solar power firm Star Catcher Industries has set a new record for beaming electricity over a long distance.
The firm’s Star Catcher Network technology successfully beamed 1.1 kW of power during tests. Using off-the-shelf solar panel components, the team beat the existing record held by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
The company claims its new tests, carried out at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, could help unlock unlimited solar power.
Making space-based solar power a reality
Space-based solar power was first proposed by Czechoslovakian-born American scientist and aerospace engineer Peter Glaser in 1968. Glaser proposed placing large solar collecting arrays in space and beaming the energy down to Earth via microwave beams.
Unlike solar panel farms on Earth, space-based solar power could provide electricity 24/7. Attaching solar panels to satellites means that weather is no longer a factor to take into consideration. Satellites can also be placed in such a way that they are constantly facing the Sun.
The concept has gained traction in recent years, as global governments slowly shift away from fossil fuel dependence.
China has experimented with large solar receiver towers, and DARPA is also testing the technology. The agency held the previous record, set in June 2025, when it beamed 800 W.
Star Catcher uses a similar technology to DARPA. Instead of generating microwaves, it uses a grid of solar panels to power an optical multi-spectrum laser. Essentially, a highly concentrated beam of light is transmitted to another solar array, allowing it to use that energy.
Star Catcher aims to first use this technology to “supercharge” other satellites in space, before eventually beaming power down to Earth. The method could also be used to provide power for orbital data centers and in-orbit manufacturing satellites.
Building a ‘resilient orbital power grid’
According to Star Catcher, “using space-based optical power beaming, the Star Catcher Network collects and concentrates sunlight in orbit, refines it into optimized wavelengths for spacecraft solar panels, and wirelessly transmits it to client satellites, allowing them to generate two to ten times more power, on-demand, with no retrofit required.”
For its latest test, the company used several different solar panel designs. While this test took place on the ground, Star Catcher aims to perform an orbital demonstration next year.
In a press statement, Star Catcher CEO and co-founder Andrew Rush explained that the test paves the way for space-based solar power operations to finally take flight.
“These real-world results offer definitive proof of the soundness and maturity of our approach to building a resilient orbital power grid,” he said.
https://interestingengineering.com/space/space-firm-breaks-record-for-wireless-electricity
Marcos Jr.: Space technology key to disaster response
November 22, 2025 | 12:00am
CEBU, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. underscored the urgent role of space technology in disaster preparedness and climate resilience as the Philippines continues to reel from severe weather disturbances and earthquakes in recent weeks.
Speaking before participants of the 31st Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF-31) in Lapu-Lapu City yesterday, November 21, Marcos said space-based tools—such as satellite imagery and advanced weather forecasting—have become indispensable as the country confronts an “intensifying climate crisis” and the impact of recent calamities.
“Space technology is no longer something that only scientists and engineers appreciate—it is now woven into our everyday life,” the President said, noting how satellite data helps communities prepare for typhoons, floods, and other natural hazards.
More than 40 countries and regions are represented in this year’s APRSAF, regarded as the largest space-related conference in the Asia-Pacific.
The forum, held from November 18 to 21, carries the theme “Empowering the Region through Space Ecosystems in Action,” which highlights shared regional goals of using space science to enhance disaster resilience, address climate change, and spur economic growth through research and innovation.
This is the second time the Philippines has hosted APRSAF, the first being in 2016.
Marcos said the forum comes at a critical time, as the Philippines experiences stronger and more frequent extreme weather events. He stressed that the country’s position along the Pacific typhoon belt and the Pacific Ring of Fire makes it extremely vulnerable to natural hazards.
“Our country now endures an average of 19 to 20 tropical cyclones every year, as well as an average of 20 recorded earthquakes every day—much like Japan,” he said.
He added that the relevance of space-enabled systems has become even more evident in the aftermath of recent calamities—particularly in providing early warnings and facilitating rapid damage assessment.
Marcos also highlighted the Philippines’ growing contributions to regional space development, citing key initiatives led by the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA).
Among these is the regular distribution of satellite data to government agencies, researchers, and private organizations for disaster risk reduction, maritime monitoring, and environmental management.
He also expressed optimism about the ongoing development of the Multispectral Unit for Land Assessment (MULA), which will be the country’s largest Earth observation satellite once completed.
The President likewise cited last year’s launch of the Copernicus Data Centre—the first of its kind in Asia—established through a partnership between PhilSA and the European Commission.
The center provides locally accessible Earth observation data for policymaking, emergency response, and scientific research.
“These initiatives are guided by a simple conviction: Space must serve the people,” Marcos said, urging delegates to strengthen cooperation in the responsible use of space technology.
He called on Asia-Pacific nations to harness space capabilities collectively to confront climate change, bolster disaster resilience, and support inclusive growth.
“Together, let us shape an Asia-Pacific region that can turn space science into concrete action for our people,” he said.
PhilSA Officer-in-Charge Dr. Gay Jane Perez said President Marcos’ message is a crucial reminder of how satellite data can directly improve the lives of Filipinos, especially amid worsening climate risks.
In an interview on the sidelines of the forum, Perez explained that satellite-derived information is essential in strengthening the country’s data governance, supporting the agriculture sector, enhancing disaster response, and improving various other applications.
Perez stressed that maximizing these technologies is even more important as the Philippines continues to reel from recent calamities and remains prone to frequent weather disturbances.
