jonathanmcdowell
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Defunct Satellite and Rocket Stage Nearly Collide in Potential ‘Worst-Case Scenario’
An old rocket body and military satellite — large pieces of space junk dating back to the Soviet Union — nearly smashed into each other on Friday morning, in an uncomfortable near-miss that would’ve resulted in thousands of pieces of debris had they collided.
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SpaceX Finally Meets a Launch Goal as 60th Orbital Mission of 2022 Takes Flight
The company was weirdly vague about last night’s mission, leaving doubts as to which type of Starlink satellite was tossed to low Earth orbit.
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Chinese Rocket Stage Now a Cloud of Orbital Debris After Disintegrating in Space
On November 12, China’s Long March 6A rocket broke apart after launch, scattering debris in low Earth orbit. Now, reports suggest that the disintegrated upper stage of the rocket has grown to a cloud of 350 pieces of space debris.
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Satellite Billboards Are a Dystopian Future We Don’t Need
A feasibility study suggests millions of dollars can be made by using fleets of bright cubesats to form advertisements high above Earth. It’s a clearly terrible idea, as it would tarnish our already-threatened views of the night sky.