BY BRIG. GEN. (RET.) DAMON FELTMAN
Satellite Imagery At Home and Abroad: Sitting down to write this week’s note, Hurricane Helene has just passed over Florida. While the totality of damage is yet known, the contribution of satellite imagery for preparation and response for events such as this is evident. Thanks to the weather satellites provided by Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, our ability to detect, track, and predict has been a literal life-saver. When coupled with commercial geospatial products like imagery and synthetic aperture radar, communities, states, and federal agencies can manage preparedness and response much more effectively. (SOURCE: NOAA)
The proliferation of commercial imagery continues to aid geo-political transparency. The Washington Post reported this week of what appears to be a failed test earlier this month of Russia’s next-generation strategic missile, Sarmat. Imagery collected by companies Maxar and Planet Labs, clearly show a very large crater at the missile silo’s location, indicating detonation of the missile before it cleared the silo. (SOURCE: Washington Post)
Starlink Continues to Grow: SpaceNews and CNBC report that SpaceX subsidiary, Starlink, continues to make inroads with the In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) market. Last week it was announced that United Airlines will add Starlink IFC to over 1,000 planes and give free service to passengers. On the heels of this announcement, Air France has done the same, and will convert its 200-aircraft fleet in the coming years. Finally, TechCrunch reports that Starlink has passed the 4-million-customer mark, and that the rate of growth is accelerating. The article goes on to say that Starlink will likely hit $6.6B in revenue this year, up from $1.4B two years ago. (SOURCES: SpaceNews, CNBC, TechCrunch)
In-Space Manufacturing: Finally, RocketLab announced that it had completed the second spacecraft for space biopharma company, Varda Space. Varda’s first satellite was flown in 2023-2024, and demonstrated in-space manufacturing of HIV/AIDS therapeutic ritonavir. Varda has its launch and re-entry licenses from the FAA and plans to launch in November. (Source: RocketLab, ViaSatellite)
-- Each week, Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Feltman gives us a glimpse into our galaxy. Feltman was a career-long space operations officer, having commanded space units, led exercises and training at United States Space Command, and set budget and requirements priorities at Headquarters Space Force. Follow him on LinkedIn here.