“Dito sa Cebu, with the unfortunate circumstances that we are in, we want to maximize this technology so next time we can plan better and respond faster,” she said, noting that timely and accurate satellite data greatly aids preparedness and recovery.
She emphasized the need for stronger collaboration among government agencies and said APRSAF-31 offers the Philippines a valuable platform to learn from regional space experts.
https://www.philstar.com/the-freeman/cebu-news/2025/11/22/2489078/marcos-jr-space-technology-key-disaster-response
https://pco.gov.ph/news_releases/space-science-must-serve-the-people-pbbm/
Space Force Still Planning Futures-Like Command, Perhaps With a New Name
Nov. 20, 2025
The Space Force is moving ahead with plans to create a fourth field command focused on wringing out future capabilities, although details around timing—and the new organization’s name—are still in flux.
In early 2024, the Space Force announced plans to establish Space Futures Command to identify and evaluate future missions and concepts, but that vision was delayed amid the Pentagon and Air Force leadership transition.
Speaking Nov. 20 at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event, Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman said that while the service is “readjusting” its earlier thinking around the finer details, the Space Force still intends to launch a futures-like field command.
“We’re going to do it,” Saltzman said.
The Space Force debuted its initial plans for a Space Futures Command amid a broader Department of the Air Force “re-optimization” initiative aimed at focusing the Air Force and Space Force’s organizations, structures, and processes on countering threats in the Indo-Pacific.
The Pentagon put that work on hold earlier this year amid senior leader transitions and as Air Force Secretary Troy Meink settled into his role and identified his own priorities for the service.
Meink has since abandoned some elements of the Air Force’s plan, including the standup of an Integrated Capabilities Command to oversee requirements and capability development in a more holistic way.
There had been speculation that Space Futures Command may also fail to launch, but Saltzman said the effort is moving ahead.
As originally envisioned, he said, the field command will leverage the existing Space Warfighting Analysis Center, which was established in 2021 to flesh out the service’s force structure needs, and combine it with two new centers—a Wargaming Center and a Concept and Technology Center.
Whereas the SWAC has focused on systems and architectures, the expanded organization will explore the concepts and logistics chains needed to support those platforms.
“What we’re really doing is taking the work that SWAC did and expanding it, adding to it a Concepts and Technology Center, adding to it modeling and sim, a Wargaming Center, that allows us to expand on what they were doing to more wholly comprehensively put together what it takes to field a combat-credible force—not just a capable system, but a combat-credible force,” Saltzman said.
“So, we’re going to build a new field command that does that.”
Saltzman didn’t discuss how the command might differ from the service’s original vision.
A Space Force spokesperson said the “why” behind the organization remains the same, and said the service is still working through the paperwork and processes that come with establishing a new command.
The Space Force had hoped to have the new field command’s structure in place late last year or early this year, in part to help draft the service’s first “objective force” document, a detailed vision for what platforms, support, and structure it will need over the next 15 years.
The service is on track to complete that plan this year and publish it in early 2026, and Saltzman said it relied on SWAC and other existing organizations to conduct the analysis.
The new command will play a key role in crafting future versions of the objective force—which will be updated annually and rescoped at least every five years—as well as other documents meant to provide a “clearly articulated demand signal” to industry and other stakeholders, Saltzman said.
“When you think about this new field command, the ultimate product that they produce on a recurring basis is called the objective force,” he said.
“The objective force will be a very detailed document. … It’ll be a list of the systems, a broad-based understanding of the systems—some that exist, some that are in development, and some that haven’t started yet.”
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/space-force-still-planning-futures-like-command/
Space Command general to speak at Redstone Arsenal Update
Updated: 6:41 AM CST November 21, 2025
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The commander of U.S. Space Command, Gen. Stephen Whiting, will visit Huntsville in December to provide an update on plans to move the organization to the Rocket City.
Whiting is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce’s annual Redstone Arsenal Update, set for Dec. 10 at the Von Braun Center. The event will also feature briefings from other agencies stationed at Redstone Arsenal.
The visit comes as Huntsville continues preparations to host Space Command, a major step in the city’s growing role in the nation’s space and defense programs.
Attendees can expect updates on the transition timeline, as well as insights into the operations of the various military and civilian organizations based at the arsenal.
The Redstone Arsenal Update provides local leaders, business representatives, and community members a chance to hear directly from top officials about developments affecting the region’s defense and aerospace sectors.
https://www.rocketcitynow.com/article/news/local/space-command-commander-keynote-redstone-arsenal-update-huntsville/525-a7f4bf87-6214-4571-bc3d-09bbd0ce874a
Russian forces take full control of Kupyansk – Moscow
21 Nov, 2025 05:18
Russian forces have captured the city of Kupyansk in northeastern Ukraine, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said on Thursday during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a military command post.
Gerasimov said the city is now under full control, while Putin reviewed the broader battlefield situation and praised the performance of Russian troops.
Kupyansk is a key logistical hub near the Oskol River. Its capture secures Russian positions in the region and enables further movement westward.
“Formations of the West grouping have liberated the city of Kupyansk,” Gerasimov said during the briefing.
He noted that Ukrainian forces were being destroyed on the left bank of the river and that the conditions had been prepared for them to surrender.
Putin praised the performance of the Russian forces, stating that approximately 15 battalions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were surrounded in and around Kupyansk.
