Multipurpose spacecraft wrangler for @ESA I post more where the sky is blue. Opinions my own.

Spaceship Earth
Joined July 2012
DutchSpace retweeted
A rare view of concerning activity in orbit. From Oct. 16–18, a Russian satellite made several close approaches to a U.S. commercial satellite. This image, collected by Vantor’s WorldView Space capability on Oct. 17, shows Russian Cosmos 2612 at an estimated distance of about 1 km from ICEYE-X36. “This image captures a reality long recognized by our national security leaders—space is becoming increasingly contested. Seeing one spacecraft repeatedly maneuver close to another raises serious concerns about capability and intent.”—Dan Smoot, Vantor CEO. With WorldView Space, Vantor’s non-Earth imaging capability lets us collect images of other spacecraft in orbit, helping us better understand how they’re operating and spot activity that warrants a closer look. Read @axios's exclusive coverage: axios.com/2026/10/22/space-w… Explore WorldView Space: vantor.com/product/worldview…
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DutchSpace retweeted
COSMOS 2612 (SSC.68762) walks up to ICEYE-X36 (SSC.59103) In July we posted on the Cosmos 2609–2614 group. Back then we flagged COSMOS 2612 as the satellite best placed to reach ICEYE-X36. Three months later, it did. Analysis via COMSPOC SSA. On 1 October COSMOS 2612 raised its orbit ~47 km. The higher orbit gave it a fast catch-up drift, and it passed ICEYE-X36 at ~55 km on 5 October and again on 12 October. Within about two hours of the second pass it made two retrograde burns (~27 m/s total) and dropped back to ICEYE-X36’s altitude, ~515 km behind it. Between 13 and 16 October seven small burns (~5 m/s total) closed that gap. By 16 October COSMOS 2612 was in ICEYE-X36’s plane (within 0.003°) and at its altitude. Since the two share a plane, there are no plane crossings to wait for. From 16–18 October they spent ~24 hours within 2 km of each other and ~12 hours within 1 km. First pass was ~220 m (max uncertainty ~490 m) near 14:03 UTC on 16 October. It then held 2–4 km behind before drawing level on 17 October and settling into a centred safety ellipse around ICEYE-X36, which it held for the rest of the day. Closest pass in our solution was ~60 m (max uncertainty ~950 m) near 14:18 UTC. By late on 17 October it had drifted ~2 km ahead, then trimmed back for a third pass at ~260 m (max uncertainty ~160 m) near 01:58 UTC on 18 October. Relative speed at the closest points was 0.15–0.9 m/s, walking pace or slower. Slow walk-past, not a fly-by . ICEYE-X36 did not maneuver. COSMOS 2612 burned away at 12:30 UTC on 18 October, braked on 19 October, and is now holding ~480 km from ICEYE-X36 in the same orbit. We’ve seen this sequence before. COSMOS 2581, 2582 and 2583 (SSC.62902/62903/62904) have been running it against each other since February 2025: raise, phase, drop to co-altitude, close at under half a meter per second, hold, depart, loiter. Since August 2025 we’ve logged more than 170 sub-km conjunction events within that trio, several down to single-digit meters. Until now, every target had been one of their own. This is the first non-cooperative one. @planet4589 @shell_jim @IntegrityISR @ObservableSpace
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To those that observe, the SAQ Grimeton 17.2 kHz VLF signal will be up starting at 12:30 UTC Source: alexander.n.se/en/saq-grimet…
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Oh you wanted pretty pictures from back in the day, ok :) #VS01
15 years ago today I was doing something else... Tempus fugit, in this case literately, with PHM clocks on-board :) #VS01 #CSG #IOV #IOVM1 #ESA
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15 years ago today I was doing something else... Tempus fugit, in this case literately, with PHM clocks on-board :) #VS01 #CSG #IOV #IOVM1 #ESA
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Meanwhile, it is that time again... Patch y0 sh!t ! cert.europa.eu/publications/…
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until patches are available: session.upload_progress.enabled = off
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Re-entry vehicles and para-foils, not as easy as it sounds I'll leave it at that...
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DutchSpace retweeted
Short time-lapse of part of this morning’s first pass of ICEYE-X36 (59103) and COSMOS 2612 (68762) over South America under partly cloudy skies.
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Well that's new, a nice satellite image of a B-21 at Edwards on Google Earth
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Meanwhile at KSC, I see some familiar Dutch people testing the Artemis III / ESM solar array :) ELM testing on-going Source: images.nasa.gov/details/KSC-…
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Meanwhile, in the SR-71 rumor-mill... "Hey...pssst... you....yeah you....wake up.....did you hear that 844 is getting powered-up ?....so like we are next right ?....right ?" 😇
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So we have a little bit of a timeline, NASA Admin visits SR-71 844 on January 25th. Checking our little Sentinel friends, it seems that 844 has been moved between 21 and 26th of February (!) so several months earlier then previously reported, @Aviation_Intel @TheDEWLine
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Another debris event...
Replying to @LeoLabs_Space
1/5 On 5 October, LeoLabs Delta alerted our team to multiple objects near the Soviet-era Meteor 2-7 satellite (NORAD ID 12456) following a pass over our radar site in Western Australia.
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Now I understand this pic from January @NASAAdmin @johnkrausphotos ;-) Source: images.nasa.gov/details/NHQ2… #SR71
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Well that was fun, can we get Malaysia back on the calendar please ? And well done Alonso #MalaysianGP #F1 #Sepang
The crowd cheering the medical car doing a lap at a soaked track is epic already lol I'll be eating nasi goreng today in honor of the track being back :) #MalaysiaGP #F1 #Sepang
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The crowd cheering the medical car doing a lap at a soaked track is epic already lol I'll be eating nasi goreng today in honor of the track being back :) #MalaysiaGP #F1 #Sepang
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Part of my deep dive on X-37B facilities I looked at another building.. Did some due diligence... and later this week more info on the topic of Vandenbergs version of the Space Shuttle OPF,aka OMCF The building still exists, has expanded, and has changed owner, a 3 letter owner
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a bit delayed however -> xitter.cf/DutchSpace/status/2106…
1/7 So, part of my deep dive on X-37B facilities I looked at another building... Although this building doesn't seem to be related to X-37B ops, or at least its lacking evidence, the building has an interesting history, it is Vandenbergs version of the Space Shuttle OPF,aka OMCF
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