TYB
Watch live: Perseid meteor shower peaks August 12–13 under moonless skies
August 11, 2026 22:16 UTC
The Perseid meteor shower will reach its 2026 maximum during the night of August 12–13, with the International Meteor Organization placing the nominal peak between 02:00 and 04:00 UTC on August 13.
A New Moon on August 12 will eliminate lunar interference, providing excellent conditions for optical observations.
The broader Perseid maximum extends beyond the two-hour nominal peak.
Previous International Meteor Organization (IMO) observations place the traditional broad maximum in a range corresponding in 2026 to approximately 21:00 UTC on August 12 through 09:00 UTC on August 13.
NASA also places the peak from the evening of August 12 into the early hours of August 13. The New Moon on August 12 will leave the sky free of moonlight, allowing fainter meteors to remain visible where weather and local light pollution permit.
Watch live
The Virtual Telescope Project will broadcast the 2026 Perseid meteor shower live and free beginning at 22:30 UTC on August 12. The feed will use an all-sky camera at Manciano, Italy, in the Maremma countryside.
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center will hos their watch party live on YouTube, starting at 23:00 CT on August 12.
Throughout the broadcast, they will show real-time sky imagery from Marshall’s Automated Lunar and Meteor Observatory (ALaMO).
Meteoroid experts from Marshall and guest subject matter experts will join the event to discuss the science behind the Perseids and answer your questions in real time.
IMO lists the Perseids as active from July 17 through August 24, with a nominal zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) of 100 and a meteoroid velocity of 59 km/s (37 miles/s).
ZHR represents the calculated rate under ideal observing conditions with the radiant overhead and should not be read as a guarantee that an observer will see 100 meteors in one hour.
The Perseids originate from material released by comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. Earth passes through the comet’s debris stream each year, and particles entering the atmosphere at high speed produce the streaks of light seen as meteors.
The shower takes its name from its radiant near the constellation Perseus.
Viewing geometry favors mid-northern latitudes. IMO says the radiant reaches a reasonable elevation from approximately 22:00–23:00 LT onward at mid-northern sites.
The shower cannot be properly viewed from most of the Southern Hemisphere or from latitudes north of approximately 60° N.
NASA advises observers to find a dark, open site, look generally toward the northeast after darkness falls and allow approximately 30 minutes for their eyes to adapt.
Meteors can appear across any part of the sky, and viewing improves later in the night as the Perseid radiant rises higher.
Calculations cited by IMO place Earth at one branch of an old 1079 Swift-Tuttle dust trail at 16:53 UTC on August 12. Because the trail is very old, the calculation provides no estimate of resulting meteor activity.
A separate calculation places an encounter with a weak Swift-Tuttle filament near 01:00 UTC on August 13, with an uncertainty of ±5 hours. The modeled component has an expected ZHR of no more than 43.
IMO notes that the trail and filament could become detectable if the normal Perseid background rate is lower.
Neither calculation establishes an outburst or meteor-storm forecast for 2026. IMO gives no activity estimate for the 1079 trail and describes the second component as a weak filament.
Enhanced activity after the principal maximum has been recorded during some previous Perseid returns, and IMO recommends including the nights around the main maximum in observing programs.
The New Moon on August 12 leaves the 2026 maximum free of lunar interference. IMO describes the conditions as excellent for optical observations, leaving weather, sky darkness and local light pollution as the main constraints for observers.
https://watchers.news/2026/08/11/watch-live-perseid-meteor-shower-peaks-august-12-13-under-moonless-skies/
https://www.space.com/stargazing/meteor-showers/perseid-meteor-shower-peaks-under-perfect-skies-tonight-heres-what-to-expect
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVRkkrB4eS0 (NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zIBswePr4I (Virtual Telescope Project)
extra space objects
https://www.space.com/astronomy/comets/green-comet-caught-soaring-over-namibia-space-photo-of-the-day-for-aug-12-2026
https://dailygalaxy.com/2026/08/comets-encounter-with-ancient-star-cluster/
https://www.dailyjournalonline.com/regional-news/could-earths-second-largest-asteroid-impact-be-under-southeast-missouri-fa19d137
‘Project Anchor’ Theory Explained: NASA Denies Gravity Will be Switched Off
updated Aug 12, 2026 at 11:18 AM EDT
NASA has responded again to debunked claims that Earth will lose gravity briefly on Wednesday.