Gerasimov said Russian troops are advancing on several fronts. The East grouping gained control of 13 settlements and over 230 square kilometers in Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye regions.
The North grouping controls most of Volchansk in Kharkov Region. In the Donetsk People’s Republic, the South grouping holds parts of Konstantinovka and is clearing the city center.
Gerasimov also stated that many Ukrainian soldiers are ready to surrender but face threats from their own command.
“Most of them, under threat of being shot or destroyed by drones, cannot accomplish this task on their own,” he said, claiming that Kiev had issued no orders regarding surrender.
Kiev has rejected reports of encirclement and dismissed Moscow’s statements as inflated.
“Kupyansk is under the control of Ukraine’s defense forces,” Ukraine’s General Staff has said, while also denying any major setbacks in Volchansk and Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk).
Vladimir Zelensky has downplayed battlefield losses while appealing to Western backers for more aid.
Ukrainian troops are also facing desertions and a lack of reinforcements, with growing public resistance to mobilization and reports of soldiers accusing Kiev of forcing them to hold indefensible positions.
Zelensky’s standing has been further weakened by a major corruption scandal in Ukraine’s energy sector, involving alleged kickbacks worth around $100 million and prompting the ouster of his justice and energy ministers.
https://www.rt.com/russia/628088-hl-russian-forces-take-full-control-of-kupyansk/
Zelensky covering up ‘dire’ frontline situation – Moscow
21 Nov, 2025 09:42
Vladimir Zelensky has barred the Ukrainian military from admitting the loss of key towns to Russia, Moscow’s envoy to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, has said.
This is being done to hide the actual situation on the ground in the hopes that the flow of Western aid to Kiev remains unhindered, he suggested.
On Thursday, the chief of Russia's General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, told President Vladimir Putin that Russian forces have liberated the key logistics hub of Kupyansk in Ukraine’s Kharkov Region.
The Ukrainian General Staff, however, has claimed that the city remains under the control of Kiev’s troops.
Zelensky had previously denied the encirclement of Ukrainian forces in Kupyansk and as well as in Dmitrov-Krasnoarmeysk (Mirnograd-Pokrovsk), an urban area in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), accusing Moscow of exaggerating its gains on the battlefield.
During his speech at a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday, Nebenzia insisted that the situation on the front line for Ukraine “remains dire, if not catastrophic. Russian troops are successfully advancing on essentially all fronts.”
“Despite the encirclement of a significant number of Ukrainian troops, massive losses, forced mobilization, and threats to civilians, the head of the Kiev regime forbids acknowledging the loss of cities, orders his troops to hold their positions ‘until the last soldier,’ and bans retreat,” he said.
According to the envoy, the policy pursued by the Kiev government has “nothing to do with military reality and is purely political in nature.”
“Zelensky wants to show his Western sponsors that the front is holding, because he counts on continued funding for his war with Russia.
He needs billions of dollars to keep the war going for him and his cronies to line their pockets and stay in power,” Nebenzia stressed.
Last week, the Western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) announced a probe into a “high-level criminal organization” allegedly led by Timur Mindich, a former business partner of Zelensky.
Its members are suspected of siphoning around $100 million in kickbacks from state-owned nuclear operator Energoatom.
The graft scandal has led to the sacking of Ukraine’s energy and justice ministers, with other prominent figures such as Zelensky’s right-hand man, Andrey Yermak, and the head of the National Security Council Rustem Umerov also being linked to the scheme.
https://www.rt.com/russia/628091-un-nebenzia-zelensky-ukraine/
SpaceX Starlink Mission
November 21, 2025
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is targeting the launch of 29 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
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 X TV app.
This will be the ninth flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched SES O3b mPOWER-E, Crew-10, Bandwagon-3, mPOWER-D, CRS-33, and three Starlink missions.
Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
https://www.spacex.com/launches/sl-6-79
and
SpaceX's 1st 'Version 3' Super Heavy Starship booster buckles under pressure during initial tests
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/spacexs-1st-version-3-super-heavy-starship-booster-buckles-under-pressure-during-initial-tests
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7Y0Xa5W-Sk
Russian airports closed as Ukraine launches drone attack on eve of Trump peace talks
Friday 21 November 2025 03:56 EST
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Ukrainian drone attacks led to the suspension of operations at at least eight Russian airports overnight.
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Russia's defence ministry reported intercepting 33 Ukrainian drones over five Russian regions, Crimea, and the Black Sea.
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The attacks followed Volodymyr Zelensky's statement expressing readiness for 'honest' work with Washington on a plan to end the war.
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Zelensky confirmed that Ukrainian and US teams would collaborate on elements of the 28-point peace plan, after meeting US army secretary Daniel Driscoll.
