https://watchsat.live/blog Satellite news and explainers on Starlink and the satellite catalog, rocket launches, deep space and sky events, from the data behind WatchSat's live tracker. en Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://watchsat.live/blog/falcon-9-booster-reuse https://watchsat.live/blog/falcon-9-booster-reuse Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Falcon 9 booster B1067 flew a record 37th time on August 25, 2026. SpaceX says its boosters are built for up to 40 flights. launches starlink https://watchsat.live/blog/how-far-away-is-the-moon https://watchsat.live/blog/how-far-away-is-the-moon Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT How far away is the Moon? 384,400 km (238,855 miles) on average. In 2026 it ranges from 356,641 to 406,407 km, closest on December 24. sky deep-space https://watchsat.live/blog/kessler-syndrome-space-debris https://watchsat.live/blog/kessler-syndrome-space-debris Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Kessler syndrome is a runaway chain of collisions in orbit, first described in 1978. ESA's 2026 report projects low-orbit collisions climbing fast. catalog tracking https://watchsat.live/blog/kp-index-aurora-forecast https://watchsat.live/blog/kp-index-aurora-forecast Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT The Kp index rates geomagnetic activity from 0 to 9 every three hours. Kp 5 is a G1 storm, and each step brings the aurora about 2 degrees nearer the equator. aurora space-weather https://watchsat.live/blog/leonid-meteor-shower-2026 https://watchsat.live/blog/leonid-meteor-shower-2026 Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT The Leonid meteor shower 2026 peaks around 23:45 UTC on November 17, at a ZHR of about 15, under a half-lit Moon that sets by about midnight. sky https://watchsat.live/blog/mars-closest-approach-2027 https://watchsat.live/blog/mars-closest-approach-2027 Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Mars is closest to Earth on February 20, 2027 (UTC), 101.41 million km away, hours after opposition. By our count it's the farthest such approach of 2001-2100. deep-space sky https://watchsat.live/blog/what-causes-the-northern-lights https://watchsat.live/blog/what-causes-the-northern-lights Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Particles from the Sun, steered to the poles by Earth's magnetic field, make oxygen and nitrogen glow mostly 100 to 200 km up. The Sun peaked in October 2024. aurora sky https://watchsat.live/blog/what-is-oneweb https://watchsat.live/blog/what-is-oneweb Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT OneWeb is Eutelsat's broadband network in low Earth orbit. On October 11, 2026, our catalog held 651 OneWeb satellites, about 1,200 km up in 12 planes. catalog tracking https://watchsat.live/blog/what-is-spacex-starship https://watchsat.live/blog/what-is-spacex-starship Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT SpaceX Starship is a two-stage rocket, 124.4 m tall, built to be fully reused. Its 14th flight reached orbit on September 28, 2026. launches starlink https://watchsat.live/blog/where-is-voyager-2 https://watchsat.live/blog/where-is-voyager-2 Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Where is Voyager 2 now? On October 12, 2026, it's 21.56 billion km (13.40 billion miles) from Earth, and its signals take almost 20 hours to arrive. voyager deep-space https://watchsat.live/blog/amazon-kuiper-leo-satellites https://watchsat.live/blog/amazon-kuiper-leo-satellites Sun, 11 Oct 2026 19:33:00 GMT Amazon reported 396 Kuiper satellites launched by July 2026. On October 11, CelesTrak's active list held 391 Amazon Leo satellites, 375 near 630 km up. catalog starlink https://watchsat.live/blog/geminid-meteor-shower-2026 https://watchsat.live/blog/geminid-meteor-shower-2026 Sun, 11 Oct 2026 19:33:00 GMT The Geminid meteor shower