Social media has been awash with claims that our planet will briefly lose its gravity on Wednesday, a theory tied to an alleged leaked NASA project known as "Project Anchor."
What Is 'Project Anchor'?
In a January report, fact-checking outlet Snopes examined the “Project Anchor” claim after it began spreading online.
The rumor alleged that a secret NASA document had leaked in November 2024, warning that Earth would briefly “lose gravity” on August 12, 2026, causing mass casualties and global disruption.
Snopes rated the claim false, reporting that it found no credible search results that any such NASA project leaked.
According to Snopes, the story appeared to pick up steam through copy-and-paste social media posts, including an Instagram video that claimed NASA was preparing for a seven-second “gravitational anomaly” but withholding the information from the public.
The posts included dramatic details, such as an alleged $89 billion budget, predictions of tens of millions of deaths, and claims that only selected officials and specialists would be protected in bunkers.
Solar Eclipse, Meteor Shower Expected Wednesday
Today’s date is of astronomical significance, with a total solar eclipse expected to be visible along a path that crosses Greenland, Iceland, northern Russia, the Atlantic Ocean, Spain and a small corner of Portugal.
Other countries in the Northern Hemisphere will also be able to view a partial eclipse, according to NASA—including parts of the northern U.S. (from Alaska to North Carolina), most of Canada, much of Europe, and northwestern Africa.
NASA’s statement added: “A total solar eclipse has no unusual impact on Earth's gravity.
The gravitational attraction of the Sun and Moon on the Earth, which doesn't impact Earth's total gravity, but does impact tidal forces, is well understood and is predictable decades in advance."
The annual Perseid meteor shower is also expected to reach its peak Wednesday night into early Thursday morning, NASA said previously.
https://www.newsweek.com/project-anchor-theory-explained-nasa-denies-gravity-will-be-switched-off-12313820
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/nasa-project-anchor-earth-gravity/
https://usaherald.com/no-earth-is-not-losing-gravity-on-august-12-inside-the-project-anchor-hoax-and-the-real-sky-show-nasa-actually-confirms/
https://x.com/MaDJEric/status/2086535074451780003
https://x.com/Timcast/status/2087509994618941466
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/nasa-completes-astronaut-deployed-science-instrument-for-lunar-surface/
moar
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/kennedy/pursuing-a-dream-of-working-for-nasa/
https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/earth-science/quality-assessment-report-evaluates-polar-geospatial-center-earthdem-elevation-products/
https://science.nasa.gov/gallery/hubbles-star-clusters/
https://www.uniladtech.com/apple/iphone/apollo-11-guidance-computer-modern-iphone-millions-times-more-powerful-656217-20260812
NASA Completes Astronaut-Deployed Science Instrument for Lunar Surface
Aug 11, 2026
NASA has declared “wrenches down” on the first completed payload designed for Artemis astronauts to deploy on the Moon's surface.
Engineers working on NASA’s Lunar Environment Monitoring Station, or LEMS, have completed hardware development and testing and the payload is ready for its permanent home near the lunar South Pole.
With the hardware complete, LEMS is ready to support one of the Artemis program’s core goals: enabling sustained lunar science and exploration.
The LEMS instrument package contains two highly sensitive seismometers that will monitor ground vibrations from moonquakes and meteorite impacts, providing scientists with insights into the Moon’s interior and the seismic hazards astronauts might encounter at the surface.
Its modular design allows the system to be adapted or expanded to host new instruments in the future, creating a reusable platform that can evolve as scientific priorities grow.
The payload will remain in a clean room at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, where it was built, until it is assigned to an Artemis mission for deployment to the lunar surface.
“The completion of the LEMS scientific instrument is a major step in a new era of lunar surface science.
Innovative science experiments will uncover, measure, and reveal the Moon’s secrets while astronauts open new frontiers for discovery,” said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington.
“And, behind the scenes, countless teams across NASA and our partners are pushing the boundaries of what surface instruments can do, building the tools that will make future exploration possible and safer.”
The LEMS payload builds on a legacy of lunar seismic tracking. Apollo astronauts deployed a network of seismometers on the Moon’s nearside equatorial region between 1969 and 1972.
