IJR News

US official says orbital weapons deployed as other nations' systems stay hidden — Oct 5, 2026U.S. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said the United States has deployed on-orbit space control weapons; he did not name the systems.

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Dana Whitfield It's alarming the US admits to orbital weapons while rivals hide theirs, risking an unchecked arms race that could cripple global satellite networks.

German commander warns Russian satellites could threaten StarlinkWorld — 5dGermany’s space commander warned that Russian military satellites shadowing a Ukrainian-supporting ICEYE spacecraft demonstrate tactics that could threaten Starlink and other commercial networks. Even without a direct attack, orbital maneuvers or interference could force satellites to evade, shortening their lifespans and disrupting service.

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SpaceX Starship Reaches Orbit Despite Engine Failure — Sep 28, 2026SpaceX Starship Flight 14 reached Earth orbit for the first time Monday despite a Raptor 3 engine shutting down mid-ascent after mission control gave the go-ahead.

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Tom Gallagher Even with one engine down, hitting orbit shows how far Starship has come in reliability.

TakeMe2Space plans orbital data center with Nvidia GPUs on Falcon 9 — Sep 28, 2026TakeMe2Space plans two 100 kg satellites with 10 Nvidia Thor GPUs each on a Falcon 9 in late 2028, calling it India’s first networked orbital data center.

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Derek Foss Processing Earth data right in orbit should cut down on transmission delays and bandwidth waste.

Students in Scotland, Arkansas Contact ISS AstronautsScience — Oct 6, 2026Students at schools in Scotland and Arkansas used the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station program to speak live with Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk during brief ISS flyovers. The conversations let students ask about spaceflight and life in orbit, and grew out of efforts to engage them in science, technology, engineering and math.

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AP Top 25 College Football TeamsRankingCollege football fans argue endlessly over which programs deserve the top spots in the AP Poll based on wins, schedule strength, and legacy.

Witcher 3 Remaster Hits 137,724 Steam PlayersLifestyle — Oct 4, 2026Gaming news included Japanese Ramen Simulator’s planned Steam Early Access launch, Goblin Island’s December release and upcoming demo, and a new Gundam Rogue Orbit gameplay trailer. Separately, industry figures highlighted strong sales and player activity, including record Steam concurrency for The Witcher 3 remaster, 3 million Wardogs copies sold in Early Access, and the Metro series surpassing 50 million sales.

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Nokia, ICEYE Plan Sovereign Government Satellite Network — Oct 1, 2026Nokia and ICEYE are partnering to develop secure, European-controlled low-Earth-orbit broadband satellite systems for governments, defense forces and emergency responders. The network is designed to provide resilient, low-latency connectivity alongside existing systems, with its first satellites expected to launch in 2028.

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Maya Lindstrom This partnership should strengthen Europe's independence in secure satellite comms for defense and disasters.

US Acknowledges Undisclosed On-Orbit Weapons — Sep 15, 2026China condemned the United States for deploying on‑orbit space weapons, urging Washington to halt preparations for space warfare and to uphold global strategic stability. Beijing reaffirmed its commitment to peaceful space use and warned against weaponising outer space or triggering an arms race, a view echoed as the US, and its allies, pursue space security capabilities.

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US confirms on-orbit weapons to deter China and Russia — Sep 17, 2026Air Force Secretary Troy Meink disclosed undisclosed space-control weapons at National Harbor while withholding every detail, as Space Force plans to double and Moscow warns of gravest consequences.

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Marcus Bell Keeping the details secret is fine but doubling the Space Force size will cost taxpayers plenty.

Air Force confirms US space-control weapons now operating in orbit — Sep 16, 2026Air Force Secretary Troy Meink confirms deployed space-control weapons at a Maryland conference, drawing Beijing and Moscow protests while withholding the details that keep deterrence intact.

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Priya Raman Deterrence works best when adversaries know we have the edge but can't predict exactly how we'll use it.

NASA Orbiter Discovers Moon’s Largest Newly Formed Crater — Sep 16, 2026Robert Wagner spotted a bright spot with a dark ring in LRO data: McGetchin crater, 728 feet wide—the Moon’s largest newly formed impact, a 2024 strike scientists call once-in-a-lifetime.

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Elena Vasquez It's wild that a crater this size formed just last year and the orbiter picked it up right away.

Most Influential Women in World HistoryYourlist — RankingFrom ancient queens who ruled empires to modern activists who changed laws, these women left indelible marks on politics, science, and culture. Vote for who you think shaped history most profoundly.

Nationals Score Four in 11th, Beat Cardinals 8-5 — Sep 19, 2026Washington Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-5 in 11 innings, flipping the game with a four-run 11th sparked by a catcher’s interference that preceded Jose Tena’s two-run double. Jorbit Vivas had four hits, Daylen Lile homered, and Will Dion earned his first major league save as Washington stretched its recent run of success.

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Priya Raman Vivas going four for five really kept the lineup moving all night.

Besxar is building an orbital semiconductor factory, one SpaceX rocket at a time — Sep 9, 2026

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Elena Vasquez Launching all the parts with SpaceX will take a lot of flights before anything starts working.

US Acknowledges On-Orbit Space-Control Weapons — Sep 14, 2026The Space Force has deployed on-orbit space control weapons to defend U.S. forces and preserve space superiority, with Air Force Secretary Troy Meink publicly confirming their existence though no technical details were released. The announcements across conferences indicate ongoing development of both kinetic and non-kinetic space capabilities, including potential orbital strike and space-link interdiction, while the specifics remain classified and the broader strategic implications are debated.

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Exomoon Candidate Reported Orbiting Brown Dwarf CD-35 2722 — Jul 22, 2026Astronomers using the VLT have found evidence of a giant exosatellite orbiting a brown dwarf that itself orbits a star about 73 light-years away, with the candidate’s mass near Jupiter and an orbital period around 170 days. The discovery challenges traditional labels of planet, moon, and even star, prompting ongoing debate over nomenclature and definitions of exomoons as researchers describe the object as an exosatellite while many favor calling it a moon.

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Toy Story vs ShrekYourlist — VS BattleThe toy box vs the swamp: two animation revolutions, one inevitable playground argument.

BepiColombo spacecraft begin risky final approach to Mercury orbit — Sep 3, 2026The European Space Agency and Japan’s JAXA have begun the arrival phase of the BepiColombo mission to Mercury, with the two orbiters separating in preparation to enter Mercury’s orbit in November and split in December to map the planet. The highly automated, high-risk sequence—driven by Mercury’s proximity to the Sun and involving multiple flybys—underscores the mission’s complexity, with scientific observations slated to begin in the coming years.

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Jared Kim Seven years of flybys and gravity assists just to fight the Sun's pull enough to slip into orbit - wild that Mercury is harder to reach than Pluto in some ways.

Whoopi Goldberg Wants Trump To Go Into Orbit — Permanently — Apr 30, 2026If Whoopi Goldberg has her way, President Donald Trump’s view would be for outer space. On Thursday’s episode of “The View,” Goldberg proposed sending Trump into orbit and leaving him there, per a report by…