peaks the night of December 13-14, 2026: NASA says 40 to 50 meteors an hour under dark skies, and the crescent Moon sets early. sky https://watchsat.live/blog/lagrange-points-explained https://watchsat.live/blog/lagrange-points-explained Sun, 11 Oct 2026 19:33:00 GMT Lagrange points are five places where a small object can keep pace with two large ones. For the Sun and Earth, L1 and L2 lie about 1.5 million km from Earth. deep-space https://watchsat.live/blog/next-total-solar-eclipse-2027 https://watchsat.live/blog/next-total-solar-eclipse-2027 Sun, 11 Oct 2026 19:33:00 GMT The next total solar eclipse is on August 2, 2027. Totality crosses Spain, North Africa and Arabia, lasting up to 6 min 23 s in Egypt's desert near Luxor. sky https://watchsat.live/blog/parker-solar-probe-speed https://watchsat.live/blog/parker-solar-probe-speed Sun, 11 Oct 2026 19:33:00 GMT At closest approach the Parker Solar Probe reaches about 430,000 mph (692,000 km/h) relative to the Sun. On Oct. 11, 2026, it was doing just 13.9 km/s. deep-space https://watchsat.live/blog/qianfan-guowang-china-megaconstellations https://watchsat.live/blog/qianfan-guowang-china-megaconstellations Sun, 11 Oct 2026 19:33:00 GMT China's Qianfan and Guowang satellite constellations had 477 satellites on CelesTrak's active list on October 11, 2026, toward plans of about 15,000 and 13,000. catalog launches https://watchsat.live/blog/types-of-satellites https://watchsat.live/blog/types-of-satellites Sun, 11 Oct 2026 19:33:00 GMT The types of satellites, by job. Communications are 80.2% of the 16,701 on CelesTrak's active list, Starlink alone 66.6%, while about 10% can't be identified. catalog https://watchsat.live/blog/where-does-space-begin-karman-line https://watchsat.live/blog/where-does-space-begin-karman-line Sun, 11 Oct 2026 19:33:00 GMT Where does space begin? FAI's Kármán line is 100 km (62 miles), the US uses 50 miles (80 km), and no law sets it. Nothing in our Oct 11 data was below 164.7 km. catalog tracking https://watchsat.live/blog/where-is-europa-clipper https://watchsat.live/blog/where-is-europa-clipper Sun, 11 Oct 2026 19:33:00 GMT Europa Clipper was 59.0 million km from Earth on October 11, 2026, and closer to the Sun than Earth is. It swings past Earth on December 3, bound for Jupiter. deep-space https://watchsat.live/blog/where-is-new-horizons https://watchsat.live/blog/where-is-new-horizons Sun, 11 Oct 2026 19:33:00 GMT New Horizons was 65.77 AU from the Sun on October 8, 2026, and its signals took 9 hours 6 minutes to reach Earth. It's still inside the heliosphere. deep-space voyager https://watchsat.live/blog/direct-to-cell-satellites-phones https://watchsat.live/blog/direct-to-cell-satellites-phones Sun, 11 Oct 2026 16:41:00 GMT Satellites can connect directly to your phone for texts. Starlink says it has launched 650 direct-to-cell satellites. How it works and who offers it. starlink catalog https://watchsat.live/blog/how-do-satellites-stay-in-orbit https://watchsat.live/blog/how-do-satellites-stay-in-orbit Sun, 11 Oct 2026 16:41:00 GMT How do satellites stay in orbit? They fall all the time but move sideways fast enough to keep missing Earth: about 7.7 km/s at the ISS's 420 km height. tracking catalog https://watchsat.live/blog/how-does-starlink-work https://watchsat.live/blog/how-does-starlink-work Sun, 11 Oct 2026 16:41:00 GMT Starlink links a phased-array dish to more than 11,000 satellites, most in shells about 460 to 485 km up, which relay traffic by laser and through gateways. starlink tracking https://watchsat.live/blog/how-long-do-satellites-last https://watchsat.live/blog/how-long-do-satellites-last Sun, 11 Oct 2026 16:41:00 GMT How long do satellites last? Most active ones are Starlinks, built for five years. New GPS satellites get 15, and Landsat 5, built for three, lasted 28 years. catalog starlink https://watchsat.live/blog/iss-retirement-deorbit-2030 