Chemical Facility Security News: Short Takes – 11-15-25

Saturday, November 15, 2025

Short Takes – 11-15-25 – Space Geek Edition

ESA ships Artemis 4 Orion service module to NASA after Trump tried to cancel it. Space.com article. Pull quote: “The service module is an expendable part of the Orion space ship that provides propulsion, electricity and atmosphere regeneration during the trip to the moon and back. ESA is building the technology as part of a barter agreement with NASA in exchange for the American agency providing seats on launch vehicles to take European astronauts to the International Space Station.”

US spy satellites built by SpaceX send signals in the “wrong direction” . ArsTechnica.com article. Pull quote: ““This particular band is allocated by the ITU [International Telecommunication Union], the United States, and Canada primarily as an uplink band to spacecraft on orbit—in other words, things in space, so satellite receivers will be listening on these frequencies,” Tilley told Ars. “If you’ve got a loud constellation of signals blasting away on the same frequencies, it has the potential to interfere with the reception of ground station signals being directed at satellites on orbit.””

Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) splits into 3 pieces after a close brush with the sun. Space.com article. Pull quote: “The telescopic observations revealed that the comet had split into three large pieces by the night of Nov. 11. "From a first quick analysis of the images, we can confirm that there are definitely two fairly similar pieces, whose maximum brightness is separated by about 2,000 km," wrote research astronomer Mazzotta Epifani in a statement published to the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics website, translated by Google. "Furthermore, we suspect the presence of a third, smaller and fainter fragment to the left of the pair," observes Mazzotta Epifani.”

ISS astronauts take cover from radiation as solar storms spark auroras across the planet. Space.com article. Pull quote: “The ISS does have some defenses of its own, though. Only Russian crew members Oleg Platonov, Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky were asked to bunk elsewhere for the night. "The USOS crew slept in their crew quarters and the Roscosmos cosmonauts camped out in the lab as a preventative measure due to the solar storm," Sandra Jones, a NASA public affairs official, told Space.com in an email. The ISS crew was also given a list of other places aboard the ISS to avoid during the solar storm event.”

Virgin Galactic on track to begin commercial flights in 2026. SpaceNews.com article. Pull quote: “Completion of the fuselage remains the critical path for finishing the first vehicle. “Our team is focused intensely on resolving the manufacturing and supply chain needs of the fuselage, with strong results,” Colglazier said. The first fuselage is now expected to be complete “just a bit earlier than we expected last quarter.””

‘Uncontrolled experiment:’ Study links harmful atmospheric metals to spacecraft reentry. SpaceNews.com article. Pull quote: “New research posted to the preprint database ArXiv finds that “space waste,” spacecraft reentering the atmosphere, injects a considerable amount of its matter into the mesosphere and lower thermosphere — enough to potentially weaken the Earth’s ozone layer. While the study has not yet been peer reviewed or accepted by a journal, it is part of a growing line of inquiry from academics on the atmospheric and environmental effects of increased space activity.”

Ground truth: Why the lunar program needs its Earthbound network. SpaceNews.com article. Pull quote: “Right now, that infrastructure is under strain. The global ground-segment network that links spacecraft to mission control is still operating largely within frameworks designed for past decades. NASA’s Deep Space Network and ESA’s ESTRACK have served with distinction, but they are nearing capacity. The number of lunar and interplanetary missions planned over the next decade will exceed what existing ground facilities can reliably support.”