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Zelensky's office indicated he expects to discuss diplomatic opportunities and key peace points with Trump in the coming days.
https://www.the-independent.com/bulletin/news/russian-airports-drone-attacks-ukraine-trump-b2869699.html
other Russia and Ukraine
https://odessa-journal.com/russia-launched-a-morning-drone-attack-on-odessa-leaving-one-person-injured
https://euromaidanpress.com/2025/11/21/russian-drone-attack-hits-odesa-overnight-hospitalizes-three-with-burns-and-head-trauma/
https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/europe/ukraine-russia-war-trump-putin-peace-plan-zelensky-donbas-latest-news-b2869605.html
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-874688
other Israel
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-releases-footage-of-terrorists-fleeing-rafah-tunnels-as-manhunt-continues/
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/fighting-terrorists-northern-front-idf-170636957.html
https://breakingthenews.net/Article/IDF-kills-13-Hamas-operatives-in-Lebanon/65232823
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-874734
https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/idf-hamas-tunnel-network/2025/11/21/id/1235501/
https://www.timesnownews.com/world/middle-east/hamas-giant-terror-tunnel-exposed-idf-discovers-7-km-long-hideout-with-80-rooms-details-article-153185761
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6385398907112
https://worldisraelnews.com/watch-idf-fights-drone-smuggling-of-weapons-across-porous-egyptian-border/
https://worldisraelnews.com/israel-builds-secretive-force-to-stop-any-october-7-style-attack-on-its-air-force-bases/
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-874734
As IDF holds Gaza’s dividing line, Hamas reemerges from the shadow of war
NOVEMBER 21, 2025 20:51
"Hamas is committed to disarming according to the ceasefire agreement. But Hamas is not disarming. It is rebuilding its control," Col. Nadav Shoshani tells a group of foreign reporters gathered at a base of the IDF’s 252nd Division in Gaza.
Shoshani is the IDF’s international spokesman. The position is located about 200 meters from the so-called Yellow Line, the dividing point between the 47% of the Gaza Strip still held by Hamas and the 53% currently controlled by Israel.
We are in what was once the neighborhood of Shejaia, located on the southern outskirts of Gaza City. Now it is rubble.
It’s not my first time in this vicinity, once a notable stronghold of Hamas. I was here in December 2023. Then, the Merkava tanks of the 36th Division were crashing into central Gaza.
There were still 251 hostages. The memories of October 7 were shocking and raw, and there was a sort of fervor for the war that we all felt. Then, the mission seemed clear.
Now, by contrast, a month into the ceasefire, the future appears rather more ambiguous, with many more questions than answers regarding the way things may be headed.
Shejaia, over which the IDF fought three major engagements in the course of the last three years (I witnessed the first), has been reduced to ruins.
But a little beyond the point which marks the Yellow Line, one may make out the first buildings of Gaza City itself, still under Hamas control. The Gaza City skyline appears surprisingly intact.
Hamas’s capital survived the war, and is evidently now returning to a kind of life, still under Hamas rule.
The 252nd Division is a reserve armored formation, but the base we visit is held by the infantry element of the unit. Its mission in Shejaia, according to Shoshani, is to “hold the line, remove terror infrastructure, and secure aid going in.”
This is in accordance with the ongoing implementation of the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan.
There are, according to the IDF’s international spokesman, “daily violations” of the ceasefire by Hamas fighters.
These have included an attempt two weeks ago to place explosives in a house on the Israeli side of the line.
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There is sporadic automatic gunfire coming from somewhere in the distance. Shoshani thinks it’s from within Gaza City itself.
Perhaps Hamas is settling accounts with one or another of its enemies within the city. A UAV buzzes overhead. Nothing seems to be moving amid the gray rubble and ruins between the point that marks the Yellow Line and the position of Division 252.
But further in, evidently, life is proceeding along the lines that Hamas prefers. The IDF has no accurate figure, but the “vast majority” of the Gaza population is living in the Hamas-controlled part of the Strip.
The goal of the 20-point plan is that the current de facto partition of Gaza, which may be observed along the line between Gaza City and Shejaia, should not freeze into an ongoing reality.
Rather, the plan envisages the disarmament of Hamas and the end of its existence as a de facto governing force in Gaza.
Different types of pressure can be used to disarm Hamas: IDF’s international spokesman
The IDF’s international spokesman suggests that “there are different types of pressure which can be placed on them to make them disarm.”
What form might such pressure take?
Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations Danny Danon said this week that the emergent International Stabilization Force, now with a mandate from the UN, would need to “stabilize the situation and strip Hamas of its weapons.” Col. Shoshani agreed that this would indeed be the responsibility of this emergent force.
Such statements seem somewhat at odds with observable reality. Hamas has made clear that it rejects any clause related to the disarmament of Gaza, or harming the “Palestinian people’s right to resistance.”
Viewed from the positions of the 252nd Division close to the Yellow Line, it is starkly obvious that the living part of Gaza remains very much under Hamas’s control.
Does anyone seriously believe that an international force is going to deploy and seek to disarm by coercive means an Islamist militia that doesn’t want to be disarmed? And what happens when the Islamist militia starts shooting back?
The general sense one gets from reading and hearing statements by Israeli officials in this regard is that no one really believes this, but there is a need to pretend to do so, at least in public.
This is because Israel doesn’t have any options other than the 20-point plan, and the US administration evidently does believe in its various provisions.
The true picture is different. At the outset of the war, when the blood from the October 7 massacres was hardly dry, and three divisions were heading into Gaza, Israel defined its war aims as freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas rule in Gaza.
Reality didn’t really allow for pursuing both those aims with full vigor simultaneously, so Israel pursued the first, at the expense of the second. The result is that the hostages are now free, but Hamas rule over half of Gaza and nearly all its population remains.
The two real options are that Israel either now or in the future commit to completing the job of reconquering Gaza and destroying the Hamas authority there, or that Hamas, as an organized, armed, and dominant political-military force in Gaza, is set to survive.