https://watchsat.live/blog/iss-retirement-deorbit-2030 Sun, 11 Oct 2026 16:41:00 GMT NASA plans to retire the ISS after September 30, 2030, when operations end. A SpaceX-built vehicle then steers it into the South Pacific in about 2031. iss https://watchsat.live/blog/rocket-launches-2026-count https://watchsat.live/blog/rocket-launches-2026-count Sun, 11 Oct 2026 16:41:00 GMT Rocket launches in 2026 reached about 240 orbital attempts by mid-October, one every 28.5 hours. How it compares with 2025's record and what the catalog shows. launches starlink https://watchsat.live/blog/tiangong-space-station https://watchsat.live/blog/tiangong-space-station Sun, 11 Oct 2026 16:41:00 GMT China's Tiangong space station orbits about 386 km up on a 41.5° tilt, so it stays between 41.5° N and S. Who's aboard, its size, and where you can see it. iss tracking sky https://watchsat.live/blog/types-of-orbits-leo-meo-geo https://watchsat.live/blog/types-of-orbits-leo-meo-geo Sun, 11 Oct 2026 16:41:00 GMT The main types of orbits are LEO, MEO, GEO and HEO. Of 16,701 objects on CelesTrak's active list on October 11, 2026, 95 percent were in low Earth orbit. catalog tracking https://watchsat.live/blog/van-allen-belts-satellites https://watchsat.live/blog/van-allen-belts-satellites Sun, 11 Oct 2026 16:41:00 GMT The Van Allen belts are two zones of trapped particles, about 1,600 to 40,200 km up by NASA figures. Of 16,701 active satellites, 95% stay below 2,000 km. space-weather catalog https://watchsat.live/blog/weather-satellites-how-they-work https://watchsat.live/blog/weather-satellites-how-they-work Sun, 11 Oct 2026 16:41:00 GMT How weather satellites work: geostationary imagers 35,786 km up scan a full disc every 10 minutes, and low orbiters supply over 80% of forecast model data. catalog tracking https://watchsat.live/blog/geostationary-orbit-explained https://watchsat.live/blog/geostationary-orbit-explained Sun, 11 Oct 2026 04:52:00 GMT A geostationary orbit is a circle 35,786 km above the equator where a satellite keeps pace with Earth's spin and seems to hang still. We counted 573 there. catalog tracking https://watchsat.live/blog/how-many-gps-satellites https://watchsat.live/blog/how-many-gps-satellites Sun, 11 Oct 2026 04:52:00 GMT The U.S. Space Force counted 32 operational GPS satellites in April 2026, about 20,200 km up. How GPS works, and how Galileo, GLONASS and BeiDou compare. catalog tracking https://watchsat.live/blog/iss-speed-altitude-orbit https://watchsat.live/blog/iss-speed-altitude-orbit Sun, 11 Oct 2026 04:52:00 GMT How fast does the ISS travel? About 17,100 mph (7.66 km/s), circling Earth every 93 minutes 420 km up. Why it sinks, and how it gets pushed back up. iss tracking https://watchsat.live/blog/satellite-reentry-what-happens https://watchsat.live/blog/satellite-reentry-what-happens Sun, 11 Oct 2026 04:52:00 GMT When a satellite reenters the atmosphere it breaks apart about 78 km up and mostly melts away, though tanks can survive. About two Starlinks fall each day. starlink catalog https://watchsat.live/blog/satellite-streaks-astronomy-rubin https://watchsat.live/blog/satellite-streaks-astronomy-rubin Sun, 11 Oct 2026 04:52:00 GMT Do satellites affect astronomy? Streaks crossed 2.7% of Hubble exposures from 2002 to 2021, and Rubin simulates trails in about 10% of its survey images. starlink sky https://watchsat.live/blog/solar-storms-effects-on-satellites https://watchsat.live/blog/solar-storms-effects-on-satellites Sun, 11 Oct 2026 04:52:00 GMT Solar storms affect satellites by heating the upper air, which adds drag in low orbit, and by skewing GPS. A mild 2022 storm downed 38 of 49 new Starlinks. space-weather starlink https://watchsat.live/blog/space-debris-how-much-in-orbit https://watchsat.live/blog/space-debris-how-much-in-orbit Sun, 11 Oct 2026 04:52:00 GMT How much space debris is in orbit? The