@vsamsondc.bsky.social
Hates the humidity, loves cats. Works on space policy for @swfoundation.bsky.social, but opinions are mine, not my organization's. She/her
Pinned
1/ Today SWF is releasing the 2025 version of our Global Counterspace Capabilities report, which tracks R&D, testing, & deployment of counterspace capabilities, edited by @VSamson_DC with editorial support by Laetitia Cesari.
swfound.org/counterspace/
swfound.org/counterspace/
It's out!! This monster has doubled in size from when we first started it in 2018; little did we know what we were getting ourselves into. Check out the 2025 edition 👇
Reposted
SWF’s @vsamsondc.bsky.social will speak tomorrow at the 2025 EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Conference on “Strategic Competition Beyond Earth,” discussing space security issues. For more info, see bit.ly/3JHaW5G #SWF #SpaceSecurity
November 10, 2025 at 9:00 PM
SWF’s @vsamsondc.bsky.social will speak tomorrow at the 2025 EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Conference on “Strategic Competition Beyond Earth,” discussing space security issues. For more info, see bit.ly/3JHaW5G #SWF #SpaceSecurity
Presented without comment. Spotted in Gallery Place metro today
November 8, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Presented without comment. Spotted in Gallery Place metro today
Reposted
🚨Three Chinese astronauts couldn’t return to Earth after space junk hit their spacecraft. Scientists warn this could be just the first of more accidents caused by orbital debris.
The situation is concerning. “There are a lot of people up there,” one source told me.
My story @sciam.bsky.social 🧪
The situation is concerning. “There are a lot of people up there,” one source told me.
My story @sciam.bsky.social 🧪
A Piece of Space Junk Hit Their Ride Home. What Does This Mean for Space Exploration?
Three Chinese astronauts will likely return safely to Earth after a reported space-junk strike. But the incident highlights the growing risk of orbital debris
www.scientificamerican.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:46 PM
🚨Three Chinese astronauts couldn’t return to Earth after space junk hit their spacecraft. Scientists warn this could be just the first of more accidents caused by orbital debris.
The situation is concerning. “There are a lot of people up there,” one source told me.
My story @sciam.bsky.social 🧪
The situation is concerning. “There are a lot of people up there,” one source told me.
My story @sciam.bsky.social 🧪
Finally, someone who gets it - Gomez: "the United States has been losing a lot of its soft power through the elimination of USAID, for example, and through the weakening of some of the institutions with which we worked to cooperate with other countries"
spacenews.com/fcc-commissi...
spacenews.com/fcc-commissi...
FCC commissioner warns U.S. influence on satellite spectrum debates could wane
An FCC commissioner warned declining American influence could make it harder to win support for key satellite industry issues at international meetings.
spacenews.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Finally, someone who gets it - Gomez: "the United States has been losing a lot of its soft power through the elimination of USAID, for example, and through the weakening of some of the institutions with which we worked to cooperate with other countries"
spacenews.com/fcc-commissi...
spacenews.com/fcc-commissi...
"By mid-2025, the campaign [Salt Typhoon] extended to the satellite communications sector. Viasat was one of the telecommunications providers targeted"
The race to defend satellites from cyberattacks spacenews.com/deloittes-pa...
The race to defend satellites from cyberattacks spacenews.com/deloittes-pa...
The race to defend satellites from cyberattacks
The race to defend satellites from cyberattacks
spacenews.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:48 PM
"By mid-2025, the campaign [Salt Typhoon] extended to the satellite communications sector. Viasat was one of the telecommunications providers targeted"
The race to defend satellites from cyberattacks spacenews.com/deloittes-pa...
The race to defend satellites from cyberattacks spacenews.com/deloittes-pa...
"the president’s budget puts more than 40 current and planned space missions — largely related to climate and Earth science work — on the chopping block.
'Basically, anything that supports human life on earth is deprioritized,' one worker said."
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
'Basically, anything that supports human life on earth is deprioritized,' one worker said."
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
NASA has lost thousands of workers. Here’s what that means for science.
Staffers told The Post about months of turmoil and sweeping changes that, if fully implemented, could transform NASA and American science beyond the Trump years.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:38 PM
"the president’s budget puts more than 40 current and planned space missions — largely related to climate and Earth science work — on the chopping block.
