France has endured 35 consecutive days of rain. Here are 3 images that show the impact of the heavy rainfall from space: • Accumulated rainfall (9–18 Feb) • Copernicus Sentinel‑1 radar image (flooded areas in red) • Sentinel‑2 view of the same region Our thoughts are with the communities affected.

Russia Eyes Balloon Communications System To Fill Massive Gap Left After Losing Starlink www.twz.com/news-feature...

"Farrar: xAI is reportedly burning $1 billion of cash per month. SpaceX’s cashflows were reportedly $1 billion-$2 billion last year, so it is clear SpaceX can’t fund xAI itself. That means an IPO to raise tens of billions of dollars is even more important" www.satellitetoday.com/finance/2026...

EarthDaily in Orbit: From First Launch to Commercial Operations With six additional satellites launching in May and continued expansion later this year, the EarthDaily Constellation will enter commercial operations in Summer 2026, delivering daily, consistent global coverage.

Five years ago today! We imaged Perseverance on its descent to Mars, under fairly challenging conditions but we did it because we have a kickass team. www.uahirise.org/ESP_068281_9...

Pentagon seeks commercially built GEO spy satellites  The Defense Innovation Unit plans to select companies to field and operate spacecraft before transferring them to government control within three years

"For space, the government is looking at the following prioritized sub-sectors: Space-Based Intelligence; Surveillance and Reconnaissance; Space Domain Awareness; Satellite Communications; and Space Launch." spaceq.ca/space-identi...

Why GPS III, and what comes after it, still falls short in modern war With the final GPS III satellite scheduled to launch in March, the United States is completing the most significant upgrade to its positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) infrastructure in more than a decade.

Landspace targets Q2 for next Zhuque-3 orbital launch and recovery attempt  Chinese commercial launch firm Landspace is targeting Q2 for a second orbital launch and booster recovery attempt and aiming for a reuse test in Q4.

Vantor partners with Google AI to automate intelligence reports for government agencies Satellite imagery-to-report timelines would be reduced from hours to minutes

Chancellor Friedrich Merz suggested examining whether France and the U.K. could be elevated to the same level as the U.S. nuclear umbrella.

Again, on FCAS, deux salles deux ambiances as we say in French 🇫🇷 Macron in Munich: « I believe in FCAS » 🇩🇪 Merz: « There are others in Europe, the Spanish anyway, but also other countries interested in talking with us » www.politico.eu/article/frie...

Simera Sense to offer larger cameras and enhanced autonomy SAN FRANCISCO – After attracting cubesat customers, Belgium-based Simera Sense is developing higher-resolution optical payloads for larger satellites. To date, Simera Sense customers have sent more than 50 xScape100 and xScape200 cameras…

The Pentagon is looking for cheap commercial satellites that can maintain surveillance on other satellites in orbit, including close-range inspections.

The presentation from Geoffrey Landis linked at the end on the image formation by the gravitational lens is great!

F-16s Find Balloons, Not UFOs, After Sunday Scramble: NORAD www.twz.com/air/f-16s-fi...

How to reach the Solar Gravitational Lens? Propulsion options carefully dissected in new paper out of JPL. Sundiver trajectories, solar sails or possibly nuclear electric and hybrid missions now under discussion. 2035-2040 possible launch, but it's tight. www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/02/17/p...

BREAKING: Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control and Nonproliferation Christopher Yeaw has revealed new seismic data that hinted the Chinese had conducted a nuclear test and taken steps to hide it from the outside world. This is the event: 0918 Zulu/Kazakhstan PS23/around 2.7 magnitude

How Space Force Is Managing Growth at Its Busiest Launch Range www.airandspaceforces.com/space-force-...

SatVu has secured £30 million in new funding to expand its thermal infrared Earth observation constellation, with two satellites scheduled for launch in 2026. europeanspaceflight.com/earth-observ...

Spain's Sateliot has selected PLD Space to launch two 5G D2D satellites aboard a dedicated MIURA 5 flight in 2027. europeanspaceflight.com/sateliot-sel...

Leonardo funding development of Earth observation constellation Leonardo is funding development of an Earth observation constellation designed to highlight its capabilities while also being a model for larger European initiatives.

I finally added the other two newer Greenland scans to my site Kangerlussuaq / Sondrestrom, March 24, 1966: spacefromspace.com/declassified... Pituffik Space Base / Thule Air Base, March 21, 1969: spacefromspace.com/declassified...

My new article is up: thespacereview.com/article/5161/1

And we're circling back to blast fragmentation warheads for missile defense. Everything old is new again spacenews.com/startup-bets...