Those instruments operated until 1977, recording about 13,000 moonquakes and other ground vibrations that helped scientists begin to understand the composition of the Moon’s interior.
For decades, researchers have hoped to spread more seismometers, updated with new technologies, across the lunar surface.
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Now, LEMS will carry the first seismometers to be deployed by future astronauts to listen for faint ground vibrations, collecting new clues to the Moon’s internal structure and ongoing seismic activity.
The sensors will be the most compact, sensitive, and energy-efficient seismometers ever built for planetary exploration.
LEMS itself is about the size of a small suitcase, weighing 11 pounds in the Moon’s low-gravity environment. It will carry not just these seismic sensors, but everything it needs to function independently of humans after deployment.
LEMS is built to manage its own power production via a lightweight, flexible solar array that conforms to the shape of the LEMS unit. It also will manage its operational activities to ensure continuous data collection based on a preset plan, and monthly data transmission to Earth.
The payload will do all this while maintaining a stable internal temperature throughout the massive day-to-night temperature swings of the South Pole region.
“When we conceived of LEMS, we weren’t just thinking about the next mission, we were thinking about the next generation of lunar exploration,” said Mehdi Benna, a University of Maryland Baltimore County scientist who leads LEMS from NASA Goddard.
“Our vision was to create a scientific buoy for the Moon. Like an ocean buoy on Earth, LEMS is designed to be easy to build, adaptable to different scientific objectives, and capable of operating independently for years.”
Before any surface science could happen, Benna and his team had to ensure that LEMS could survive the trip to the Moon and the harsh environment of its surface.
Over the past five months, LEMS and its components have been subjected to a demanding series of environmental and operational tests.
Engineers verified LEMS can endure the violent shaking of launch, the journey to the lunar surface, and the Moon’s temperature and radiation environment.
The team also showed that the instrument package’s mechanical and electrical design is safe for astronaut handling.
The LEMS payload was built to operate through the lunar night, which lasts two Earth weeks, without external power assistance or a heat source. Past lunar surface instruments relied on radioisotope heaters for warmth and power.
But LEMS instead will withstand temperatures that dip to minus 400 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas by using advanced insulation materials, low-thermal-conductivity cables that minimize heat loss, and a thermal regulator that conducts heat away during the day to prevent overheating and helps retain heat at night.
These innovations reduce mass and power needs, setting the stage for lighter, energy-efficient instruments that can operate continuously at future Artemis landing sites and the NASA-led Moon Base.
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Crew Works Vein Scans For Health and Suit Checks for Spacewalk
August 11, 2026 3:14PM
Vein scans and spacesuit checks were the top duties for the Expedition 75 crew aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday. The orbital residents also continued their Earth photography sessions, cargo operations, and life support maintenance.
Station commander Jessica Meir kicked off her shift collecting blood samples inside the Columbus laboratory module for the Venous Flow investigation that is exploring how microgravity affects the circulatory system.
Afterward, she spun the samples in a centrifuge, analyzed the samples for signs of space-caused blood issues, then stowed the samples in a science freezer for preservation.
NASA flight engineer Jack Hathaway took charge of Tuesday’s first set of vein scans operating the Ultrasound 3 biomedical device to observe Meir’s internal jugular veins then measured her blood pressure.
Meir and Hathaway also took part in the second set of vein scans after lunchtime taking turns using the Ultrasound 3 with flight engineers Anil Menon of NASA, Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) and Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina, both from Roscosmos.
Doctors on the ground monitored the ultrasound scans in real-time to understand the risk of blood flow anomalies and blood clots during a spaceflight.
Hathaway, Menon, and Adenot also worked together throughout Tuesday servicing spacesuit gear ahead of a spacewalk planned for Tuesday, Aug. 18.
The trio took turns swapping spacesuit components inside the Quest airlock where Menon and Adenot will exit the orbital outpost next week.
The spacewalking duo will spend about six-and-a-half hours swapping out a high-speed data and communications antenna on the station’s Z1 truss segment.
Roscosmos flight engineer Andrey Fedyaev had a busy Tuesday, first starting his shift photographing landmarks throughout Africa and Eastern Europe. Next, Fedyaev spent the rest of his day inside the Zarya module troubleshooting electronics gear and laptop computers.
