Peter B. de Selding

Co-Founder, Editor, Space Intel Report

[Peter B. de Selding @pbdes]

Satellite non-Earth-imaging co @heospace signs 3-yr contract valued at $1M/yr or more to use @Satellogic high-res geospatial imaging sats pointed toward space to provide situational awareness. The 2 cos have been working together since 2020.

[COMSPOC_OPS @COMSPOC_OPS]

🛰️ CHANGING OF THE KINGS: China's TJS-17 & TJS-19 swap coverage in GEO

The "Four Kings" (TJS-15, 16, 17, and 19) are classified as Chinese GEO Satellites launched in 2025 to support the PLA's SIGINT and early warning missions.

Over the past month, our team watched two of the "Four Kings" satellites trade places across 40° of the GEO belt, leaving one sitting between Yaogan 41, a GEO surveillance satellite, and a U.S. inspector, USA 270.

TJS-17 (SSC.63524), the "King of the North", held 164.5°E (above the Pacific, just west of Nauru) since Aug 2025. On 29 Sep it raised its orbit ~202 km and began drifting west at ~2.6°/day.

TJS-19 (SSC.63924), the "King of the South", held 141.3°E (above the equator north of New Guinea) since May 2025. On 7 Oct it lowered its orbit ~197 km and began drifting east at ~2.5°/day, toward the slot TJS-17 had just left. The two crossed paths on 8-9 Oct.

TJS-17 stopped its drift on 15 Oct and parked at ~123.5°E, between YAOGAN-41 (SSC.58582) at 123.2°E and GSSAP USA 270 (SSC.41744) at 125.3°E. Its new spot sits above the Molucca Sea, nearly due south of the Philippines and Taiwan.

TJS-19 reached 167.3°E and then burned again on 22 Oct to drift back west at ~0.85°/day. That's an interesting use of fuel, possibly a correction for an overshoot.

Net effect: Western-Pacific coverage at 165°E stays (TJS-19 takes over), 141°E is now empty, and TJS-17 now watches the South China Sea / Taiwan Strait from ~123°E.

A coordinated handoff or a new mission? We'll keep watching.

#Space #GEO #China

[Peter B. de Selding @pbdes]

.@AirbusSpace Systems reports 5.3% increase in revenue for 9 months to Sept. 30, to $2.4 billion. @Airbus.https://t.co/AO5O8JiPxE

[Karan Kunjur @KaranKunjur]

We just fired our hall thruster at 20kW on orbit. That's 4 times more power than any Hall thruster system previously flown.

Rafael Martinez and the team have worked miracles over the last few years, and they're just getting started. Check out below for a preview of what's to come.

[Peter B. de Selding @pbdes]

Has @viasat organized a beauty contrast to sell most of itself, with @AmazonLeo/@amazon_policy a likely bidder? Effects on the @Space42 - Viasat Equatys D2D JV would be major. @AST_SpaceMobile @Starlink.

[Tim Farrar @TMFAssociates]

This was supposed to be a blog post, but due to technical issues, I've posted it here instead

[Peter B. de Selding @pbdes]

Every small satellite launcher should have Korea's Kompsat-6 story in its sales pitch. Satellite in storage since August 2022, waiting for a ride. @ITUradiocomms @msitmedia @Arianespace @SITAELspa @ASI_spazio @kari2030.https://t.co/F8CBkyiL6O

[Space42 @space42ai]

Space42 and @Viasat, co-founders of Equatys, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Terrestar Solutions, Canada’s only mobile satellite operator, to expand shared satellite infrastructure for global Direct-to-Device (D2D) and advanced Mobile Satellite Services (MSS).

The MoU was signed on the sidelines of the official visit of His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, to Canada, where His Highness attended talks with the Right Honourable Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada.

Under the MoU, the parties will develop an open, standards-based interoperability framework connecting Terrestar’s planned Canadian low-Earth orbit (LEO) constellation, CaStar, with Equatys. The framework is designed to link the two satellite systems and their ground networks into one coordinated network, with each operator retaining ownership and control of its own assets, so that national sovereignty over critical communications infrastructure is preserved at global scale.

The signing was attended by His Excellency Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Foreign Trade and His Excellency Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Read the full announcement here:
https://t.co/xCReCmsci6

#Space42 #Viasat #Equatys #TerrestarSolutions

[Challenging Defence Markets @ChallgrRes]

$OHB.DE & MediaMobil Communication GmbH have entered into a strategic partnership.

As part of this collaboration, @OHB_SE will acquire a 25% stake in MediaMobil through a capital increase - amounts not disclosed.

https://t.co/ziM2OnGmZi

[GomSpace @GomSpaceGroup]

Ukraine’s sovereign satellite is now in orbit. 🇺🇦🛰️

Developed by HIMERA and @GomSpaceGroup , OBRIA NANO is validating key technologies for a future independent communications network, strengthening resilience, connectivity, and long-term security.

#OBRIA #Space #SatCom #Ukraine

[Brian Basson @BassonBrain]

SpaceX pauses Florida rocket launches for 6 weeks as the company prepares to introduce Starship flights at Kennedy Space Center.

Florida is currently experiencing a rocket launch drought after a record-breaking 2025.

The last Falcon 9 launch from the state was a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Oct. 20.

Other launch providers like Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance currently have no firm launch dates scheduled.

[FCC @FCC]

BREAKING: FCC Approves Amazon Leo's Acquisition of Globalstar

@BrendanCarrFCC announces the news live on @MTSlive —

“This is part of this new, robust investment we’re seeing in direct-to-device technologies.”