US catalog lists about 34,000 objects, ESA counts about 47,000 tracked, and models estimate 1.5 million of 1 to 10 cm. catalog tracking https://watchsat.live/blog/sun-synchronous-orbit-explained https://watchsat.live/blog/sun-synchronous-orbit-explained Sun, 11 Oct 2026 04:52:00 GMT A sun-synchronous orbit turns 0.9856° a day with the Sun, so Landsat 9 crosses the equator southbound near 10:12 a.m. One in five active satellites flies one. tracking catalog launches https://watchsat.live/blog/where-is-hubble-space-telescope https://watchsat.live/blog/where-is-hubble-space-telescope Sun, 11 Oct 2026 04:52:00 GMT The Hubble Space Telescope orbits about 470 km up and is sinking roughly 10 km a year. STScI puts its most likely reentry in 2033 unless it gets a boost. tracking sky https://watchsat.live/blog/where-is-james-webb-space-telescope https://watchsat.live/blog/where-is-james-webb-space-telescope Sun, 11 Oct 2026 04:52:00 GMT The James Webb Space Telescope was 1.36 million km from Earth on October 8, 2026, looping around L2. Its distance swings from 1.2 to 1.75 million km. deep-space tracking https://watchsat.live/blog/geomagnetic-storm-g3-northern-lights-october https://watchsat.live/blog/geomagnetic-storm-g3-northern-lights-october Sat, 10 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT A coronal mass ejection drove a G3 (strong) geomagnetic storm on October 10, 2026. What NOAA measured, who saw aurora and what comes next. space-weather aurora https://watchsat.live/blog/iss-crew-13-record-docking-crew-12-home https://watchsat.live/blog/iss-crew-13-record-docking-crew-12-home Sat, 10 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Crew-13 reached the ISS 7 hours 55 minutes after launch on October 1, a U.S. record. Crew-12 splashed down October 8, and CRS-35 is due October 13. iss launches https://watchsat.live/blog/orionid-meteor-shower-2026-satellites https://watchsat.live/blog/orionid-meteor-shower-2026-satellites Sat, 10 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT The Orionids peak on the night of October 21-22, 2026 under a bright gibbous Moon. When the Moon sets, and why satellites crowd the hour before dawn. sky https://watchsat.live/blog/starship-flight-14-starlink-v3-orbit https://watchsat.live/blog/starship-flight-14-starlink-v3-orbit Sat, 10 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Starship reached orbit for the first time on September 28, 2026 and left 26 Starlink V3 satellites behind. Their NORAD IDs, and how high they've climbed. launches starlink tracking https://watchsat.live/blog/mmx-phobos-sample-return https://watchsat.live/blog/mmx-phobos-sample-return Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT JAXA's MMX is set to launch at 4:41:03 a.m. Japan time on October 20, 2026 (19:41:03 UTC on October 19) for Phobos, with a sample due back in 2031. launches deep-space https://watchsat.live/blog/satellite-catalog-six-digit-numbers https://watchsat.live/blog/satellite-catalog-six-digit-numbers Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT On July 11, 2026 the satellite catalog issued its first six-digit NORAD ID, 100000. Why it stopped at 69,999, how Alpha-5 TLEs work and what broke. catalog tracking https://watchsat.live/blog/starlink-two-in-three-satellites https://watchsat.live/blog/starlink-two-in-three-satellites Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT Of 16,621 active satellites in the public catalog, 11,132 are Starlinks. How many satellites are in orbit in 2026, who runs them and where they fly. starlink catalog https://watchsat.live/blog/voyager-1-one-light-day https://watchsat.live/blog/voyager-1-one-light-day Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT At 10:16 UTC on November 18, 2026, Voyager 1 will be one light-day from Earth. How far that is, how long its signals take, and why it stays past the line. deep-space voyager