My latest article for IDI: The Infidels of South Asia.
This one feels particularly personal.
Sometimes I wonder what my ancestors believed before Islam. As a Pashtun, there’s every possibility that somewhere in my ancestry were Buddhists. I find that strangely moving.
Our history didn’t begin with Islam. Long before it arrived, this colourful region belonged to the “infidels” too. @idicenter
ULA deserves it the same way Sears did. The employees will be fine they’re extremely talented. They need a better environment at companies that want to push America forward and put their talents to better use. It’s just capitalism - the old company dies replaced by better new ones.
@niccruzpatane It’s the same physics though what do you expect? Every company that decides to use stainless steel will have a similar booster to deal with structural integrity
MISSION SUCCESS | ZhuQue-3 Y2 Reusable Launch Vehicle Achieved Full Success in Orbital Insertion and First-Stage Recovery
On August 19, 2026, at 07:35 (UTC+8), the ZhuQue-3 (ZQ-3) Y2 reusable launch vehicle lifted off from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone. Approximately 137 seconds after lift-off, the first and second stages separated. The second stage continued its flight and successfully delivered the Honghu 03 satellite, independently developed by Hongqing Technology, into its designated orbit. At approximately 07:41, the first stage performed a successful soft touchdown at the LandSpace Landing Site#1 in Minqin County, Gansu Province, following the planned trajectory — marking the full success of the flight test mission.
I have doubts about ethereal just because they’d need a lot more money and seem to be going slower but I think Astrobase is going at the right speed and seems to have the culture necessary to succeed. There’s low risk tech like skyroot but that’s the wrong approach. It’s high risk or nothing at this point
EVEREST — India’s first full-flow staged combustion (FFSC) rocket engine.
80-tonne class. Fully integrated. Designed and manufactured in Bengaluru, India.
This is amazing - Australian public broadcaster ABC News pushing claim that SpaceX moon debris will harm Indigenous people
Unsure if they are aware that the moon is presently uninhabited
@elonmusk@aus_pill