The international stabilization force, if it is deployed, is likely to form a severely complicating factor regarding any attempt at realizing the first option, and would almost certainly eventually serve as a guarantor for the second.
In the meantime, the IDF, via positions like the ones held by Division 252 in Shejaia, is holding the lines and maintaining control over the largely empty 53% of Gaza, which it controls.
And Hamas, visible in living, intact Gaza City a few hundred meters away, is reemerging and strengthening itself.
What this means is that despite the losses and the huge efforts made since October 2023, the essential question facing Gaza – namely, the continued existence or the removal of an armed and hostile Islamist sovereignty in the area – remains unresolved.
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IDF reveals connection between Hamas, ousted Assad regime in letters, documents
Fri, November 21, 2025 at 2:58 AM PST
The letters include correspondence between senior Hamas officials, including Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, Hassan Nasrallah, and Mohammad Saeed Izadi.
Documents revealing a direct connection between Hamas and the ousted Assad regime were discovered by the IDF during operations in the Gaza Strip, the military revealed Friday morning.
The documents include correspondence between senior Hamas officials, including Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, Hassan Nasrallah, former leader of Hezbollah, and Mohammad Saeed Izadi, the commander of the Palestine Corps within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force.
"Syria is an indispensable to us as a base of refuge and a space for construction and deployment," Sinwar wrote in one such letter, stressing the importance of the Assad regime remaining in power.
"Through it we can participate in the resistance program of the Jerusalem axis (the Iranian axis)."
Also revealed in the documents are minutes of a meeting between Izadi, Hamas, and Hezbollah officials detailing how they plan to renew relations between the terror groups and the regime, as well as minimize public backlash over future cooperation between them.
Public backlash may lead to 'collapse of Hamas'
A meeting between the former Syrian president and various Palestinian factions was also arranged in order to reduce attention on Hamas.
Haniyeh used the opportunity to request Syria release Palestinian prisoners being held by the regime, claiming that the move would "assist with public outcry" regarding renewed relations between the regime and Hamas.
In a separate letter discovered by the IDF, a sheikh close to Hamas leadership slammed Arab criticism of the terror group renewing relations with the regime.
"We expect Hamas to stand against Iran in Iraq, against Bashar Assad and his regime in Syria, against the Houthis," the shiekh wrote.
"Hamas is forbidden from establishing any friendly relations or cooperation with these… This is a strategic decline that, if accepted, will only end with the collapse of Hamas."
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/idf-reveals-connection-between-hamas-105840600.html
Drone Attacks In Mexico More Than Doubled Last Year: Report
Nov 21 2025, 9:48 AM EST
Drone attacks in Mexico more than doubled last year compared to the one prior as cartels increasingly use such devices in their operations, according to a new report. Border Report noted that Mexico recorded 77 drone attacks last year, compared to 35 the year prior.
Henry Ziemer, associate fellow for the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the outlet that cartels are buying signal jammers to guard themselves against attacks from rival factions.
"Mexico has been at the leading edge of illicit drone use not just as a weapon against the state and rivals, but also as a means of intimidating and pressuring the civilian population," the expert added.
In another passage of the piece, experts noted that cartels are recruiting teenagers to train them as surveillance and attack drone operators.
The organizations are also using drones to attack law enforcement. In late October, officials in the border city of Tijuana said a police station was attacked by drones carrying explosive devices.
Days after the incident, Baja California Attorney General María Elena Andrade Ramírez confirmed that a cartel was behind the attack, which specifically targeted the station's anti-kidnapping unit.
"It was an attack directly on the patio of our installation," she said. "As a way to ease the public's mind, this was not an attempt on the residents, and we don't believe it has anything to do with our proximity to the border," Andrade Ramírez said.
Concretely, three drones equipped with explosives, containing nails and pieces of metal, targeted the facility last week and damaged several police vehicles parked outside. No injuries were reported.
Earlier this year, a former operative for the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) said in an interview that the group modifies agricultural drones to drop explosives on rival factions.
Similarly, U.S. officials have warned about the growing number of drone sightings involving criminal groups.
Steven Willoughby, deputy director of the Department of Homeland Security's counter-drone program, told a U.S. Senate committee last month that cartel-operated drones conducted more than 27,000 flights within 500 meters of the southern border during the last six months of 2024.
"It's just a matter of time until Americans or law enforcement agents are targeted," Willoughby said, adding that cartel drones have been linked to more than 1,500 arrests along the southwest border.
A recent report by The Telegraph revealed that, as drones become an increasingly important tool for criminal organizations, cartel members from Mexico and Colombia are joining foreign fighter groups in Ukraine to enhance their drone warfare skills.
According to the report, these individuals are enlisting in Ukraine's International Legion to learn how to operate first-person view kamikaze drones.
The devices provide a live video feed, allowing pilots to guide explosive-laden aircraft directly to their targets.
https://www.latintimes.com/drone-attacks-mexico-more-doubled-last-year-report-591843
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gp1v311y2o
Foreign powers or phantom menace? Mystery of the air base drone sightings
November 21, 2025
A year ago, military air bases in Britain were put on alert following reports of drone sightings. What have we learned since?
The US Air Force (USAF) initially sounded the alarm about "small unmanned aerial systems", spotted close to its bases at RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, RAF Feltwell in Norfolk and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire over three days.