Dubrov began his day cleaning smoke detectors in the Poisk module then wrapped up his shift loading obsolete hardware inside the Progress 94 cargo spacecraft for disposal when it departs in September.
Kikina worked primarily inside the Zvezda service module maintaining the ventilation system and cleaning areas behind the panels inside Zarya.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/08/11/crew-works-vein-scans-for-health-and-suit-checks-for-spacewalk/
moar
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/swift/2026/08/11/nasa-swift-boost-spacecraft-prepares-to-continue-mission/
https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources/for-kids-and-students/what-is-the-nancy-grace-roman-space-telescope-grades-5-8/
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/lion-nebula-roars-in-webbs-sights/
https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/programs/cosmic-origins/community/call-for-white-papers-multi-cycle-treasury-program-concepts-with-jwst/
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman
@NASAAdmin
To realize the future in space that many of us dreamed about as children, it cannot be perpetually funded by taxpayers alone.
Some of the wealthiest entrepreneurs in America, alongside private capital, are contributing resources to solve the hardest engineering problems, for the competitiveness of the nation, for all we hope to discover and achieve, and ultimately for all mankind.
2:16 PM · Aug 11, 2026
https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2087287149368312071
moar
https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2087244132892676224
https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2087296564016415021
https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2087306763695513918
https://x.com/JerryMoran/status/2087353361679139189
SpaceX could make $500 billion in 2028, Elon Musk says
August 11, 2026
SpaceX is an AI company now, and it sees huge money in the burgeoning field.
SpaceX isn't a launch company anymore.
SpaceX is famous for launching, and landing, its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets and sending astronauts to space aboard its Dragon crew capsule.
Recently, however, the company has been transitioning into an artificial intelligence (AI) outfit — and that journey is now mostly complete.
"Our AI revenue will exceed all other SpaceX revenue probably in September — like, next month — and will significantly exceed all other SpaceX revenue in in the fourth quarter," company founder and CEO Elon Musk said during an address to employees that the company posted on X today (Aug. 11). "So, AI has become an extremely important part of SpaceX's future."
Earlier this year, SpaceX bought xAI, a startup that Musk founded in 2023. xAI created the chatbot Grok and also operates a powerful supercomputer cluster in Tennessee called Colossus.
But that was just the beginning. Musk laid out just how deeply SpaceX is diving into AI during his 29-minute talk, which came a week after SpaceX's first-ever quarterly earnings call as a public company.
"Probably in four or five years, AI will be 99% of the value of SpaceX; I'd say five years for sure," Musk said. "And the value of SpaceX will be some astronomical number."
Astronomical is right. According to Musk, the company aims to get 10 gigawatts of AI compute up and running by the end of next year. That's a big jump from its current 1.4 GW, which SpaceX sells to tech companies and AI labs.
"The value per watt is probably going to be 30 to $50, which means if we bring 10 gigawatts of AI online by the end of next year, it will be 300 to $500 billion a year in revenue," he said. "Big numbers."
And those numbers will get even bigger over time, if all goes according to plan.
SpaceX just announced plans to build a gigantic complex in Texas called Terafab, a joint operation with Tesla that will manufacture advanced semiconductor chips for a wide range of applications.
And the company aims to launch a million of its "Starmind" AI satellites to low Earth orbit in the coming years using its fully reusable Starship megarocket, which is still in development.
Over the longer haul, the company plans to establish factories on the moon that will build these off-Earth data centers.
The satellites will be launched into space from the lunar surface via electromagnetic mass drivers — basically, high-powered rail guns.
SpaceX envisions Starmind and its other AI efforts as returning almost unimaginable profits down the road.
For example, in paperwork the company filed just before its record-breaking IPO, SpaceX identified an eventual "total addressable market" of $28.5 trillion, nearly $23 trillion of it in the AI field.
For some perspective: The gross domestic product of the entire United States last year was about $30.8 trillion.
"The future is fundamentally AI and robots," Musk said during his address to employees.
"Assuming civilization continues to progress, I think that AI will probably — the amount of digital intelligence will probably be more than a trillion times the amount of biological intelligence."
He also said he's not just in this for the money.
