China is Inviting International Participation in its 2022 Space Station

Last week, the United Nations announced that it was working with China’s human spaceflight program to fly experiments on that country’s space station. Countries, especially developing ones, could submit proposals to fly experiments on the future China Space Station starting some time in the 2020s. “The China Space Station belongs not only to China, but also to the world,” Chinese ambassador Shi Zhongjun said in the UN statement about the agreement.

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UN Using a Sierra Nevada DreamChaser for First UN Space Mission?

The United Nations plans to purchase a dedicated mission on a Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) Dream Chaser spacecraft in 2021 to give developing nations an opportunity to fly experiments in space.

At a press conference during the International Astronautical Congress here Sept. 27, the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) said the agreement to fly the dedicated Dream Chaser mission is part of a broader effort by the office to increase access to space to emerging nations.

“Our project is the first-ever United Nations space mission,” said Simonetta Di Pippo, director of UNOOSA. “The mission has one very important goal: to allow United Nations member states to conduct research that cannot be done on Earth.”

The mission, she said, will be open to all nations, but with a particular emphasis on those nations that don’t have the capabilities to fly their own experiments in space. UNOOSA will soon start the process of soliciting payload proposals, with a goal of selecting payloads by early 2018 so that the winning countries have time to build them for a 2021 launch.

Neither SNC nor UNOOSA disclosed the cost of the mission. Mark Sirangelo, corporate vice president of SNC’s Space Systems division, said that the mission will be financed by several ways, with the countries selected to fly experiments paying at least some of the cost of the flight.

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Scuffle in the South China Sea #56

The eve of the ruling by The Hague has the world wondering what China will do.  The signals China has been giving are making everyone nervous. Here's some more background.

Here's a look at China's claims.

How China might react to the ruling.  The US Navy, says though, that it really does not know how China will react to the ruling.

The US should do nothing, so sayeth Beijing, to dispute China's claims in the South China Sea. 

China has stated there will be a price to pay for the US over its confrontation with China over the South China Sea. 

Beijing has made it clear discussions of the South China Sea are not going to happen at the EU-PRC summit.

Some are expressing hope the US and China can get along in the South China Sea.

China has been exercising in the South China Sea.  Here are some pictures and video. China issued a 'no sail zone' warning for the exercise area.  This is nothing new.

Here's a video of the H-6 bomber test firing a YJ-12 antiship missile during the exercise.

WiB takes a look at China's Little Blue Men, ahem, fishing militia.

US Navy destroyers routinely cruise by the Chinese claimed islands now.

The US has stated the ruling presents a choice for Asia on the future.

US Navy Growlers (EA-18Gs) have left the Philippines.

The Philippines has expressed a willingness to share the South China Sea.

The UN has expressed hope China will be peaceful with regards to the ruling.

What countries have sided with China over the South China Sea territorial dispute?

Russia's Most Syrian Adventure #73

The US and Russia are holding talks in Geneva over a potential ceasefire in Syria. A broader peace conference followed. Those peace talks were a dead end though and will not continue next week. The Russians have stated the talks are further delayed.  (BIG SURPRISE!)

France has stated the ceasefire must have begun yesterday, including the Russians (but, yeah, right).  The EU has come out and said pretty much the same thing.

The Syria rebels have stated they are open to a provisional ceasefire, but slam Russia because it will continue to support Assad with its air campaign.

The Russians called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. France rejected Russia's proposed UN resolution. The Russian push failed.  The US said this was just an distraction by the Russians, intentional one at that, from the peace talks.

In more obfuscation, the Russians are warning Assad not to try to take back all of Syria.

There was a bombing in Ankara, Turkey. A Kurdish group claimed responsibility. A Kurdish group killed 3 Turkish security troops. Obama called Turkey's President over the Kurdish attacks asking for restraint and Turkey stated it is saddened by the US alliance with the Kurdish groups.

A Kurdish force with allies and US airstrike support have retaken a city from IS/Daesh.

The Saudis are stating the rebels ought to armed with MANPADS surface to air missiles.

United Nations General Assembly Adopted Non-binding Restriction Against First Placement of Space Based Weapons

The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a Russian-led resolution calling for a non-binding restriction against the first placement of weapons in outer space, a measure that has been strongly criticized by the US for not going far enough.

Russia has been promoting the resolution for several years, but failed to push the draft through a UN committee focusing on disarmament issues. The US has been at the forefront of the effort against the Russian resolution, which is backed by Moscow-friendly nations like China and Syria.

“It is noteworthy that the only government objecting to the substance of our initiative is the United States, which for many years has stood in almost complete isolation trying to block successive efforts of the international community to prevent an arms race in outer space,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its website Tuesday.

Known as the “no first placement initiative,” the resolution calls on states to refrain from being the first to deploy weapons into outer space, thereby preventing an arms race that could have devastating consequences. Russia, China and the US are all working on space weapons.

The initiative passed the General Assembly with 129 nations voting in favor. The US, Ukraine and Georgia voted against the measure — as the Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out in its statement — while the states of the European Union chose to abstain.

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Scuffle in the South China Sea #5

China will hold snap drills in response to the American passage.

The USS Lassen's sail-by was an 'innocent passage.'

The US is planning at least two such passages per quarter.

The Philippines and Vietnam have been urged to start doing the same sorts of sail-bys as the US has been.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration decision is seen as a turning point for the South China Sea disputes.

Ukraine: Increasing Warnings & Some Hope

The Russian build up on the eastern border continues.  The Ukrainian government is giving second sources now of support units moving along.  The videos above vary from March 11 to yesterday.  The one with the APCs is impressive.  That's the full logistics train, not just AFVs, and it looks to be somewhere around 50 APCs.  That is at least a battalion.

Putin called Obama to discuss the situation.  

Obama warned Putin to move the troops back away from the border.

The Ukrainians have dug in along the border.  Its a big border.

The Russians also threatened the UN ambassadors in eastern europe and central asia just before the UN vote for supporting the territorial integrity of Ukraine.  The Russians replied they just explained the situation.  ahem.

The candidates are coming out of the woodwork.  Poroshenko seems to be the leading contender.    Ukrainians I know call him a crook.   Since the presidency is supposed to be symbolic, a la European style, Klitschko might be the best pick.  Whoever it is MUST stick with the constitution.  Timoshenko must NOT be elected president.  She will rip up the constitution again for her own advantage.

It appears the Ukrainians avoided some of the pitfalls Greece made with the IMF.  Though that might be

I'm going to cave in for the moment to my inner arm chair general and wonder what would be the repercussions if the 173rd Airborne Brigade were deployed to Donetsk.  Would that make things better?  IE tripwire troops to make the Russians think twice?  Or would that make things worse?