Happy New Year!!
There’s no denying that 2025 was a year of record-breaking successful orbital launches: 315. It was a 24% increase from 2024’s launches (61 more than 2024’s 254–record-breaking at the time). It was also...
The rest of the report is at: www.illdefined.space/the-ill-defi...
But it shouldn't be used very often. Ask Daniel.
(Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) satellite on a SpaceX Falcon 9 on the morning of September 24th (about 0730). That launch also deployed two other satellites with United Kingdom ties...
Read more at: www.illdefined.space/wither-europ...
3/End
Three for the Price of One
While working at Florida’s Space Coast during the past few days, it’s hard not to notice launches happening at literally all hours of the day. I was there to support the launch of the IMAP...https://science.nasa.gov/mission/imap/?ref=illdefined.space
2/3
To make it extremely clear: this post contains my own observations and analysis. It does not represent anyone I work for.
Wither, European Launch? www.illdefined.space/wither-europ...
I have no answers, only more questions, about Europe’s launch rate.
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According Dr. Robert Atlas, the elimination of NOAA's AOML as proposed in their 2026 budget would result in a 20-40% decrease in hurricane forecast accuracy, costing the economy an estimated $10 billion each hurricane season. Sobering numbers on what's at stake.
amtrak’s marketing team gets it
The Leaf Sheep eats algae, retains the chlorophyll, and uses it to photosynthesize sunlight in a process known as "kleptoplasty".
It's a solar-powered sea slug! 😁
Uhhhh, this is the same Honda that builds bikes and cars: global.honda/en/topics/20...
Except for beer. One must have standards...
Black and white cat, ears angled back, seemingly staring down into distance
Thinking up plans so evil, he's even disturbed himself
Listen on my purrs ye mighty, and despair
2025 Space Industry Observations and an Update
A busy start to 2025 points to more records being broken by the year’s end. Will anyone other than SpaceX make a profit?
open.substack.com/pub/illdefin...
Very interesting paper about the launcher market by Emma Gatti and Andrea D'Ottavio!
I think it is a must read for everyone interested in the economics of reusable launch vehicles.
#SpaceX Falcon 9 vs. Ariane 6
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Long thread/END
However, the plethora of communications services in 2024 demonstrates that if companies perceive a need, they...
Read the article in full at: www.illdefined.space/making-life-....
20/20
Long thread/19
...were exploiting space in the 1990s. Better, the business case for either service (terrestrial television and internet) was already established. The service delivery technologies merely differed from their Earthbound counterparts.
19/20
Long thread/18
Commercial markets served by communications satellites reflect the consumer demands of the period–television entertainment in the 1990s and global internet access in the 2020s. Of course, other types of communications businesses...
18/20
Long thread/17
But by 2024, spacecraft deployments almost reached 3,000–for the year. Even when SpaceX’s Starlink satellite deployments were excluded, spacecraft deployments for 2024 still exceeded 800.
17/20
Long thread/16
Again, the markets focused on seem similar. However, the scale of satellite deployments in the last several years to serve those markets is impressive. A few years in the 1990s might have exceeded 100 spacecraft deployments.
16/20
Long thread/15
Great for their competitors but not so much for U.S. companies. And, like in 2024, the biggest imagery customers still appear to be governments. Regular consumers didn’t seem to have an appetite for imagery. It still seems that way today.
15/20
Long thread/14
...most were government-run. A few companies deployed commercial versions, but almost all used optical sensors. U.S. companies had the dubious bonus of being limited to delivering products of lesser quality to their non-government customers.
14/20
Long thread/13
...gain market share. Iridium died, then started again. Teledesic, however, never became operational. But all were communications businesses that used space to serve customers.
Similarly, Earth observation satellites existed in the 1990s, but...
13/20
Long thread/12
...insurmountable challenge for some residents. For those residents seeking basic entertainment, or even more than the local option, DTH improved their lives.
A few examples of other communications services (Globalstar, Iridium, Teledesic) attempted to...
12/20
Long thread/11
...more entertainment and information for far less than the cable company (which may or may not have even been available). The local and free over-the-air broadcasts likely paled in comparison, and reception might have been an...
11/20
Long thread/10
For example, space communications in the 1990s relied generally on satellites in geosynchronous orbit, typically for broadcasting (including direct-to-home) only. If a person lived in the middle of Wyoming, satellite television offered...
10/20
Long thread/9
Perhaps familiarity is also a consideration because, as noted above, satellite communications services were and still are a popular consumer option (although less so in 2024, with the growth of wireless communications).
9/20
Long thread/8
Satellite deployments, orbits, etc. likely didn’t and don’t matter to the “normies.” What probably matters more in their decision-making is availability, convenience, utility, and cost.
8/20
Long thread/7
...consist of government spacecraft deployments. However, commercial satellite deployments grew during that time. In theory, the growth for either decade occurred because consumers' lives were improved in some way.
7/20
Long thread/6
Those served markets seem very 1990s.
Although, the type of communications services and remote sensing products offered in 2024 will be very different from those provided in that decade. In shorthand, much of the early 1990s seemed to...
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