The BBC has since learned more about the Suffolk and Norfolk sightings, reported between 20 and 22 November 2024, including that:
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Swarms of up to 20 drones at a time were reported
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Many of the sightings were reported by military personnel
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Police officers who attended reported seeing large "non-hobby" drones
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Some were said to be flying low over runway approaches
The Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) has been investigating these events.
Its inquiry has now been completed but the Ministry of Defence (MoD) would not reveal whether its findings would be released.
The exact nature of these sightings remains unknown, at least to the public.
Some within the UK drone community believe they were the result of misidentification of regular aircraft at night.
Verified footage of the purported drones around the bases is certainly in short supply.
But one leading defence analyst believes there definitely were drones, some of which were operated by a foreign power.
Justin Bronk, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, says:
"On this occasion there were, without question, several unidentified aerial vehicles observed by both US Air Force and RAF forces, conducting unknown but most likely hostile state-coordinated activity over the air bases in question."
Recent Freedom of Information Act (FOI) disclosures, obtained by Dumfries-based researcher Rowland Hume and shared with the BBC, shed more light on events.
Lengthy Suffolk Police incident logs and one crime report describe sightings of up to 20 drones at a time over Lakenheath, Mildenhall and Feltwell.
Most of these reports came from military personnel.
'Very large'
Officers dispatched to the scene reported seeing large, "non-hobby" drones.
At least five were spotted using night-vision goggles.
Some were described as stationary and without lights.
"Informant says the drones are very large and they make a lot of noise," one entry reads.
Further on, the log records another describing how "the drones are now flying very low over the area where the planes come in to land".
Daytime sightings and the handing over of video footage are also noted.
Suffolk Police said it could not comment owing to the MDP inquiry.
New details have also emerged about a National Police Air Service (NPAS) helicopter crew's reports of an encounter near RAF Lakenheath on the evening of 22 November.
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The police log states: "NPAS are withdrawing. They feel the drones have targeted them and chased them off at 140 knots [161mph]."
It says "they were forced to take emergency evasive action" and had to perform an "emergency dive" because the object had "pursued them".
However, a subsequent report revealed the crew had actually seen a USAF F-15 Eagle fighter jet, whose presence had not been communicated to them.
The encounter was filmed from the helicopter.
Former police officer Mike Morgan, who has been trying to obtain this footage under FOI legislation, said he had so far not been successful, though NPAS had released a still image.
Mr Morgan, from Gravesend, Kent, said: "I've spoken to a number of witnesses who are adamant these things were very unusual and not your standard drones.
"They laugh at claims they were misidentified aircraft, as they live near the base and these things were overhead and clearly visible."
Ch Supt Fiona Gaffney, chief operating officer for NPAS, said:
"At this time, the footage has not been released under the Freedom of Information Act as we are continuing to work with third parties, including the Ministry of Defence, to determine whether its release is appropriate."
Residents of Beck Row, next to RAF Mildenhall, reported seeing objects they identified as drones.
One woman from Lakenheath, who asked not to be named, described a drone with two red lights hovering metres above her roof on at least six occasions, between September 2024 and last month.
The object also intermittently shone what appeared to be a spotlight, she said.
"There was a very small white light coming into my yard. This is activity that has been happening for over a year," she said.
It made "a small motor noise", she said. Describing the encounters as "scary", she added: "I can't sleep any more."
She said she reported the incidents to Suffolk Police, but the force told the BBC it had no record of the contact.
The BBC has been able to geolocate the video to the address supplied by the woman, which is close to the airbase, but has been unable to verify whether the footage is what it is claimed to be.
Some residents previously told the BBC they had been visited by USAF investigators.
What makes RAF Lakenheath particularly sensitive is the possibility the base could be storing nuclear weapons once again.
There have also been recent drone sightings around critical infrastructure across Europe, prompting a response from NATO.
British military assistance has been provided to Belgium after a series of suspected Russian drone incursions into its airspace.
But an investigation by the Flemish public broadcaster, VRT, revealed some images of purported drones in local media were, in fact, of regular aircraft.
The i Paper also reported how three individuals linked to Russian military intelligence had been tracked to locations close to the East Anglian bases.
Russia has denied the accusations.
Since the beginning of this year, there have been 187 drone sightings near military establishments in the UK, according to a Parliamentary answer.
An MOD spokesman said: "We will not comment on the sensitivity of establishments or our specific security arrangements in relation to identifying and capturing drones".
A USAF spokesman said: "To safeguard operational security, we do not discuss specific force protection measures.
"As always, the US Air Force works closely in partnership with host-nation authorities to take all appropriate measures to ensure the safety of base personnel, facilities, and assets."
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Sound Becomes a Weapon as US Firm Unleashes Acoustic Counter-Drone Tech
21 November 2025
Fractal Antenna Systems is turning sound into a battlefield tool with its new JERECHO acoustic array platform.
The system harnesses acoustic energy to detect, jam, or disrupt drones and other electronic threats, making it a flexible, low-collateral option to counter unmanned systems.
Its fractal-based array architecture is designed to control how sound travels through the air, allowing operators to precisely shape and steer acoustic energy.
Positioned as a soft-kill layer within larger defense networks, JERECHO provides acoustic sensing, imaging, and measured disruption.