"It's important that we have an AI that cares about humanity, that fosters humanity and helps take us to other planets and other star systems," Musk said.
"This is why I think it's essential that SpaceX succeed not just with AI hardware but also with AI software," he added. "I think an AI that is sort of SpaceX's baby will be a very good AI.
I think SpaceX is a collection of some of the very best humans on Earth, both in capability and morality and goodness."
He urged SpaceX employees to aid the company's AI efforts in any way that they can, stressing that success could lead to some amazing vacations.
"One of the nice benefits of this also is that anyone at SpaceX who wants to go to the moon or Mars will be able to go in the future," he said. "You have my word."
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/spacex-could-make-usd500-billion-in-2027-elon-musk-says
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2087409075009274035
https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2620/
https://www.space.com/astronomy/scientists-create-largest-2d-map-of-the-universe-with-5-6-trillion-pixels-and-nearly-4-billion-cosmic-objects
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1pvJu79dPM
Scientists Release Biggest 2D Map of the Universe
10 August 2026
The new DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys map serves as the foundation for the largest-ever 3D map of the Universe, used to investigate dark energy
Hold on to your telescopes: the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys team has released the largest-ever 2D map of the Universe.
The 5.6-trillion-pixel map contains nearly four billion celestial objects, including stars, galaxies, black holes, and asteroids. The data are available for all to use and are publicly viewable through the Legacy Survey Sky Viewer.
Astronomers and citizen scientists can combine the map with their own observations to better understand our Universe.
Researchers can search for rare phenomena like gravitational lenses, observe fleeting events like supernovae, and investigate two of physics’ biggest mysteries: dark matter, the invisible substance that accounts for most of the mass in our Universe, and dark energy, the force driving our Universe’s accelerating expansion.
The new map builds on earlier versions from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys that have already proved invaluable. To date, more than 1800 science papers have been published referencing the Legacy Surveys’ data.
“It’s part of the fabric of astronomy research now,” says David Schlegel, a co-lead of the Legacy Surveys and scientist at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).
“When you're working with astronomical objects today, you often start by pulling up the Legacy Imaging Viewer to see what you’re looking at.”
Covering roughly 75% of the sky in visible and near-infrared light, the updated map provides a deep view of the extragalactic Universe not blocked by the dust and stars of our own Milky Way.
Researchers expect it will remain the most comprehensive 2D map of our Universe for years to come.
More than 160 scientists contributed to data collection for the project, and a team of 20 produced the final dataset released today. It was built by combining 263,407 telescope exposures from three ground-based sky surveys:
The Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (DECaLS), conducted by the 570-megapixel Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera (DECam), mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Victor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at NSF Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab.
The Mayall z-band Legacy Survey (MzLS), conducted by the NSF Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at NSF Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab.
The Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey (BASS) at the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory, conducted with the UA Bok 2.3-meter Telescope at KPNO and supplemented by years of data from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) satellite mission.
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In addition to the extended file collection, the DESI Legacy Surveys’ full catalog of data is made available as a searchable database via the Astro Data Lab at the Community Science and Data Center (CSDC), a Program of NSF NOIRLab.
These services are accessible to the entire astronomy community to facilitate data access and analysis.
“Explorations of our Universe always start with images of the night sky. The DESI Imaging Legacy Surveys are just one step in this venerable human tradition,” says Arjun Dey, co-lead of the Legacy Surveys and an astronomer at NSF NOIRLab.
“For our team, these data are fundamental to the investigation of the expansion history of the Universe and the formation of our galaxy. But the skies belong to everyone, and this survey gives everyone the chance to marvel at their wonders.”
The DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys were originally conducted to prepare for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) survey.
The Legacy Surveys’ 2D map is essentially a deep photograph of the sky; it records where galaxies and stars appear and how bright they appear.
This crucial step enables DESI to select objects and measure their light in different wavelengths to determine their distances, building the largest high-resolution 3D map ever made.
Scientists use this map to study the way galaxies have clustered at different ages of the Universe to track dark energy over time.
In April 2026, DESI completed its original five-year survey ahead of schedule and with vastly more objects than expected.
The early results have shown surprising hints that dark energy’s impact may be weakening over time — a paradigm shift that could potentially shape the predicted fate of our Universe.