'Basically, anything that supports human life on earth is deprioritized,' one worker said."
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
'Basically, anything that supports human life on earth is deprioritized,' one worker said."
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Reposted
The conversations in Paris don’t end here — they set the course for the next decade of space sustainability and governance.
Catch highlights from the 7th Summit for Space Sustainability and see how collaboration is shaping our shared orbital future. 🌎
#SWFsummit25
Catch highlights from the 7th Summit for Space Sustainability and see how collaboration is shaping our shared orbital future. 🌎
#SWFsummit25
November 5, 2025 at 8:25 PM
The conversations in Paris don’t end here — they set the course for the next decade of space sustainability and governance.
Catch highlights from the 7th Summit for Space Sustainability and see how collaboration is shaping our shared orbital future. 🌎
#SWFsummit25
Catch highlights from the 7th Summit for Space Sustainability and see how collaboration is shaping our shared orbital future. 🌎
#SWFsummit25
In this podcast, Wanyana Racheal, the Principal Advisor at the Space Law and Security Advisory (SLSA), and I discuss the current state of counterspace capabilities globally, multilateral discussions on space security, and emerging trends - check it out!
www.spaceadvisory.org/podcast/epis...
www.spaceadvisory.org/podcast/epis...
Space Advisory Podcast | Space Law and Security Advisory
The Space Advisory podcast is one of the signature activities of the Space Law and Security Advisory (SLSA). The podcast, hosted by Wanyana Racheal, delivers authoritative and incisive commentary on s...
www.spaceadvisory.org
November 5, 2025 at 7:16 PM
In this podcast, Wanyana Racheal, the Principal Advisor at the Space Law and Security Advisory (SLSA), and I discuss the current state of counterspace capabilities globally, multilateral discussions on space security, and emerging trends - check it out!
www.spaceadvisory.org/podcast/epis...
www.spaceadvisory.org/podcast/epis...
Nothing new here: "China is the PACING CHALLENGE and is rapidly improving its space capabilities to TRACK & TARGET U.S. military forces. China & Russia are pursuing a wide range of counterspace capabilities to DISRUPT & DEGRADE U.S. space capabilities."
www.spaceforce.mil/About-Us/Fac...
www.spaceforce.mil/About-Us/Fac...
www.spaceforce.mil
November 5, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Nothing new here: "China is the PACING CHALLENGE and is rapidly improving its space capabilities to TRACK & TARGET U.S. military forces. China & Russia are pursuing a wide range of counterspace capabilities to DISRUPT & DEGRADE U.S. space capabilities."
www.spaceforce.mil/About-Us/Fac...
www.spaceforce.mil/About-Us/Fac...
Miller "said today’s Pentagon leaders are taking 'an approach where if you have experience inside the Beltway, somehow you’re suspect and not worthy. And what I’m seeing are a bunch of like, quote-unquote brilliant business people that do not understand'"
www.defenseone.com/threats/2025...
www.defenseone.com/threats/2025...
China is already dominating the data war in the Pacific, experts say
'Lack of focus' is slowing needed change at the Pentagon, a former acting SecDef says.
www.defenseone.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Miller "said today’s Pentagon leaders are taking 'an approach where if you have experience inside the Beltway, somehow you’re suspect and not worthy. And what I’m seeing are a bunch of like, quote-unquote brilliant business people that do not understand'"
www.defenseone.com/threats/2025...
www.defenseone.com/threats/2025...
Me: "The jammers 'respond to an immediate military need but using them isn’t perceived as having crossed a red line or means that there will be active conflict in space'". This will make three acknowledged offensive counterspace systems deployed by the US
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
US Space Force to Use Three Weapons to Jam Chinese Satellites Via Remote Control
The US military is close to fielding two new weapons designed to temporally jam Chinese and Russian intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance satellites, giving the Pentagon three counter-space ca...
www.bloomberg.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Me: "The jammers 'respond to an immediate military need but using them isn’t perceived as having crossed a red line or means that there will be active conflict in space'". This will make three acknowledged offensive counterspace systems deployed by the US
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Delighted to have the chance to share the stage with Clay Mowry, Carissa Christensen, Agnieszka Lukaszczyk, and Joe Landon at the #IAC2025 in Sydney last month to discuss how sustainability, investment, and security shape and reinforce each other in space
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g9f...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g9f...
