The Farming Satellite Iran Can't Launch Itself
Iran calls Kowsar 1.5 a private-sector farming satellite. Its 3.45-meter camera, its sun-synchronous orbit, and the Russian rocket that carried it point somewhere else entirely.
In-depth technical analysis and comprehensive guides for space professionals
Iran calls Kowsar 1.5 a private-sector farming satellite. Its 3.45-meter camera, its sun-synchronous orbit, and the Russian rocket that carried it point somewhere else entirely.
Object 55056 rode a SpaceX rideshare into orbit carrying more than customer satellites. It carried the survival of Momentus, a company that had already lost its founder to a national security review, settled SEC fraud charges, and watched its first space tug die in orbit.
On July 11, 2026, a Portuguese satellite named after a Nobel laureate became the first object to carry catalog number 100000. It broke a five-digit numbering limit that had held since Sputnik, and exposed how unprepared decades of tracking software is for a sky this crowded.
Russia's Volna Kupol Garant electronic warfare system was purpose-built to jam Starlink. It costs around $1.5 million per unit, covers just 20 square kilometers, and can only target one satellite at a time. Ukraine has been finding and destroying them within days of deployment.
Community resources, mission coverage, and satellite tracking developments
On 29 June 1965, a young Air Force test pilot rode a rocket-powered airplane to 280,600 feet above the California desert. He landed ten minutes later as the youngest person ever to earn astronaut wings.
On 25 June 1997, a seven-ton cargo ship under hand control drifted into Mir's Spektr module, breached the hull, and left three crew members listening to their air hiss into space. It remains the worst collision in the history of human spaceflight.
On 22 June 1978, an astronomer at the U.S. Naval Observatory looked at photographic plates that had been stamped 'image defective' and noticed a small bump on the side of Pluto. The bump was a moon, and finding it finally let astronomers weigh a planet that had fooled them for half a century.
On 21 June 2004, a 63-year-old test pilot rode a homebuilt rocket plane to 100,124 meters above the Mojave Desert, clearing the edge of space by about the length of a city block. He came down the first private astronaut in history, holding a sign that read 'SpaceShipOne, GovernmentZero.'
Concise updates on launches, orbital events, and breaking space news
This week: SpaceX launched 21 SDA missile-tracking satellites, Soyuz MS-29 carried a new crew to the ISS, and Europe's space spending rose 12%.
This Week In Space Episode 219 examines SpaceX's expanding military ties as Starlink's constellation tops 12,552 satellites launched.
NASA terminated Draper's commercial lunar lander after development delays. Meanwhile, Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 became India's first commercial rocket to reach orbit on July 18.
Four Raptor engines failed to ignite at T-0, scrubbing Starship Flight 13 on July 16; SpaceX now targets July 20 for next attempt.
Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 rocket achieved orbit on July 18, becoming the first Indian commercial rocket to do so and breaking ISRO's launch monopoly.
Four Raptor engines failed to ignite, scrubbing Starship Flight 13 at Starbase; SpaceX also launched 21 SDA satellites from Vandenberg.
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