China’s June 2025 demonstration of a 1‑gigabit‑per‑second laser down‑link from geostationary orbit sparked sensational headlines claiming a weak “candle‑bright” beam had “pulverized Starlink.” In reality, the 2‑watt transmission was a communications breakthrough, not an anti‑satellite strike. Yet the episode sits at the crossroads of two fast‑diverging trends: (1) a legitimate push to replace crowded radio channels with…
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China’s June 2025 experiment beaming 1 Gbps of data from geostationary orbit with a laser barely brighter than a night‑light has electrified the telecom industry—and alarmed military planners worldwide. Multiple open‑source reports agree that the demonstration proves China can move high‑bandwidth traffic five times faster than today’s Starlink downlinks while using a fraction of the power, thanks to a…
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SummaryNewly released high‑resolution pictures from Maxar and Planet Labs show the once‑impenetrable Fordow uranium‑enrichment plant gashed open after the 22 June U.S. air‑strike, with blast‑sealed tunnel mouths, greyed mountain rock and lingering smoke plumes. Image‑forensics, expert interviews and open‑source intelligence indicate that successive GBU‑57 “Massive Ordnance Penetrator” (MOP) bombs pulverised access shafts, cut external power and…
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A cascade of newly released commercial‑satellite photographs confirms that last weekend’s U.S. bunker‑buster raid on Iran’s Fordow enrichment plant gouged fresh holes into the mountain and triggered a landslide of rock and debris that experts say may have entombed the centrifuge halls. The imagery—captured by Maxar, Planet Labs and others—has become the centerpiece of a…
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In the 48 hours before U.S. B‑2 bombers punched bunker‑busting holes into Iran’s Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan complexes, a burst of commercial‑satellite photos captured trucks, bulldozers and security convoys swarming Fordow’s tunnel mouths. Analysts read the pictures as a frantic effort to shift centrifuges or shielding materials—clues that helped tip Washington’s calculus toward a lightning strike.…
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The Fordo (often spelled Fordow) Fuel Enrichment Plant – officially the Shahid Ali-Mohammadi Nuclear Facility – is a deeply buried uranium enrichment site about 30 km northeast of Qom, Iran aljazeera.com washingtonpost.com. It was built under a mountain on an IRGC military base and kept hidden for years aljazeera.com. Western intelligence eventually discovered Fordo and in…
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A wave of newly released commercial‐satellite photographs confirms that the 21 June 2025 U.S. strike package—which used B‑2‑launched GBU‑57 “bunker‑busters” and sea‑launched Tomahawks—badly damaged key above‑ground infrastructure at Iran’s Natanz and Isfahan complexes and cut external power to the otherwise deeply buried Fordow enrichment halls. Taken together with on‑the‑record assessments from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)…
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Saudi Arabia’s satellite‑connectivity ambitions took a decisive leap this week: ST Engineering iDirect has signed a wide‑ranging, multi‑year agreement with Solutions by stc (the ICT arm of Saudi Telecom Company) to expand a next‑generation ground network that will feed everything from government broadband to 5G backhaul and mobility services across the Kingdom. The deal arrives just as Saudi Arabia’s…
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A new tranche of commercial satellite shots has torn the secrecy veil from Israel’s eight‑day air war inside Iran, confirming crippling damage to nuclear, missile and command sites. Independent analysts say Tehran’s premier heavy‑water reactor complex, multiple centrifuge workshops and at least two hardened missile bases have been “neutralised,” while Iranian retaliation has peppered Israeli…
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Recent Satellite Launches and Their Purposes The past year has seen an unprecedented surge in satellite launches, serving a wide array of purposes in communications, Earth observation, science, and defense. Global launch rates reached record highs – over 1,200 satellites were launched in just the first four months of 2025, about a 50% increase from…
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