Spaaaaace (Part 1)

Report reveals US Space Force unprepared to counter orbital threats

But… they have, like, a cool logo and a song and everything!

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Don’t forget the snazzy uniforms

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Europe’s Euclid telescope launches to figure out dark energy, the universe, and everything

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Now that’s some serious air pollution.

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Why would a UK magazine bother to refer to July 4th as independence day? Seems peculiar

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Written by The Register’s North America editor.
Who may or may not be based in San Francisco; I can’t be asked to check where they still have offices these days.

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North Korean satellite had no military utility for spying, says South Korea

[…]

North Korea attempted to put the satellite into orbit on May 31, but it instead plunged into the sea soon after it was launched.

[…]

The satellite was recovered by South Korea after a 36-day search and salvage operation using naval vessels, aircraft and deep-sea divers.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the spacecraft was analyzed by US and South Korean experts and determined to have “no military utility as a reconnaissance satellite.”

[…]

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SpaceX says, sure, Starship blew up but you can forget about the rest of that lawsuit

SpaceX has hit back at a lawsuit brought by the American Bird Conservancy and others regarding risks to the environment near its Starship testing facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

[…]

The lawsuit was filed in May by a group of environmental non-profits and an indigenous nation with ties to the Boca Chica area. It accused the FAA – not SpaceX – of violating America’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by allowing Musk and company to perform their own programmatic environmental assessment (PEA), not a full environmental impact study as required by the NEPA.

[…]

SpaceX, for its part, denies that the FAA deferred to its in-house environmental study despite the fact that the PEA itself [PDF] says as much, using nearly the exact same language as the lawsuit.

And then it gets a bit weird.
Anyway:

All said, SpaceX (and the FAA, which filed a similar [PDF] blanket denial of the allegations) argues the plaintiffs don’t have any standing. Therefore, the case should be dismissed with prejudice, and SpaceX should be granted “other relief as may be appropriate.”

We asked SpaceX to explain the situation, but haven’t heard back. Regardless, Starship probably won’t be taking to the skies again anytime soon despite Musk’s claims last month that it would be ready to launch in six to eight weeks, meaning it’d be flying again as soon as July 24.

The FAA still hasn’t cleared Starship for operations again after its April snafu. We’ve contacted the agency to learn when it may return Starship to operation.

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According to the University of Alaska’s Geophysical Institute, activity will be high on July 13 with visibility forecast in Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Indiana, Vermont and Maryland. The lights will also be visible in Canadian cities such as Vancouver and Toronto.

Aurora activity will also be high on July 12 and the display is forecast to be visible in Alaska, Washington, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio and Massachusetts, as well as in Canadian cities like Edmonton and Winnipeg.

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Re:Northern Lights

Making tentative plans to go to Annapolis, Md. for the show. Forecast is for scattered storms but hopefully it will clear up in time.

A Kp 4 level event is forecast for Thursday.

Although heading into the mountains of W.Va. or Pa. might be better with less light pollution.

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