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North Korea’s Satellite
There have been a lot of odd statements about North Korea’s satellite in the press over the last few days. I thought it would be useful to talk about some of them and try to clarify some...
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Does a High-Altitude ASAT Test Make Sense?
China’s Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun made a statement last month denying that China planned to test a new anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon and that it was holding off until November so as not to...
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Debris from North Korea’s Launcher: What It Shows
Press reports now say South Korea has recovered four pieces of the first stage of the Unha-3 rocket that North Korea launched on December 11 (U.S. time). Since all these pieces were found in...
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Is January Chinese ASAT Testing Month?
In 2007 and 2010 China conducted anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons tests, both on January 11. Rumors circulating for the past few months suggest that some within the U.S. defense and intelligence...
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Iran’s Launch Today–and in the Future
Iran’s English Language outlet Press TV reports today that today (Monday) Iran has successfully launched a monkey on a suborbital flight in its new capsule called Pishgam (Pioneer). The Iranian Fars...
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Update of UCS Satellite Database
A new version of the UCS satellite database has been released which includes launches through November 30, 2012. There are currently 1046 active satellites in the database. The changes to this version...
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Yuri’s Night
A Vostok return capsule with hatches removed, showing how the seat with the pilot were ejected during descent. (Source: http://www.kansastravel.org/hutchinson/kansascosmosphere.htm) Every year on April...
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New Quarterly Update to UCS Satellite Database
A new version of the UCS satellite database has been released which includes launches through May 31, 2013. There are currently 1071 active satellites in the database. The changes to this version of...
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New Quarterly Update to the UCS Satellite Database
O3b constellation (courtesy of O3b Networks) We’ve released a new version of the UCS satellite database, which includes launches through August 31, 2013. There are currently 1084 active satellites in...
View ArticleStrategic Options for Chinese Space Science and Technology
Last spring the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) produced a report that included a lengthy section on the future of Chinese space science and technology. A translation with commentary is now available...
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Iran Space Launch Program: Update
While the world is focusing on negotiations over the Iranian nuclear program, where do things stand on the other piece of the puzzle, the Iranian space-launch and missile program? Reliable and accurate...
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Disaggregation: Satellite Navigation More Resilient Than You Think
The Pentagon voiced its concern this week that the U.S. GPS navigation capabilities could be held at risk by increasingly capable Chinese anti-satellite capabilities. But it is worth noting that while...
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New Quarterly Update to the UCS Satellite Database
A new version of the UCS Satellite Database, which includes launches through January 31, 2014, has been posted at ucsusa.org/satellites. There are currently 1167 active satellites in the database. The...
View ArticleReconsidering Chinese Views on Military Space Strategy
Many U.S. observers believe anti-satellite (ASAT) missile attacks are central to Chinese military strategy. They argue China intends to exploit the U.S. military’s reliance on satellites by launching...
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Five Kinds of Things the UCS Satellite Database Can Tell You
We’ve been getting a good number of questions about the UCS Satellite Database and have been happy to see it be useful as context in recent discussions about satellite imaging and the search for the...
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How High Did China’s May 2013 Launch Go?
On May 13, 2013, China launched a rocket on a suborbital trajectory to high altitude. China announced that the launch was part of a project to study space weather and that the probe carried out an...
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New Quarterly Update to the UCS Satellite Database
A new version of the UCS Satellite Database, which includes launches through July 31, 2014, has been posted at http://ucsusa.org/satellites. There are currently 1235 active satellites in the database....
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The Space Plane Returns to Earth
The third X-37B space plane flight is coming to an end this week, after a record 22 month long mission. We have written pretty extensively on the “space plane” here on ATN, and have a factsheet where...
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Visualizing the UCS Satellite Database
Quartz created an interactive visualization using the UCS Satellite Database data called “The World Above Us: This is every active satellite orbiting the earth.” It shows all the satellites in the...
View ArticleRussia’s Small Maneuvering Satellites: Inspectors or ASATs?
In May, Russia announced it had launched three Russian communications satellites, Kosmos-2496, -2497, -2498. An additional object was along for the ride, orbiting a few kilometers away from the...
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