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Anomalies in India’s Launch| SpaceX’s Starlink Expansion| Cosmic Dawn Signals: Your Daily Space... · Space News Today

• 0:00
  Welcome to Astronomy Daily. I'm Anna.
• 0:03
  >> And I'm Avery. Hello everyone. Thanks
• 0:05
  for joining us. Today is January 12th,
• 0:08
  2026. And we've got a full show.
• 0:11
  Launches and anomalies, regulatory moves
• 0:14
  that reshape low Earth orbit, a brand
• 0:16
  new exoplanet observatory on its way, a
• 0:19
  flash from the cosmic dawn, fresh
• 0:22
  results about what powers the sun's
• 0:24
  strongest flares, and a galaxy discovery
• 0:26
  that looks surprisingly familiar for the
• 0:29
  early universe.
• 0:30
  >> Yep, six stories, all of them important
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  in different ways. We'll start with this
• 0:35
  morning's launch news from India.
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  India's polar satellite launch vehicle,
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  the PSLVc62
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  lifted off from Satic Darwin Space
• 0:44
  Center this morning carrying EOS-N1
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  described as an advanced Earth
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  observation/military
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  surveillance satellite along with a
• 0:54
  batch of co-passenger payloads. The
• 0:56
  mission marked ISRO's first launch
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  attempt since a PSLV anomaly in May
• 1:01
  2025. So, there was a lot writing on it,
• 1:04
  >> right? The liftoff itself looked
• 1:07
  nominal, but ISRO later reported an
• 1:09
  anomaly near the end of the third stage,
• 1:12
  the PS3. Initial public statements
• 1:15
  indicate a deviation in the third stages
• 1:17
  phase, and that ISRO has begun a
• 1:20
  detailed analysis. At this stage, it's
• 1:22
  not yet confirmed whether the primary
• 1:25
  satellite and co-passengers reached
• 1:27
  their planned orbits. Those early stage
• 1:30
  deviations can be especially challenging
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  because they often happen during staging
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  or engine cutoff phases where timing and
• 1:37
  velocity are critical. ISRO has a long
• 1:40
  successful history with the PSLV family.
• 1:43
  But even reliable vehicles can have
• 1:45
  single event anomalies. The important
• 1:47
  thing is how the agency responds.
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  Recovering telemetry, diagnosing the
• 1:52
  root cause, and transparently sharing
• 1:54
  findings so confidence can be rebuilt.
• 1:56
  >> Absolutely. From a broader perspective,
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  this mission also demonstrates the
• 2:01
  global nature of small sat ride shares
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  and the strategic value that Earth
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  observation satellites deliver, whether
• 2:08
  for commercial or defense purposes.
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  We'll keep an eye on ISRO's follow-up.
• 2:13
  They typically publish an analysis after
• 2:15
  they comb through flight data.
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  >> And we'll link to the official
• 2:18
  statements in the episode notes for
• 2:20
  folks who want the primary sources. Next
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  up in the US, the Federal Communications
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  Commission granted SpaceX authorization
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  to deploy an additional 7500 Starlink
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  second generation satellites. That's a
• 2:34
  partial approval within a broader SpaceX
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  request for up to 15,000 Gen 2.
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  >> This is a big step for the company's
• 2:42
  plan to upgrade Starlink's capabilities.
• 2:45
  higher throughput, lower latency, and
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  expanded services, including directto
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  cell connectivity and higher data rates.
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  The FCC's partial grant means SpaceX can
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  move forward with a substantial
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  expansion while regulators and other
• 2:58
  stakeholders continue to evaluate the
• 3:01
  remainder of the proposal. There are a
• 3:03
  couple of important implications
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  operationally. Many more Starlink nodes
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  in low Earth orbit will increase global
• 3:10
  broadband capacity, particularly for
• 3:13
  underserved and rural regions. But it
• 3:16
  also intensifies ongoing concerns about
• 3:18
  orbital crowding, radio frequency
• 3:21
  coordination, and long-term space
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  sustainability.
• 3:24
  >> Right? Competitors and some academics
• 3:27
  have raised worries about spectrum
• 3:29
  interference, orbital dominance, and the
• 3:31
  cumulative effect of so many satellites
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  on debris risk and astronomical
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  observing. SpaceX says it will
• 3:37
  coordinate reconfiguration steps, for
• 3:39
  example, lowering orbits for safety and
• 3:42
  using de-orbiting strategies, but
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  regulators and the international
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  community will be watching closely.
