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ULA launches Kuiper 2 mission on Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral – Spaceflight Now

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SpaceX

ULA launches Kuiper 2 mission on Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral – Spaceflight Now

United Launch Alliance launches its Atlas 5 rocket on June 23, 2025 with the second batch of 27 Project Kuiper satellites for Amazon towards low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now Update June 23, 7:23 a.m. EDT: ULA launched its Atlas 5 rocket. For a second time this year, United Launch Alliance launched an Atlas 5 rocket carrying 27 of Amazon’s Project Kuiper internet satellites into low Earth orbit. This was just the second production batch that will make up a constellation of more than 3,200 satellites eventually. Monday was also the second attempt to launch this mission, dubbed Kuiper 2 by ULA, following a nitrogen purge issue connected to the rocket’s booster engine that caused a scrub on June 16 and for t...

In Norway, Climate Goals Clash With Indigenous Herders’ Rights – State of the Planet

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Science

In Norway, Climate Goals Clash With Indigenous Herders’ Rights – State of the Planet

A recent climate initiative by the Norwegian government is facing opposition from the Saami Indigenous people, whose territories are directly affected. The proposed 54-kilometer power line would be built by the state-owned energy company Equinor in the northernmost portion of the country, well above the Arctic Circle. The Saami believe their rights to cultural preservation and a healthy environment under international and domestic law have been violated because the power line may affect traditional reindeer herding. At least one group of herders is planning to take legal action. Herding is a key practice among the Saami: It is central to their traditions and their livelihoods. Reindeer are a major source of meat for Saami, and they use antlers for traditional craft-making and fur for c...

SpaceX to launch Falcon 9 rocket on Transporter-14 smallsat rideshare mission – Spaceflight Now

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SpaceX

SpaceX to launch Falcon 9 rocket on Transporter-14 smallsat rideshare mission – Spaceflight Now

A collection of 70 payloads manifested onto SpaceX’s Transporter-14 mission. Image: SpaceX SpaceX is preparing for its fourth launch of the year as part of its dedicated smallsat rideshare program, which is set to liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Sunday. The mission, dubbed Transporter-14, will send 70 customer payloads into a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East is anticipated at at 2:18 p.m. PDT (5:18, p.m. EDT, 2118 UTC). Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about 30 minutes prior to liftoff. In its announcement of this mission, SpaceX noted that it would be “keeping an eye on weather” as the planned launch approaches. SpaceX will use the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number B107...

Pentagon struggles to build unified satellite network

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NASA

Pentagon struggles to build unified satellite network

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. military wants to turn its satellite communications into something that works like the internet — fluid, fast, and built on seamless interoperability between networks. But at an industry conference this week, Pentagon officials said the long envisioned military space internet is still a long way off.In an era where commercial satellites outnumber military ones, the Defense Department is trying to tap into this diverse ecosystem, defense officials said June 17 at the SAE Media Group’s MilSatcom USA conference. The goal is creating what DoD calls “enterprise satcom” — a virtualized, software-defined network that could automatically reroute communications between military, commercial and allied nations’ satellites if an adversary jams one satellite system. ...

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Astronomy

Astronomers left puzzled by high-altitude clouds forming on young planet | Space

Should humans ever venture to a particular planet that circles a sun-like star in the constellation of the fly, they would do well to keep an eye on the weather.The thick slabs of cloud that blot the planet’s skies are mostly made from mineral dust, but astronomers suspect there may be iron in them, too, which would rain down on the world below when the clouds break.Astronomers spotted the high-altitude clouds when they trained the James Webb space telescope (JWST) on the young star system, which lies 307 light years away in the deep southern sky.The star, YSES-1, is a newbie by cosmic standards, a mere 16m years old compared with the 4.6bn-year-old sun. The star is circled by two gas giants, both still forming and both larger than Jupiter, the biggest planet in the solar system.Dr Kielan ...