Ryan Westerdahl

Fleet Command - -Activate Today!

The Artemis crew took a picture of the Apollo 11 landing site. That’s where Neil Armstrong took the first human step on another world. We will be back.

🛰️ NEW: Anduril, Astranis Space, BAE Space & Mission Systems, General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, Intuitive Machines, L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, Millennium Space Systems, Northrop Grumman, Quantum Space, Redwire Space, Sierra Space, and Turion Space were awarded a ceiling $1.84 billion firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the Andromeda program. This contract provides for the procurement of space-based space domain awareness capability. Work is expected to be completed by April 2036. So far, just $1.4M in FY2025 RDT&E funds have been obligated.

@RyanWesterdahl Thanks so much sir 🫡 The travelers push on!!

@dillon_dunteman is a scholar, gentleman, and has truly immaculate sci-fi taste. May your portfolio move at the speed of the Shrike.

The scale of space is changing faster than the tools and models used to understand and operate in it. Awareness is evolving from isolated signals and dot-tracking to dynamic and autonomous complex systems. The shift from SSA to SDA is underway, and Turion is at the forefront. Great article on the subject from @SpaceNews_Inc: spacenews.com/holistic-space…

Announcing TERAFAB: the next step towards becoming a galactic civilization twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…

Umbra and ICEYE will make for a good business case study someday. I think we will both be successful while taking polar opposite approaches in how we build our businesses. I’m not sure we could be any more different: - Reflector vs. electronically scanned array - One mfg line vs. many - Manage to earnings vs. bookings - US-only vs. 30+ countries - No analytics vs. “intelligence company” - Open data/pricing/licensing vs. locked-down data/pricing/licensing - Privately-backed vs. state-backed - Wants to stay private vs. wants to go public - Product-focused CEO vs. distribution-focused CEO We like our chances head-to-head. The competition will drive both of us to build better businesses and, ultimately, I think better value for customers.

@mouthofmorrison @aravindEO 💯

Not a surprise to see @iceye_global leaning into the current momentum and exploring an IPO. The trend towards sovereign Earth observation is stronger than ever - in just the last month, Iceye won contracts to deliver at least 10 SAR satellites to three different countries. While the growth trajectory is impressive (with projected 2025 revenues of €200 million), I’m curious about the long-term outlook:

@pronounced_kyle 🫡🙋‍♂️Just finished first 2x eps

Any other parents excited to watch this thing 83 times over the next year?

On 6/12/2023, we launched Droid.001. Today, after approximately 15,698 orbits around Earth and 1,022 successful tasking collects totaling 26,467 images, D1 has officially deorbited.

Most people never see this part: the repetition, refinement, and second looks that never make the highlight reel. Spacecraft aren’t just assembled. They’re obsessed over one small detail at a time.

From this moment forward I will henceforth refer to “dwarf planets” as “planites”. Although I agree with the IAU technical rationale, Pluto deserves better.

@elonmusk Especially when Nancy agrees😬

Inverse Cramer is rarely wrong 😳

$RKLB "What the US needs is two SpaceX, it needs two launch companies that are competing vigorously against each other to try to give us the most capabilities as a country" -Dave Limp, Blue Origin CEO

@elonmusk @gvanrossum Matlab-> python allowed 6x oom increase in single sim processing velocity (most speed ops via 1d, 2d, and 3d interp cython implementations). Although a non swe, python changeover impacted our velocity of contribution to galactic destiny. Tryna one-up that is the real game

@gvanrossum Congratulations on creating Python. It is really something special.

Hey @elonmusk, does SpaceX use Python, and for what? How extensively?

An exhaustive deltaV map of cislunar space: forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topi… Zoom in!

Hyperstition #16 - Planar Coil Stellarators Before I became a 'media guy' I was the senior design engineer at a magnetic confinement fusion startup spun out of PPPL, designing stellarators. Stellarators are not just one of the most impressive engineering devices on the planet, but beautiful to look at - smooth organic curves as vacuum chambers and superconducting magnets follow the contour of plasma as it races around in a helical toroidal path. Unfortunately this means designing stellarators is a nightmarishly difficult task, but there have been recent breakthroughs in the design and optimization of stellarator coil architecture. In contrast to Tokamaks, stellarators are hard to design, but much easier to operate - they are more suited to steady state operation and require far less circulating plasma current that is liable to becoming unstable and dumbing megajoules of energy into the vacuum vessel. So what if Stellarators were as easy to design as a tokamak? This is now possible through the revolutionary approach of @TheaEnergy, building the worlds first planar-coil stellarator. Instead of convoluted magnets, planar coil stellarators apply the same required magnetic field by tiling the exterior surface with individual magnetic dipoles that are each digitally controlled and adjustable. This is like producing a surface of magnetic pixels that can each be at its own desired setpoint, taking a great deal of mechanical complexity from a fixed operating point and translating it into digital and software control. I sat down with my former co-worker Charles Swanson, VP of Fusion Systems at @TheaEnergy for a very rare behind-the-scenes look at the engineering and design of a magnetic confinement fusion device. This goes far beyond the usual basic physics of fusion you see presented publicly, getting into details like: - Stellarator plasma physics - Design of practical fusion power plant systems - Tradeoffs in stellarator plasma design space - How to exhaust spent fuel from a fusion reactor via a divertor I'll be making an effort to do a thorough interview of more fusion companies in the space over time, to understand the fascinating design space of tradeoffs that make up the Fusion Energy Landscape.

True. Once the solar energy generation to robot manufacturing to chip fabrication to AI loop is closed, conventional currency will just get in the way. Just wattage and tonnage will matter, not dollars.

🔥 Every delta is vital to our success. Check out this engaging infographic that showcases the connections within Combat Forces Command. 📊