DESI expects to publish improved results using its first five years of data in 2027 and is continuing observations into 2028.
Beyond supporting DESI, the Legacy Surveys will be a foundational reference for the next generation of telescopes.
As new observatories like NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, jointly funded by the NSF and DOE’s Office of Science (DOE/SC), and NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope come online, researchers can compare their observations with one of the deepest and most comprehensive views of the sky ever assembled.
The Legacy Surveys’ data will also help scientists train artificial intelligence tools to analyze petabytes of astronomical data and accelerate new discoveries.
It will be among the datasets used in an astrophysics pilot project within the American Science Cloud, part of the DOE’s Genesis Mission.
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https://256today.com/army-space-golden-dome-take-center-stage-on-opening-day-of-smd-symposium/
extra Space Force
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4568962/daf-updates-covid-19-reinstatement-process-reduces-time-for-members-returning-t/
https://www.twz.com/space/u-s-must-fuse-missile-warning-and-defense-to-defeat-future-threats-spacecom-deputy-commander
https://x.com/SpaceForceCSO/status/2087172366090518761
https://x.com/USSpaceForce/status/2087215033503596805
Army Space, Golden Dome take center stage on opening day of SMD Symposium
August 12, 2026
The 2026 Space and Missile Defense Symposium opened Tuesday with a message that carried from the first military briefing of the morning to one of the most anticipated updates of the afternoon: the threat is changing quickly, and the military and defense industry have to move with speed.
Lt. Gen. John Rafferty, commanding general of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, delivered the first major military update of SMD after Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle welcomed attendees to the Von Braun Center.
Rafferty was followed by U.S. Space Command and international space panels before Gen. Michael Guetlein, direct reporting program manager for Golden Dome for America, took the stage Tuesday afternoon.
Rafferty: Huntsville a ‘strategic advantage’
Rafferty began with Huntsville itself, pointing to the concentration of military, government and private industry surrounding Redstone Arsenal.
“I don’t think the visionaries of Operation Paperclip who brought those captured scientists here to North Alabama could have imagined the type of ecosystem that they would create,” Rafferty said. “It really is a national treasure and definitely a strategic advantage.”
Operation Paperclip was a U.S. government program that brought more than 1,600 German scientists, engineers and technicians to the United States after World War II to advance American military and space research.
Among them was Wernher von Braun, who came to Huntsville with his rocket team and helped establish the foundation for the city’s emergence as a center of U.S. space and missile technology.
Rafferty’s focus quickly turned to a rapidly evolving threat environment.
“The threat and the pace of change is remarkable,” Rafferty said.
Among Rafferty’s updates and priorities:
SMDC has added the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command and 263rd Army Air and Missile Defense Command to its forces and established Joint Task Force-Gold to help deliver Golden Dome for America.
Forces under the 32nd have spent the past 14 months in what Rafferty called “the largest air missile defense fight in U.S. history.”
He said 125 ballistic missiles were successfully engaged during the “12-day war” and more than 1,200 ballistic, cruise missile and unmanned aircraft threats have been neutralized during Operation Epic Fury.
SMDC is pushing for a broader missile defeat strategy that goes beyond interceptors to include electronic warfare, directed energy, data and integrated command and control.
Rafferty said the command will seek a closer relationship with the defense industry, telling attendees, “Today I pledge that SMDC is going to be a great teammate.”
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Rafferty also challenged the industry to accept more development risk at home to reduce the risk faced by service members in combat.
“If we really mean it that we’ll never forget, then we’ll be willing to take risks,” Rafferty said. “Not operational risk. We’ll be willing to take schedule risk, investment risk, technical risk, take the operational risk and minimize it and take the risk back here.”
Golden Dome moves from concept to construction
By Tuesday afternoon, attention shifted to Golden Dome, where Guetlein said the homeland missile defense initiative has moved rapidly from presidential directive to contracts, testing and construction.
“Golden Dome did not exist a year ago,” Guetlein said. “It was a concept that came out of the EO, but it didn’t exist.”
Now, Guetlein said, “We are digging dirt around the homeland.”
Among the updates:
Golden Dome has its first operational site and is working toward delivering capabilities in summer 2028.