IAF GNF Session - Success in Space Through Security, Investment, and Sustainability.
YouTube video by International Astronautical Federation
www.youtube.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Delighted to have the chance to share the stage with Clay Mowry, Carissa Christensen, Agnieszka Lukaszczyk, and Joe Landon at the #IAC2025 in Sydney last month to discuss how sustainability, investment, and security shape and reinforce each other in space
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g9f...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g9f...
This was great: "spacecraft do not occupy Lagrange points any more than satellites in low Earth orbit occupy Earth." and "Trying to deny access to Lagrange points would be like trying to blockade the entire Pacific Ocean."
spacenews.com/why-the-u-s-...
spacenews.com/why-the-u-s-...
Why the U.S. shouldn’t simply race to Lagrange points
Why the U.S. shouldn’t simply race to Lagrange points
spacenews.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:55 PM
This was great: "spacecraft do not occupy Lagrange points any more than satellites in low Earth orbit occupy Earth." and "Trying to deny access to Lagrange points would be like trying to blockade the entire Pacific Ocean."
spacenews.com/why-the-u-s-...
spacenews.com/why-the-u-s-...
Lots of great visuals by Payload breaking down the signatories; also allows me to remind folks of @swfoundation.bsky.social's tracker that includes statements made by the signatories: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
The Artemis Accords By the Numbers payloadspace.com/the-artemis-...
The Artemis Accords By the Numbers payloadspace.com/the-artemis-...
Artemis Accords & International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) Signatories Tracking Sheet
docs.google.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Lots of great visuals by Payload breaking down the signatories; also allows me to remind folks of @swfoundation.bsky.social's tracker that includes statements made by the signatories: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
The Artemis Accords By the Numbers payloadspace.com/the-artemis-...
The Artemis Accords By the Numbers payloadspace.com/the-artemis-...
"Cyber Command...conducted a cyberattack in the latter half of Trump’s first term to interrupt the satellite communications of the Wagner Group, Russian mercenaries who then reportedly had a presence in Venezuela, the sources said."
www.cnn.com/2025/10/29/p...
www.cnn.com/2025/10/29/p...
CIA cyberattacks targeting the Maduro regime didn’t satisfy Trump in his first term. Now the US is flexing its military might | CNN Politics
In the final year of President Donald Trump’s first administration, the CIA carried out a clandestine cyberattack against the Venezuelan government, disabling the computer network used by Venezuelan l...
www.cnn.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:38 PM
"Cyber Command...conducted a cyberattack in the latter half of Trump’s first term to interrupt the satellite communications of the Wagner Group, Russian mercenaries who then reportedly had a presence in Venezuela, the sources said."
www.cnn.com/2025/10/29/p...
www.cnn.com/2025/10/29/p...
"The MDA says that’s based on earlier prototypes and today’s interceptors 'have displayed a 100% accuracy rate in testing for more than a decade.'" This is an egregious misrepresentation: the GMD system has had a 55% success rate in its flight tests
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Pentagon Frets Over ‘A House of Dynamite’ Nuclear Doomsday Film
The plot of A House of Dynamite, the new thriller from Academy Award winner Kathryn Bigelow, hinges on — spoiler alert — US missile defenses failing to knock down a nuclear-tipped intercontinental bal...
www.bloomberg.com
November 4, 2025 at 4:56 PM
"The MDA says that’s based on earlier prototypes and today’s interceptors 'have displayed a 100% accuracy rate in testing for more than a decade.'" This is an egregious misrepresentation: the GMD system has had a 55% success rate in its flight tests
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
"Each Starlink satellite reserves about 30% of its fuel to ensure that, at the end of its operational life, it can independently and promptly descend from orbit, burning up entirely in the atmosphere. This process typically takes around four weeks"
spaceambition.substack.com/p/starlink-now
spaceambition.substack.com/p/starlink-now
What’s Happening With Starlink Now?
8,600 satellites. Millions of users. Billions in revenue — and it’s just getting started. We break down the tech, the economics, and the risks behind SpaceX’s orbital empire.
spaceambition.substack.com
November 3, 2025 at 10:21 PM
"Each Starlink satellite reserves about 30% of its fuel to ensure that, at the end of its operational life, it can independently and promptly descend from orbit, burning up entirely in the atmosphere. This process typically takes around four weeks"
spaceambition.substack.com/p/starlink-now
spaceambition.substack.com/p/starlink-now
Good trick to award contracts before the actual architecture has been sorted out for Golden Dome
www.wsj.com/politics/nat...
www.wsj.com/politics/nat...