Ariane 64 booster separation from the ground. Video credit: ESA / ArianeGroup / Arianespace / CNES

Une info passée sous les radars, les 114 Rafale cachant la forêt de contrats attendues en Inde: le Defence acquisition council a également donné son feu vert à l'acquisition de HAPS...

Portions of the Pentagon’s LEO constellation on hold as acquisition reviews proceed Changes anticipated for ‘custody’ and ‘transport’ layers

The Chinese spaceplane maneuvered from a 349 x 592 km orbit to a circular 588 x 597 km orbit at about 0050 UTC Feb 12. (Shown: perigee, average, apogee heights)

#F35 + #Gripen in formation + #MRTT and #Canadair #Challenger #NATO #ArcticSentry #Greenland #Iceland #DK #Denmark #SE #Sweden Source FB 'Forsvaret' og 'Flyvevåbnet'

J’ai encore failli oublier la Saint-Valentin ! Trop tard pour acheter des fleurs et il y a certainement la queue chez le fleuriste. En plus, les fleurs, c’est périssable. Alors je vous ai apporté des pixels. Ils viennent de loin... Un nouveau quiz ? un-regard-sur-la-terre.org/2026/02/sain...

German parliament halts naval laser weapon development budgeting for Rheinmetall and MBDA, fielding a 65 kW range design. Instead Australian EOS will get opportunity to demonstrate a 100 kW design, which the company pitches for domestic production. www.welt.de/wirtschaft/a...

Pretty good, going direct to GEO, having SRB "fun" going up hill and getting this accuracy Then again, I'm sure they'll have some 'splainin' to do to the DoD Source: ULA on the other site. #USSF87

The President of the Iranian Space Agency recently announced their spaceport at Chabahar was completed, but is that really the case? Thanks to our friends @planet.com I got to the bottom of it (short answer: no). Enjoy a light weekend read on the ACW blog: www.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/1221...

The Proton launch of Russia's Elektro-L No. 5 weather satellite carried a secondary payload, Iran's Jam-e Jam 1 television broadcasting sat, also called Iran-DBS. Elektro-L-5 has a mass of 2120 kg; Jam-e Jam 1 is likely only 150 kg or so.

Meanwhile at NASA JSC, Blue Origin MK1 lunar lander, has entered Chamber A for approximately 11 days of TVAC Source: David Limp on the other site.

Sure...

MERZ SAYS I HAVE BEGUN CONFIDENTIAL TALKS WITH THE FRENCH PRESIDENT ON EUROPEAN NUCLEAR DETERRENCE

I got a peek at Blue Origin’s new lunar plans. Here’s what I found: arstechnica.com/space/2026/0...

Un beau lancement réussi le 12 février à 16:45 UTC. Ce n’était pas seulement la 6ème Ariane 6 mais aussi la 1ère en version 64, avec 4 boosters solides au décollage et une coiffe longue avec 32 satellites : un-regard-sur-la-terre.org/2026/02/succ... #ariane6 #ariane64 #kuiper #amazon #europe #guyane

China’s iSpace launch firm raises record $729 million for reusable rockets Chinese launch firm iSpace has secured a record D++ funding round to accelerate its reusable rocket development efforts and expand its industrial footprint.

The deafening silence of space policy people (or space journalists) on this is bizarre. He's a straight-up white supremacist, and we're still talking about "Elon's plans for Starship" or "Elon's take on space colonization" without a thought as to his core beliefs. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

The full image is now up. Pituffik Space Base / Thule Air Base, Greenland as captured by a KH-9 HEXAGON spy satellite on August 17, 1976. spacefromspace.com/declassified...

25 years ago today the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous – Shoemaker spacecraft touched down on the Asteroid Eros, after orbiting it and making a map of the elongated 34 km long asteroid. It gently landed on the surface with its cameras obtaining views during the final descent. Digital art. #SCIART

I'm not going to lie, an "oh shit" escaped my lips with this handbrake-turn of a roll manoeuvre.

Today's launch of the first four-booster version of Ariane 6, operated by Arianespace, took 32 satellites for Amazon LEO to low-Earth orbit. This success confirms Europe’s readiness in heavy-lift capability and is key to ensuring autonomous access to space for Europeans.

Booster Sep #VA267

Looks like ULA's Vulcan had another observation on it's SRBs... However staging and the rest of the flight seemed nominal... #USSF87

ULA’s Vulcan launches U.S. Space Force mission to geosynchronous orbit USSF-87 sends GSSAP payloads and propulsive ESPA ring on fourth Vulcan flight

A Jielong-3 lifted off at 0637 UTC today (Feb. 12) off the coast of Yangjiang City, Guangdong province, successfully sending the PRSC-EO2 satellite into orbit for Pakistan. This was China's 10th orbital launch attempt of 2026. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/TgY8u07_gD...