Author: FlyMarshall Newsroom
File: SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket stands at Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base ahead of the Starlink 9-10 mission on Nov. 8, 2024. Image: SpaceX SpaceX is preparing to launch its third mission this year supporting the National Reconnaissance Office’s constellation of intelligence-gathering satellites. The mission, dubbed NROL-179, will launch an undisclosed number of satellites into orbit as part of what the NRO calls its proliferated architecture constellation. These are believed to be Starshield satellites, a government variant of SpaceX’s Starlink, though neither the NRO nor SpaceX has confirmed on the record that this is…
A new study of two supernova remnants, the debris left behind after stars explode, suggests the explosions came from stellar siblings that once orbited each other. The first star’s detonation sent its binary companion hurtling through space, and then, after traveling for thousands of years, the surviving star blew up too. “Using 16 years of data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, our analysis uncovered gamma rays associated with a supernova remnant that was hidden in the glare of its neighbor, the Jellyfish Nebula, one of the brightest gamma-ray-emitting supernova remnants known,” said Miltiadis Michailidis, a postdoctoral fellow in the…
The TWZ Newsletter Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy. The MQ-9 Reaper and its associated Predator-B family of drones are in an interesting spot these days. On one hand, they are receiving new, highly relevant capabilities and missions at an accelerating pace. They also just proved to be an absolutely star asset for hunting and killing key targets, such as missile launchers and air defenses, deep inside Iran. On the other hand, their vulnerability to air defenses, not even modern ones, is glaring, with major losses in Iran and Yemen. Yet…
BRUSSELS — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a new review of America’s troop deployments in Europe on Thursday and threatened to withhold some U.S. dues to NATO if “free riding” allies did not meet their defense spending commitments.Hegseth, addressing defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, said the U.S. review would last for up to six months and include consultations with the U.S. Congress, which has legislated a minimum number of U.S. forces in Europe.While he did not explicitly say the review could result in reductions in U.S. force deployments in Europe, he stressed the goal would be to…
A Gathering for Those Who Believe Personal Aviation Can Be Better While the aviation industry continues to celebrate remarkable technological advances and unprecedented innovation, a growing number of pilots, aircraft owners, flight schools, manufacturers, and aviation advocates are asking a more fundamental question: Who will actually be able to participate in aviation’s future? That question will be front and center at the Affordable Flying Expo 2026, scheduled for November 13-15, 2026, at the incomparable SUN n FUN Aerospace Expo campus on Lakeland Linder International Airport. Returning for its second full-scale year, the Affordable Flying Expo has rapidly evolved into one…
Chaff Thin, narrow metallic reflectors of various lengths and frequency responses, used to reflect radar energy. These reflectors, when dropped from aircraft and allowed to drift downward, result in large targets on the radar display.
El Niño, characterized by warmer-than-normal water temperatures in parts of the equatorial Pacific, made its return in June 2026. Observations of sea surface height from the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite that month indicated that the 2026 event was continuing to strengthen. The natural, recurring phenomenon can have widespread effects, typically bringing wetter conditions to the U.S. Southwest and drought to countries in the western Pacific, such as Indonesia and Australia. NOAA declared an El Niño on June 11, after sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific measured at least 0.5 degrees Celsius above average for several consecutive months.…
Artificial intelligence is sending U.S. travel sites more visitors who stay longer, leave less often, and appear more engaged, according to new Adobe research released Wednesday. But Adobe’s findings also point to a second, more technical fight: whether AI systems can read enough of a travel brand’s site to surface it reliably in AI-driven discovery. Adobe reported that traffic from AI sources to U.S. travel sites jumped 194% year over year in May, based on analysis of direct online transactions covering more than 8 million visits. Those travelers spent 70% longer per visit than people from non-AI sources, bounced 41%…
NASA Wednesday announced a new public‑private partnership to advance Mars science by combining the agency’s scientific leadership with commercial innovation. Under this model, NASA will provide the Aeolus atmospheric‑science instrument payload suite, while Relativity Space supplies the spacecraft, rocket, and cruise operations necessary to deliver the instruments to Mars. This partnership reflects NASA’s growing commitment to approaches that accelerate discovery, expand mission cadence, and strengthen the foundation for future human exploration. By leveraging commercial investment and development capacity, NASA can focus resources on high‑value science while enabling more frequent opportunities to gather critical data about Mars, data essential to safely…
The TWZ Newsletter Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy. Concerned with Ukraine’s ability to protect itself from the onslaught of Russian missile and drone attacks, the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) is demanding to know if the Pentagon can increase deliveries of Patriot air defense system interceptors to that war-torn nation. This comes against the backdrop of extreme U.S. and allied demand on dwindling supplies of these weapons. As we have previously noted, between U.S. usage in recent Middle East conflicts and commitments to Ukraine and nearly 20 other nations, there…