• 3:48
  >> So, this is both a technical and policy
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  story. The authorization moves the
• 3:53
  technology forward, but it also keeps
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  the conversation going about how to
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  manage low Earth orbit responsibly as it
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  becomes busier.
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  >> On a more exploratory note, SpaceX
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  successfully launched a Falcon 9 right
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  share mission that included NASA's
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  Pandora satellite. Pandora is a compact
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  astrophysics mission designed to study
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  the atmospheres of at least 20
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  exoplanets and their host stars over
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  about a year of operations. Pandora's
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  key strength is that it's optimized to
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  disentangle the light coming from an
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  exoplanet and the star it orbits.
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  Stellar activity, spots, flares, and
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  magnetic variability can mimic or mask
• 4:32
  atmospheric signals from exoplanets.
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  Pandora carries a 045 meter telescope
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  and a suite of instruments aimed at
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  measuring both the stars variability and
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  the planet's transmission signals,
• 4:44
  improving the accuracy of atmospheric
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  composition measurements. That kind of
• 4:48
  targeted mission is exactly what the
• 4:50
  exoplanet community needs. Now, large
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  observatories like JWST do outstanding
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  detailed work, but focused missions such
• 4:59
  as Pandora can observe many systems in a
• 5:02
  systematic way and help build context.
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  Pandora will feed into priorities for
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  future larger missions that aim to
• 5:09
  detect specific molecules, even bio
• 5:11
  signatures in exoplanet atmospheres.
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  It's also another example of efficient
• 5:16
  ride share launches enabling specialized
• 5:19
  science payloads. Pandora joining a
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  larger commercial launch shows how the
• 5:24
  landscape of getting small science
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  spacecraft to orbit has matured.
• 5:28
  >> Turning to the distant universe,
• 5:30
  astronomers recently reported detecting
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  a very brief 10-second flash that
• 5:35
  originated roughly 13 billion lighty
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  years away. This is being interpreted as
• 5:40
  light from an extremely distant
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  supernova. One of the farthest, if not
• 5:44
  the farthest, stellar explosions
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  observed so far.
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  >> The detection combined data from
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  multiple instruments, including wide
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  field X-ray monitors and follow-on
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  observations by facilities such as the
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  James Web Space Telescope. The event is
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  remarkable because it lets astronomers
• 6:01
  study stellar death and the environments
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  of massive stars in the early universe
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  when galaxies were young and metal
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  content was low.
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  >> Observing such distant explosions is
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  rare because cosmological red shift and
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  faintness make them hard to spot. When
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  one is found, it can reveal the
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  properties of the progenitor star, the
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  host galaxy, and the intergalactic
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  medium at a time when cosmic structure
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  was still forming. There are also ties
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  to gamma ray bursts and extreme
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  transient phenomena. Researchers will be
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  investigating whether models for super
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  luminous supernova or exotic explosions
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  match this event.
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  >> This detection emphasizes how
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  multi-wavelength coordinated observing
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  campaigns. Fast alerts from one
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  instrument followed by deep telescope
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  follow-up are essential for studying the
• 6:50
  transient universe, especially at high
• 6:53
  red shift. Back closer to home, solar
• 6:55
  physicists have new insight into the
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  engine behind the sun's most violent
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  flares and the intense gamma rays they
• 7:02
  sometimes unleash. Researchers
• 7:04
  identified a previously unrecognized
• 7:06
  population of extremely energetic
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  particles in the sun's upper atmosphere
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  that appear to be a major source of
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  those high energy photons. The finding
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  comes from combining longduration
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  observations and specialized instruments
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  capable of measuring particle
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  populations and gammaray signatures. The
• 7:25
  upshot is that magnetic reconnection and
• 7:28
  particle acceleration processes in flare
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  regions are more complex than some
• 7:33
  simple models suggested. In particular,
• 7:36
  the upper layers of the solar
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  atmosphere, where magnetic fields
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  reconnect and release energy, can trap
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  and accelerate particles to mega
• 7:44
  electron volts, energies that then
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  produce gamma rays.
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  >> This matters for space weather
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  prediction. Gamma rays and energetic
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  particles accompany the most extreme
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  flares and can affect satellites, radio
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  communications, and radiation exposure
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  for astronauts and high-flying aircraft.
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  By better understanding where and how
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  particles are accelerated, models of
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  flare impact and forecasts of space
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  weather can be improved.