Early demos have shown it can nudge a smartphone’s digital compass or create vibrations in small drone cameras, rendering them inefficient.
Beyond its counter-drone potential, JERECHO can also serve as a flexible testbed, letting researchers explore new acoustic tactics, spoofing techniques, and controlled-flight concepts.
The Core Tech
At the heart of JERECHO is Fractal’s proprietary Acoustic Resonance Mitigation (ARM) framework, originally patented in 2015 by a collaborator working with CEO Nathan Cohen.
Credited with pioneering acoustic counter-drone methods, it snagged the 2025 Gold Military & Aerospace Innovation Award.
JERECHO builds on that foundation with fractal-based techniques that shape, control, and amplify sound in ways previously unattainable.
Beyond drones, JERECHO could extend to robots, vessels, and unmanned systems, giving armed forces an extra layer of defense.
“Sound can be potent against modern machine surrogates such as drones, robots, smartphones, electronics, vessels, and aerial objects of unknown origin,” Fractal CEO Nathan Cohen said.
“We are advancing the very technologies we invented years ago, once brushed aside and even considered a dead end, to protect Americans and assets with acoustic innovations that go to 11.”
https://nextgendefense.com/sound-weapon-counter-drone/
A Film About Unidentified Phenomena Gets a Congressional Audience
Updated Nov. 21, 2025, 10:56 a.m. ET
The long government shutdown had left a secret screening in limbo. But Monday on Capitol Hill, a handful of House members filed into a committee room to watch a new documentary featuring nearly three dozen government officials and others discussing what they can disclose about unidentified aerial phenomena, long known as U.F.O.s.
The unusual bipartisan mix of Republicans and Democrats had gathered to watch “The Age of Disclosure,” which had its high-profile debut at South by Southwest earlier this year.
In the film, 34 former and current senior members of government, military and intelligence groups claim that they have knowledge of advanced nonhuman intelligence and contend, among other things, that there’s been an 80-year cover-up of the reverse engineering of technology retrieved from crashes.
Perhaps the biggest name in “The Age of Disclosure” (in theaters Friday and on Amazon Prime), is Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the former senator whose participation helped open the door for other top officials to go on record when he served as the vice chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. In the film, he cites “repeated instances of something operating in the airspace over restricted nuclear facilities, and it’s not ours. And we don’t know whose it is.”
At the invitation of the movie’s producer and director, Dan Farah, five House members, as well as staffers and a few of the former officials who were interviewed in the film gathered at a long conference table in a large Cannon House Office Building space.
The closed-door session was scheduled for 7 p.m., but members arrived late after a vote, without time to eat.
Representative André Carson of Indiana, a Democrat from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, praised the documentary, saying it “pieces everything together that we’ve seen on television, on film and on social media.”
Carson, a host of the screening who also appears in the film, added, “There is a section in here that will bring context to all the fuzzy photos that we’ve seen.”
One attendee, Representative Eric Burlison, Republican of Missouri, said he hoped “The Age of Disclosure” would help make the U.A.P. issue a priority for the Trump administration.
“I think we’ve had enough hearings” and it is now time for hard evidence or “receipts,” he said in an interview while waiting for his colleagues to arrive.
“I’m trying to find the receipts. In private conversations, I’ve been given enough information to find them, I just don’t have access.”
A request to a Pentagon spokesperson for comment on the film drew no initial response. In a 2021 report on more than 100 U.A.P. sightings, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said it lacked any data explaining the sightings as the work of American classified programs, technology from adversaries or extraterrestrial visitations.
The Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, tasked with investigating U.A.P., has said it has no verifiable information to support reports of a government program to reverse-engineer extraterrestrial materials.
The controversial documentary has drawn mixed reactions from critics, with several reviews questioning unproven statements.
But on Monday the movie and Farah were introduced by Carson and his co-host, Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, the chairwoman of the House’s Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets.
Also at the screening were Representatives Tim Burchett, Republican of Tennessee, and Jared Moskowitz, Democrat of Florida. A few of the military and intelligence officials interviewed on camera were also on hand: J
ay Stratton, a former director of the Pentagon’s U.A.P. task force; Brett Feddersen, a former White House National Security Council director of aviation security; and Timothy Gallaudet, a retired rear admiral. (The House members Burchett and Luna also appear in the film.)
In the film, Stratton says “I have seen with my own eyes nonhuman craft and nonhuman beings,” but declined to elaborate before the screening.
paywall
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/movies/the-age-of-disclosure-congress.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/movies/the-age-of-disclosure-review.html
https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/pentagon-ufo-investigations-senators/
https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/whos-who-ufo-documentary-age-of-disclosure/
https://www.complex.com/life/a/jessica-mcbride/age-of-disclosure-producer-how-to-watch-says-us-has-alien-technology
https://x.com/ageofdisclosure
https://x.com/Dan_Farah
Yale UFO Society hosts panel calling for government transparency
5:38 am, Nov 21, 2025
The Yale Student UFO Society, an organization with the goal of “creating an inclusive space for people to discuss the mysteries of unidentified flying objects” per its mission statement, on Thursday hosted a panel to discuss the state of public policy surrounding UFOs.
The panel featured three speakers who shared insights on UFOs: former National Science Foundation scientist Anna Brady-Estevez GRD ’09, former staffer on the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees Kirk McConnell and Dillon Guthrie, the co-founder of the Disclosure Foundation, a group that advocates for improved understanding of UFOs.