Learn more about the approval🧵⬇️

[Peter B. de Selding @pbdes]

Oman to @ITUradiocomms: If your transfer vehicle provider ghosts you months before launch & disappears, that should be ID'd as a force majeure event that merits granting deadline extension. @AirbusSpace @Infinite_Orbits, @GoToImpulse @Ofcom @epicaerospace.https://t.co/lJYNt226yk

[Lynx @LibertyLynx]

SpaceX Blocked A U.S. And NATO Satellite to Assist a Russian Intercept After Crippling Ukraine's Air Defenses

The Math Proves the Reality that Musk doesn't want you to see.
On Oct 13-14, SpaceX restricted Starshield/Starlink during a 39-missile Russian attack, cutting Ukrainian drone intercepts by 23% and stranding U.S. personnel in Kyiv. Forty-eight hours later (Oct 15), SpaceX blocked U.S.-licensed NRO, Space Force, and NATO radar satellite ICEYE-X36 in orbit so Russia's COSMOS 2612 weapon could intercept it (99.89%-99.98% posterior)

Our Model Demonstrates that the Russian intercept of the US/NATO ICEYE X-36 satellite (contemporaneous with the throttling of Starlink) would not have been possible, and almost certainly not been attempted, without SpaceX resources. At a material opportunity cost, Russia sprinted its COSMOS satellite to intercept ICEYE X36. Based on a previous attempt in June during which X36 maneuvered to evade COSMOS, Russia knew that this would be successful only if X36 could not maneuver. On October 15, SpaceX fixed X36 in place by issuing a collision alert for a sub-kilometer approach with its Starlink 35856 when SpaceX's own data shows that the actual distance was 4.8-5.0x as great. SpaceX issued no warning to COSMOS despite the fact that its sprint was far more threatening than the stable X36 orbit. SpaceX did not maneuver its Starlink 35856 satellite to clear the supposed collision risk. How, absent coordination with SpaceX, could Russia have known that SpaceX would take actions that (a) misrepresented the danger posed by X36, and (b) resulted in the fixing of X36 thereby enabling COSMOS's successful intercept? Thus, SpaceX was directly involved in simultaneously compromising Ukraine’s defensive and offensive capabilities. The conjunction of these two events makes innocent explanations untenable.

The Pentagon Capture & Iran Round Two Trap: Pentagon CTO Emil Michael who cashed out $7M–$35M from Musk’s inner-circle SpaceX vehicles (M8/Gigafund 0.1 and M6/Valor M33 II) and KQ Partners / xAI (selling xAIfor $5M–$25M three days before taking over CDAO/OSCand 21 days before SpaceX bought xAI, while keeping M8, M6, M9, M10 & Nomadic open) and Pete Hegseth purged rival Anthropic in two hours, surrendered combat command over US drones used to attack Iran to Starlink’s "Terms of Service," and on October 2 named Musk Co-Director of Project Meridian to design the Pentagon's "Future of Warfighting" just as America enters Iran Round Twowith depleted Patriot/THAAD magazines and Russia feeding U.S. warship/aircraft locations to Tehran.

SpaceX’s actions in Ukraine raise serious questions about its alignment with US security interests and its reliability as a cornerstone of US defense. These questions are particularly troubling given the effectively irreplaceable position SpaceX has been granted by the Hegseth/Emil Michael Pentagon.
$SPCX $TSLA

Our full quantitative analysis below w/ @streetwiseprof

[Lynx @LibertyLynx]

Another note for SpaceX attorneys and PR: There was no need to issue an alert at all. Your own internal data showed a safe 2km pass. But you issued a 400m collision alert anyway. Why? Because the alert itself is the weapon. Issuing it triggered FCC Cond 16, legally freezing ICEYE so it couldn't dodge. STARLINK-35856 didn't use its auto-evasion. It just parked there and kept the false alarm blaring while Russia sprinted in. It wasn't an accident.

[Peter B. de Selding @pbdes]

.@Thales_Alenia_S & @AirbusSpace each book 2 more @GalileoGNSS 2d Gen satellites, to launch 2031; brings total 2d Gen order to 16 sats, 8 from each co. Original 2021 order for 12 was valued at EUR 1.47B, or $1.8B. @esa @defis_eu @EU4Space. https://t.co/F8p45LnGjg

[Peter B. de Selding @pbdes]

.@Eutelsat: @SpaceX Starshield/@Starlink Ukraine controversy couldn't happen w/ OneWeb; co wants to operate a D2D constellation; says @Aerospacelab won 264-sat Iris2 bid w/ aggressive design, lower cost. @defis_eu @DG_Armement @SES_Satellites @ArianeGroup.https://t.co/g5zq7DcjN0

[Peter B. de Selding @pbdes]

.@Open_Cosmos returns to @ITUradiocomms with satellite status details to win deadline extension for Connected Cosmos broadband constellation. Co. maintains it has binding contract w/ @FireflySpace for 4 launches, each carrying 6 sats, to occur by June 2027.https://t.co/DXeiqogqYj

[Peter B. de Selding @pbdes]

.@THAICOMPLC, now w/ letter from Thaicom 9 builder @Astranis, returns to @ITUradiocomms board to request extension of deployment deadline. https://t.co/QvcaCrEnB8

[Rafal Modrzewski @rmodrzewski]

Miałem okazję być częścią delegacji biznesowej towarzyszącej wizycie premiera @donaldtusk w Indiach. Polska i Indie pogłębiają współpracę m. in. w obronności i kosmosie. Potężny rynek, ogromne możliwości dla polskich firm. Dziękuję za zaproszenie.

[HawkEye 360 @hawkeye360]

@hawkeye360's space operations team has made first contact with all three Cluster 16 satellites, launched today, just three days after Cluster 15. Another step in growing our on-orbit capacity and RF collection capabilities.

Learn more about Cluster 16:: https://t.co/8ovaw2Tvzb