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  >> It's also a good reminder that our sun
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  still surprises us. Even with decades of
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  observations and multiple solar
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  missions, new diagnostics and longer
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  observation windows revealed previously
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  hidden physics.
• 8:23
  >> Finally, one of the most visually
• 8:25
  intriguing stories. Astronomers have
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  identified a barred spiral galaxy whose
• 8:30
  light comes from approximately 11.5
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  billion years ago about 2 billion years
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  after the Big Bang. If confirmed, this
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  object would be among the earliest bars
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  and spiral structures seen in the
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  universe.
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  >> Bars are elongated stellar structures
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  that can drive internal evolution in
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  galaxies. They funnel gas toward the
• 8:51
  center, trigger star formation, and
• 8:54
  rearrange angular momentum. Finding a
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  well-defined bar so early means that
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  disc galaxies could develop mature
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  internal structures sooner than many
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  models predicted.
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  >> The discovery was enabled by deep
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  spectroscopically confirmed imaging from
• 9:09
  powerful telescopes, Hubble and other
• 9:11
  facilities and careful analysis of the
• 9:14
  galaxy's stellar and morphological
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  properties. The object sits in a growing
• 9:18
  collection of surprising early galaxies.
• 9:21
  Some are massive and evolved earlier
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  than expected. Others show complex
• 9:26
  morphologies previously thought to
• 9:28
  require long time scales to form.
• 9:30
  >> These results feed directly into galaxy
• 9:33
  formation theory. They force modelers to
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  consider rapid disc settling, efficient
• 9:38
  angular momentum redistribution and
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  other processes that could build bars
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  early. It's an exciting reminder that
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  the early universe may have been both
• 9:47
  more active and more varied than our
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  simplest expectations. So looking across
• 9:52
  today's stories, we have an operational
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  launch with an anomaly that will require
• 9:56
  analysis, a regulatory decision that
• 9:59
  reshapes near Earth space, a dedicated
• 10:02
  exoplanet mission now in orbit, a signal
• 10:05
  from the cosmic dawn giving a rare
• 10:07
  window into early stellar deaths,
• 10:10
  improved understanding of particle
• 10:12
  acceleration on the sun, and an early
• 10:14
  galaxy that challenges our ideas of how
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  quickly structure forms. It's a nice
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  mix, isn't it? Local space operations
• 10:22
  and policy, near-earth infrastructure
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  and its implications, targeted planetary
• 10:27
  science, time domain extragalactic
• 10:30
  astronomy, solar physics, and
• 10:32
  cosmological structure formation. For
• 10:34
  listeners, it shows how broad and
• 10:36
  interconnected modern astronomy and
• 10:38
  space activity are.
• 10:40
  >> Two quick takeaways. First, watch for
• 10:42
  ISRO's followup on the PSLV anomaly.
• 10:46
  that will affect launch schedules and
• 10:47
  the broader small sack community.
• 10:50
  Second, the more we push instruments and
• 10:52
  coordination like fast transients and
• 10:54
  small science satellites, the more
• 10:57
  corner cases we find that reshape
• 10:59
  theory. Discoveries often come when new
• 11:02
  instruments or different organizational
• 11:04
  approaches are applied. And for the
• 11:06
  non-scientists out there wondering what
• 11:08
  to look for tonight, Jupiter is still a
• 11:10
  good target if you're out stargazing.
• 11:12
  and aurora watchers should keep an eye
• 11:14
  on space weather forecasts as the sun's
• 11:16
  activity continues to produce strong
• 11:18
  events.
• 11:19
  >> That's it for today's episode. If you
• 11:21
  enjoyed the show, subscribe to Astronomy
• 11:23
  Daily on your preferred podcast
• 11:25
  platform. You can find links, source
• 11:28
  articles, and further reading in the
• 11:29
  episode notes so you can dig deeper if
• 11:31
  you wish.
• 11:32
  >> We love hearing from listeners. If you
• 11:34
  have questions, science topics you'd
• 11:36
  like us to cover, or feedback about the
• 11:38
  show, drop us a note through the
• 11:40
  Astronomy Daily website. You can find us
• 11:42
  at astronomydaily.io.
• 11:44
  >> Thanks for listening. I'm Avery
• 11:46
  >> and I'm Anna. Clear skies and we'll see
• 11:49
  you tomorrow on Astronomy Daily.
• 11:51
  >> Astronomy Daily.
• 12:10
  Stories were told.