About two dozen people attended the panel.
Sri Tata GRD ’27, the vice president of the group, wrote in a statement to the News that the goal of the event was “to foster critical dialogue on this topic that’s been often overlooked and is the subject of Congressional inquiry and transparency legislation up for consideration this winter.”
The transparency legislation refers to proposed congressional bill H.R. 1187, which, according to Congress’ website, serves to “require the release to the public of all documents, reports, and other records relating to unidentified anomalous phenomena, and for other purposes.”
Initially introduced in 2023 by South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds and then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the bill was initially intended to amend the National Defense Authorization Act and was closely modeled on the President John F. Kennedy Assasination Collection Act of 1992, which served to make public the assasination records of Kennedy after a number of years, according to a press release by senate Democrats in 2023.
The bill has since failed to pass despite garnering bipartisan support and being sponsored by Schumer on numerous occasions.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio had previously supported the 2023 version of the bill proposed by Schumer and Rounds, when he was a Florida senator.
At the event, McConnell was critical of individual senators whom he would not name, claiming they conducted themselves in an unfavorable manner by refusing to assess the legislation based on its own merits.
Remaining optimistic, however, McConnell added that the bill still had “a lot of interest and energy,” praising efforts by UFO enthusiasts to take investigative matters into their own hands.
He added that “it pains me to say this, but Congress should be out there fighting to protect these whistleblowers.”
“We meet with Congress, we want to be here in academic institutions to talk about this and take this seriously. We also want to talk with Silicon Valley, there’s economic possibilities and economic risks associated with this subject, and Wall Street as well,” Jordan Flowers, the Disclosure Foundation executive director who moderated the discussion, said.
“We’ve been fortunate to find partners that are open minded, this topic clearly has a history of having a stigma associated with it.”
Claiming that many politicians were in fact aware of classified information, Guthrie cited a quote from President Donald Trump among other prominent government officials, in which he states, “we have weaponry that nobody has any idea what it is.”
“There was a lot of hope, anticipation, that Trump would end up being the disclosure president,” McConnell said in conversation with Flowers, expressing a general dissatisfaction with politicians not following through on claims to uncover classified intelligence after assuming office.
“Maybe he doesn’t want to admit that there’s a force in the galaxy that’s more potent than he is,” McConnell added.
Brady-Estevez concluded the panel highlighting the importance of supporting research about off-planet exploration and other technologies.
For UFO Society students, the discussion of UFOs is a defining factor of the organization.
“It’s a really strange topic but highly rewarding,” the group’s founder Sydney Morrison ’25 wrote to the News.
The Thursday panel took place in Marsh lecture hall.
https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2025/11/21/yale-ufo-society-hosts-panel-calling-for-government-transparency/
Joe Rogan Experience #2416 - Dan Farah
Nov 21, 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSFaaq3vhfY
https://x.com/JeremyCorbell/status/1991934114681991415
Lester Nare
@lesternare
Interested to see what Grusch has to say tomorrow on @SpecialReport with @BretBaier.
It’s been a long time.
5:26 PM · Nov 20, 2025
https://x.com/lesternare/status/1991679594018271503
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL3jyYbBNMg (David Grusch interview scoop CONFIRMED! Does he support The Age of Disclosure? - Psicoactivo #700)
https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/ufo-whistleblower-deserve-serious-investigation-rubio/
https://www.loudountimes.com/townnews/legislation/ufo-whistleblower-sues-sheriffs-office-over-records-release/article_b24005c4-490e-11ef-97d5-4bc65ae077be.html
https://x.com/BretBaier
https://x.com/SpecialReport
The Dr. Steven Greer Podcast - Episode 13
Nov 20, 2025
In today's episode, Dr. Greer discusses 3iAtlas, myths that extraterrestrials are angels or demons, consciousness and more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnzIt_O6RwA
https://linktr.ee/drstevengreer
Global Policy Journal Publishes Post on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) by Karin Austin, Michael Bohlander, and Kimberly S. Engels
20 November 2025
Durham Law School's Professor Michael Bohlander contributes to blog published by the Global Policy Journal entitled “Don’t look up?“ – Why it is past time for serious holistic research into Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena.
The highly respected Global Policy Journal has published a blog entitled “Don’t look up?“ – Why it is past time for serious holistic research into Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, written by Karin Austin (Director of the Center for the Impossible, Rice University, and of the John Mack Institute), Michael Bohlander (Chair in Global Law and SETI Policy at Durham University) and Kimberly S. Engels (Associate Professor of Philosophy at Molloy University and Research Director of the John Mack Institute).
They argue that UAP research needs to be taken more seriously, domestically and on the international level, and should encompass all aspects of the phenomenon, not just the technological side.
The enormity of the implications for humanity if some of the UAP are indeed of non-human origin is nothing short of existential.
It is important and encouraging that serious and rigorous major mainstream academic journals are beginning to include the topic in their wider discussion.
https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/law/news-and-events/news/2025/11/global-policy-journal-publishes-post-on-unidentified-anomalous-phenomena-uap-by-karin-austin-michael-bohlander-and-kimberly-s-engels/
https://www.globalpolicyjournal.com/blog/19/11/2025/dont-look-why-it-past-time-serious-holistic-research-unidentified-anomalous (full)