KosmicKris

I tend to talk about different things to different people. So I try and make extra use of hashtags. Hopefully it allows us to remain friends, and you can mute the stuff of mine you don’t want to see #cricket #football #snooker for the sports #music #scifi #space #politics for the other stuff

Do you know what's happening at Europe's Spaceport right now? Well, we don't know what's happening, exactly, right now, but we have some clues 😉 We're building another Ariane 6 rocket, with 4 P160C boosters to launch 36 Amazon Leo satellites to low Earth orbit. Liftoff is set for 23 November.

Launch had happened: tass.com/defense/2209... (HT @nukestrat.bsky.social )

I feel such sorrow for the victims and the families. Someone will have got on that train having had a silly argument, someone thinking 'I'll just jump on the train', someone else feeling happy and in love. All those lives with their little moments. So very sad. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cv...

NASA crewed Mars flyby planning mostly ended by 1970, but interest has revived on a small scale repeatedly in the decades since. Unlike 1960s plans, more recent ones tend to ignore science such missions could accomplish, making them seem like stunts. spaceflighthistory.blogspot.com/2019/12/revi...

I do a lot of passive mobility myself.

Blimey, I'm grumpy today. I think reading that Marco Pierre Chef article in the Times (can you imagine being stuck in a lift with someone like that?) and hearing the phrase 'working people' have been like fingernails down a blackboard.

Diplomacy meets distrust. At the UN last week, states outlined a strong agenda for #SpaceSecurity. And, the US accused Russia's Kosmos 2612 of behaviour “consistent with an on-orbit weapons operation.” @rcw4disarmament.bsky.social recap pg. 11: reachingcriticalwill.org/images/docum...

Those deadlines seem very... fluid

In other news, this bloody cold has managed to cling on for nearly a fortnight now. I wonder if I will ever not feel groggy and achy? Or maybe I'm just getting old and have to deal with it.

I know this is hardly top notch insight, but Mitchell Stark is utterly amazing #cricket

Behold: The US Defense Intelligence Agency has released a report on challenges to security in space, including an NEI image of China’s spaceplane from Maxar, taken in 2024.

I would say unbelievable... but it is all too believable.

RIP to the great Walter Koenig. A huge part of my life as a Star Trek fan and then onwards to Babylon 5. Go well friend x

Thank you @nik-proxima.bsky.social for teaching us about an incredible quote

Even though China have been a bit naughty in GEO, given the activity in LEO this has to be a welcome intervention.

When there was no room left in hell, the dead went to the Golden Eagle.

The Spaceman and King Arthur in the summer of 1979. It was the benchmark by which all films would be judged - so a pretty low bar I'll be honest.

ESA is uncertain whether its Themis reusable rocket demonstrator will fly in 2026, with winter conditions at Esrange threatening further delays. europeanspaceflight.com/esa-director...

Lots of commentary on the Kosmos-ICEYE interaction speculates about a possible U.S. response to Russian aggression and, look, I’m not convinced that the current U.S. admin sees Russia as an enemy anymore. The broader politics are all upside down relative to just a couple of year ago.

“Tracking estimates placed the spacecraft approximately 136m apart on 18 Oct, with closer approaches projected for 19 Oct, although public orbital data cannot establish those distances reliably enough to treat the encounter as a confirmed near-contact event.” defencesecurityasia.com/en/russia-ko...

Who put weapons in orbit first? Whose weapons are worse? Week 1 of UN #FirstCommittee descended into arguments over these historic questions. Support for #PAROS continues. But what new restraints are on the table? Recap via @rcw4disarmament.bsky.social reachingcriticalwill.org/images/docum...

This was some 6 hours after closest approach and they were approximately 5 km apart by this time

SpaceX senior manager for global government affairs is about to testify before NYC Council tech committee after the co. skipped a 10/5 hearing and shirked a subpoena to testify... www.cnbc.com/2026/10/16/s... I'm listening so you don't have to.

Ringo gets a lot of stick for his later solo output (and some of it is frankly staggering). But Time takes Time is genuinely brilliant. (I am now playing Time takes Time and genuinely marvelling that he drafted in Jellyfish - what a masterstroke!)

The analogy I see given is Heathrow airport. We have many more flights than we did in 1970, but our tracking and safety processes for managing air traffic is much more advanced. I would make every grant bid and tender application contingent on a commitment to explicitly enhancing SSA/SDA.

The mission could help resolve how Mars’ two moons were formed.

Is it Time to Regauge the Size of our Solar System? www.leonarddavid.com/is-it-time-t...

EUROPEAN COMMISSION PREPARES TO FAST-TRACK ANTITRUST APPROVAL FOR AIRBUS-LEONARDO-THALES SATELLITE VENTURE ‘PROJECT BROMO’ TO REDUCE RELIANCE ON SPACEX & US PROVIDERS

This blog post has never excited much interest, but it's one of my favorites. It discusses the history of the Soyuz spacecraft and describes a little-known November 1992 US/Russian tour of potential space station lifeboat landing sites in Australia. spaceflighthistory.blogspot.com/2015/03/inte...

Now this is an interesting choice...

A rare bit of actual space law analysis from me this morning. I think it must be a heady combination of the Lemsip and lack of snooker/cricket.

I know I’m late by a couple of weeks, but wanted to pay tribute to the great Ken Taylor who died a couple of weeks ago. A truly gifted sportsman, and artist who was also a lovely bloke. 91 years of a life well lived. yorkshireccc.com/news/ken-tay...

Also, there is now a direct line between tech procurement and foreign policy (I think there always was, but this boldens it). Today, it is Starlink throttling capability in Ukraine... www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I have COVID. I'd forgotten how unpleasant it was and how much it lingers on. I'm going to have sausage rolls delivered to me for breakfast as a counterbalance.

There needs to be an acceptance that the USA is a functional ally of Russia in the unlawful war waged on Ukraine. www.reuters.com/world/europe...

Blood diesel.

A “significant error was made in the application for — and grant of — the search warrants” for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s homes under section 8 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, Mr Justice Hilliard said in the High Court yesterday. Who was to blame? rozenberg.substack.com/p/a-signific...

Margaret Hamilton, who led the 100-person team that wrote the onboard software for the Apollo missions, has died.

📣 REMEMBER: We are OPEN now for abstract, roundtable and panel submissions for #BISA2027 📣 'Fragmenting orders, shared futures: Global politics in turbulent times' 🌎 Find out more and get your submissions in here! 👉 https://lnkd.in/e3R6qXxW @julietdryden.bsky.social Juanita Elias

This is gloriously nerdy. www.quantamagazine.org/first-shape-...