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SpaceX vaporizes 260 Starlink satellites in six months using Earth’s atmosphere — new environmental concerns emerge over burning 2,700-pound orbital data centers, FCC seeks to exempt satellites from regulations

July 5, 2026
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| AI, Data Centres, Environmental/Health Concerns, Reentry, Satellites, SpaceX, Starlink

An illustration of a satellite breaking up in Earth orbit. (Image credit: Getty Images) By Etiido Uko, Published by tom's Hardware, 5 July 2026 Starlink burns multiple retired satellites daily from its over 10,000-strong constellation SpaceX has confirmed in a semi-annual report submitted to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) earlier

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Orbital files plans for 100,000 orbital data centers

June 30, 2026
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| Amazon, Blue Origin, Data Centres, Satellites, Space Debris and Overcrowding, SpaceX, Starlink, Starship

Multiple companies are planning to develop space-based data centers, which would greatly increase the number of satellites in Earth orbit. (Image credit: ESA) By Jason Rainbow, Published by Space News, 30 June 2026 TAMPA, Fla. — Five-month-old startup Orbital has asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to deploy up

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The Tragedy of the New Space Race

June 29, 2026
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| Blue Origin, China, Colonisation, Elon Musk, Exploitation, GPS, Mining, Moon missions, NASA, Rocket Lab, Russia, Satellites, Space Strategy, Space Weapons, SpaceX

By Samanth Subramanian, Published by New Republic, 29 June 2026 Space exploration is a rapidly growing industry. But its goal is dominance, not discovery. Two versions of history began when, one fall night in 1957, a two-stage rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and deposited a Soviet satellite called

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Rocket Lab to acquire Iridium

June 29, 2026
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| Amazon, Communications, Rocket Lab, Satellites

Iridium low-Earth orbit commercial satellite constellation: Iridium By Jeff Foust, Published by Space News, 29 June 2026 WASHINGTON — Rocket Lab is acquiring satellite telecommunications company Iridium for $8 billion as part of its effort to become an end-to-end space company. The companies announced an agreement June 29 under which

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House Appropriations Committee approves $55.5 billion for U.S. Space Force

June 25, 2026
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| Communications, Golden Dome, Maneuverability, Missile Defense, Satellites, Space Force, Space Warfare, Spending

Illustration of Tracking Layer Tranche 3 spacecraft. Credit: Northrop Grumman By Sandra Erwin, Published by Space News, 25 June 2026 Committee urges more competition in satellite communications and criticizes reliance on reconciliation to fund Golden Dome WASHINGTON — The House Appropriations Committee on June 24 advanced a fiscal 2027 defense

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Losing the War of the Future

June 23, 2026
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| AI, China, Drones, Electronic Warfare, GPS, Iran, Missile Defense, Robots, Russia, Satellites, Space Warfare, Surveillance, THAAD, Ukraine

By Paul Scharre, Published by Foreign Affairs, 23 June 2026 How New Technologies Threaten America’s Military Advantage In its recent campaign against Iran, the United States dominated the skies using its traditional airpower. The U.S. military pounded Iranian targets, conducting over 13,000 strikes. That prowess and devastating firepower did not

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The space company will reportedly build hundreds of satellites bearing Earth-imaging capabilities that can operate as a swarm in low orbits The space company will reportedly build hundreds of satellites bearing Earth-imaging capabilities that can operate as a swarm in low orbits Credit: Cheney Orr/Reuters

Elon Musk wants to put 1 million AI satellites in space. Here’s how SpaceX could do it

June 11, 2026
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| AI, Blue Origin, Data Centres, Environmental/Health Concerns, Mars missions, Satellites, Space Debris and Overcrowding, SpaceX, Starlink, Starship

By Elizabeth Howell, Published by Space.com, 11 June 2026 "We've got a pretty good idea of how to operate, just really large constellations, and do it safely now, right? We are the only operator that has any experience of that scale." SpaceX CEO Elon Musk outlined more details for his

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