Exclusive | Elon Musk’s SpaceX Set to Win $2 Billion Pentagon Satellite Deal
The funding would support the development of satellites for President Trump’s Golden Dome project.
www.wsj.com
November 3, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Good trick to award contracts before the actual architecture has been sorted out for Golden Dome
www.wsj.com/politics/nat...
www.wsj.com/politics/nat...
"one European space official told Breaking Defense. '[T]here is a shift towards security activities triggered by the new U.S. policies and their impact in Europe.'”
breakingdefense.com/2025/10/in-h...
breakingdefense.com/2025/10/in-h...
In historic shift, ESA poised to take on defense role - Breaking Defense
Since its founding 50 years ago, the European Space Agency has shunned involvement in military space activities.
breakingdefense.com
November 3, 2025 at 8:05 PM
"one European space official told Breaking Defense. '[T]here is a shift towards security activities triggered by the new U.S. policies and their impact in Europe.'”
breakingdefense.com/2025/10/in-h...
breakingdefense.com/2025/10/in-h...
Latvia makes 60 countries that have signed the Artemis Accords; this makes four new additions in October
spacenews.com/latvia-signs...
spacenews.com/latvia-signs...
Latvia signs Artemis Accords
Latvia has signed the Artemis Accords, which outline norms of behavior for safe space exploration, joining a group of now 60 countries.
spacenews.com
November 3, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Latvia makes 60 countries that have signed the Artemis Accords; this makes four new additions in October
spacenews.com/latvia-signs...
spacenews.com/latvia-signs...
Reposted
Russia also pointed to Golden Dome during the second week of dedicated #SpaceSecurity discussion.
Details here: reachingcriticalwill.org/images/docum...
Details here: reachingcriticalwill.org/images/docum...
reachingcriticalwill.org
November 3, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Russia also pointed to Golden Dome during the second week of dedicated #SpaceSecurity discussion.
Details here: reachingcriticalwill.org/images/docum...
Details here: reachingcriticalwill.org/images/docum...
Reposted
“Even if you don’t have a space program, every single person on this planet is a user of space data or services in some way, shape, or form.”
~ SWF's @vsamsondc.bsky.social, at IAF GNF Session - Success in Space Through Security, Investment, and Sustainability
👉 www.youtube.com/watch
~ SWF's @vsamsondc.bsky.social, at IAF GNF Session - Success in Space Through Security, Investment, and Sustainability
👉 www.youtube.com/watch
October 31, 2025 at 6:45 PM
“Even if you don’t have a space program, every single person on this planet is a user of space data or services in some way, shape, or form.”
~ SWF's @vsamsondc.bsky.social, at IAF GNF Session - Success in Space Through Security, Investment, and Sustainability
👉 www.youtube.com/watch
~ SWF's @vsamsondc.bsky.social, at IAF GNF Session - Success in Space Through Security, Investment, and Sustainability
👉 www.youtube.com/watch
Reposted
“Dogfighting in space”? Not quite.
📣 In a recent feature, SWF’s Victoria Samson unpacks how counterspace trends are shaping strategic stability and global security.
🔗 Read the article: bit.ly/3IZELhy
#SpaceSecurity #ASAT #SpacePolicy #SWF
📣 In a recent feature, SWF’s Victoria Samson unpacks how counterspace trends are shaping strategic stability and global security.
🔗 Read the article: bit.ly/3IZELhy
#SpaceSecurity #ASAT #SpacePolicy #SWF
October 29, 2025 at 2:00 PM
“Dogfighting in space”? Not quite.
📣 In a recent feature, SWF’s Victoria Samson unpacks how counterspace trends are shaping strategic stability and global security.
🔗 Read the article: bit.ly/3IZELhy
#SpaceSecurity #ASAT #SpacePolicy #SWF
📣 In a recent feature, SWF’s Victoria Samson unpacks how counterspace trends are shaping strategic stability and global security.
🔗 Read the article: bit.ly/3IZELhy
#SpaceSecurity #ASAT #SpacePolicy #SWF