Chemical Facility Security News: Short Takes – 12-8-25

Monday, December 8, 2025

Short Takes – 12-8-25 – Space Geek Edition

Beyond the horizon: cost-driven strategies for space-based data centers. SpaceNews.com commentary. Pull quote: “Orbital data centers are not just technically feasible, they’re economically executable. But only if we treat autonomy as a cost-saving necessity, not a luxury. Only if we embed strategic procurement models into mission design. And only if we let sourcing strategy guide the way.”

Russia is out of the human spaceflight business — for now. TheHill.com commentary. Pull quote: “Add to that the economic sanctions that the West has imposed on Russia to punish it for its aggression, the betting is that the country that once astonished the world with the first satellite and the first man in space is out of the human spaceflight business for the foreseeable future.” Includes interesting discussion of current sole source manned spaceflight and need for other actors involvement.

China faces temporary emergency launch gap after space station lifeboat crisis. SpaceNews.com article. Pull quote: “A recent report by state media China Central Television (CCTV) on the Shenzhou-20 incident reveals that the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft was initially planned to be completed in March 2026, for delivery to Jiuquan to provide a backup to Shenzhou-22, which was originally expected to launch around May.”

Giant sunspot on par with the one that birthed the Carrington Event has appeared on the sun — and it's pointed right at Earth. LiveScience.com article. Pull quote: “The Carrington Event unleashed an estimated X45 magnitude solar flare in 1859, which remains a record, although there is geological evidence that even more powerful blasts occurred long before humans emerged. For context, an X45 flare is more than five times stronger than the most powerful solar flare of the last decade — an X7 blast in October 2024.”

Mobile networks want to use the satellite airwaves we need to track climate change. SpaceNews.com commentary. Pull quote: “Whatever happens, the dispute itself represents a hinge moment. Spectrum has become a commodity: something industries are willing to fight over, something governments are tempted to monetize, something investors are prepared to spend eye-watering sums to secure. As competition heats up, the public-interest functions of spectrum risk being crowded out by private concerns. Earth monitoring is a vital public good that risks being set aside so that — to be vulgar — a handful of massive companies can make more money. No doubt in doing so they will be benefitting their customers.”

Mars Sample That May Contain Evidence of Life Might Never Come Home. ScientificAmerican.com article. Pull quote: “The sample tubes packed inside the rover can last up to half a century. If MSR is canceled or postponed again, Perseverance could drop them somewhere on the surface in the hope that some future mission—perhaps even a human expedition—collects them. Or maybe another country, such as China, might decide to grab them. “Why not?” says Jim Green, former NASA chief scientist and director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division from 2006 to 2018. “There’s nothing on [the tubes] that says ‘Property of the United States.’””

Moonshot Space Raises $12M for Electromagnetic Launch. PayLoadSpace.com article. Pull quote: “Moonshot’s idea is not to compete with chemical-based rocket launchers by attempting to send high-tech satellites to orbit. Instead, Moonshot wants to use the technology to send raw materials that can withstand the shock of high-acceleration launch, and lower the input costs of the budding in-space servicing, refueling, and manufacturing industries.”

Cosmonaut removed from SpaceX's Crew 12 mission for violating national security rules: report. Space.com article. Pull quote: “The Insider also cited a Sunday (Dec. 1) report by a Russian-spaceflight channel on Telegram called "Yura, Forgive Me!" According to that report, the violations occurred last week, when Artemyev was training at SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California. He allegedly photographed SpaceX engines and other sensitive tech with his phone.”