Guetlein said the program has completed two “phenomenally successful” tests.
Of $22.5 billion available, he said 90% is obligated and 95% committed.
Radars, launchers, space-based interceptors, hypersonic ballistic tracking and a space data network are under contract.
Guetlein continues to estimate the architecture at approximately $185 billion.
He described Golden Dome as a “systems of systems, multi domain layered architecture” designed to counter conventional and nuclear threats approaching the homeland from air, land, sea and space.
But Guetlein also identified a major hurdle ahead: fiscal 2027 funding.
Golden Dome’s initial funding came through reconciliation rather than the regular defense budget, meaning a continuing resolution would not provide the program the same funding bridge available to established programs.
“I will tell you that if they don’t figure it out, there is no Golden Dome because there is no funding,” Guetlein said.
Still, he expressed confidence Congress will find a way forward.
“I believe we’re going to figure this budget problem out,” Guetlein said. “I think the nation’s going to come together in a very bipartisan manner and figure out what needs to be done.”
Guetlein also made clear to the hundreds of companies filling the Von Braun Center have a role to play. He said he has already met one-on-one with more than 500 companies about Golden Dome challenges and potential solutions.
He announced the of an online Ecosystem Hub where companies can submit ideas and capabilities for consideration. Guetlein said submissions are vetted for security and potential foreign influence, with teams also available to help companies protect their intellectual property and networks.
Golden Dome has also created a digital environment designed to bring program data together and allow industry, academia and government partners to work with that data and develop potential solutions.
“We are open for business, we are testing, we are delivering capabilities, we are digging dirt,” Guetlein said.
SMD continues Wednesday, with U.S. Space Command Commander Gen. Stephen Whiting scheduled to deliver a USSPACECOM update at 8:45 a.m. as the command begins its transition to Redstone Arsenal.
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Vance dresses down Zelensky over Black Sea tanker attacks – FT
12 Aug, 2026 15:09 | Updated 12 Aug, 2026 16:58
Washington was unhappy with Kiev launching drone attacks on vessels carrying oil to a terminal co-owned by US companies, the article says
The US has called Ukraine to heel for targeting oil tankers in the Black Sea after Kiev began launching drone attacks on vessels sailing to a partly US-owned Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal in Russia, the Financial Times has reported.
Ukrainian drone raids targeting the CPC – which funnels Kazakh crude across southern Russia to a marine terminal near Novorossiysk, from where tankers carry it onward to Europe and Asia – have tested Washington's patience to the limit, prompting US Vice-President J.D. Vance to press Vladimir Zelensky to shut down the attacks during a July 31 phone call, unidentified Ukrainian officials told the FT.
The CPC route incorporates a combination of Russian, Kazakh, and Western interests, with Chevron and ExxonMobil among the heavyweight US shareholders.
According to the newspaper's sources, Vance told Zelensky that Ukraine was not only harming the interests of American companies, but also rattling oil markets, which are already under strain due to the still-ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran.
Zelensky appears to have quickly caved and called off strikes on tankers near the CPC terminal, as long as they are not under Ukrainian sanctions or carrying Russian cargo.
“We very carefully listen to our American partners,” a senior Ukrainian official told the newspaper, saying Kiev had installed new ‘mechanisms’ after the US intervened.
Ukraine also reportedly attempted to use the strikes as a bargaining chip in talks with the US. An FT source claimed that Kiev had agreed to Washington’s request because it was seeking a US license to produce desperately needed Patriot interceptor missiles.
While US President Donald Trump promised a license in early July, he later walked back on that pledge, while reportedly declining to send additional air defense missiles due to a shortfall caused by the Iran war.
Russia has denounced Ukraine’s attacks on oil tankers as “terrorist acts,” while accusing Kiev of targeting civilian infrastructure. Kazakhstan also protested the drone raids, though without directly blaming Ukraine.
It called the strikes on civilian vessels moving CPC crude as an “unacceptable infringement” on its economic interests and warned that they risked destabilizing lawful trade, energy markets, and global supply chains.
However, Kiev publicly refused to accept responsibility and urged Kazakhstan and other affected countries to “refrain from making hasty and unfounded accusations.”
https://www.rt.com/news/644171-vance-dresses-down-zelensky-black-sea-drones/
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