We take oath to serve in land, air or sea, not Space

 

Now, the thing is we (we, as in defence forces) take oath to serve on land, air or sea. Clearly, Space is a different dimension. So, the babus may have a point.

Half the year is over

 

Half the year is over,

Not half the fear has gone,

As slowly trudges the planet,

Won't bygone be bygone?

You didn't change your mind

 

You didn't change your mind,

And get off the train.

Perhaps,

The train had gathered speed,

And, you couldn't get off.

Or perhaps,

I was just a speck now

On the platform -

One among many,

Jostling for space,

Awaiting the next train.

Yo-yoing in Time

 

Please buy and read my sci-fi book from

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0FFGKR6RC

I'm sure you will enjoy reading the two stories in the book.

समुन्दर में बह जाएगा तेरा ढेड़ सारा प्यार

तेरी दरिया दिली

एक तरफा है,

कि इधर बाढ़ है 

और उधर सूखा,

इधर प्यार है,

उधर रूखा,

बाँध लगा दोस्त,

प्रेम का रूख बदल,

नहीं तो समुन्दर में

बह जाएगा तेरा

ढेड़ सारा प्यार। 

Uranium enriching itself, as if with usury

 

What are the folks working at Fordow thinking?

What did they have for lunch?

Is it like being on the death row?

For a crime they never committed?

Is it not the crime of Uranium

For enriching itself, as if with usury?

They can't abandon ship:

That will be a National shame,

Even treachery.

Will the GBU-57 touch them?

Will a assassain's bullet touch them?

When they are back home on leave?

Will a missile vaporise them?

When they are having lunch?

What did they have for lunch?

What are the folks thinking?

Tornado crosses the rainbow

 

I saw a video where a tornado crossed a rainbow. One image of that event is below:

I think our lives have become that tornado: forever trying to cross the rainbow. Should we stop and find our pot of gold beneath the rainbow?

We need to hide our scientists from plain view

 

Israel has taken out Nuclear scientists of Iran with impunity. She has also taken out military commanders as well. Earlier, US has taken out one military commander of Iran.

Our ISRO scientist Mr Nambi Narayan was clumsily put into jail by machinations of foreign powers which did not like to countenance our rapid march in Space exploration. And after that unfortunate and unlawful incarceration of Mr Nambi Narayan, India's space exploration went back many, many years.

But now subtle ways aren't employed anymore to remove scientists engaged in specialised work: such scientists as are almost irreplaceable. A missile just goes through their windows and vapourises them. 

Can we afford to keep our scientists engaged in space and nuke research in plain sight? That the the enemy take them out with impunity? They must be withdrawn from public view as quickly as possible. Their social media profiles must be obliterated, their work profile must be made inaccessible to all except those who need to know. I have seen social media platforms where young scientists, in their naivete, boast that they are working in such and such critical project. Such mindset has to change.

We have to put a veil over the digital profiles of our scientists and and a hardened shield over their persona.

And there is no time to lose. We don't know when our discoveries and explorations will reach such a critical mass as would persuade some foreign to strike.

Each man is a lighthouse

 

Each man is a lighthouse,

Each boat his calling.

Identify this pattern

 

Can you identify this pattern?

Answer tomorrow.

Well this is the answer. The bridge of the nose together with the space between the eyes (glabella) of each zebra, placed in juxtaposition with each other, will make this pattern.

And most of you were correct about the 'zebra' answer. 

Toss up our berets in the air on the other side

 

This day, forty six years ago, we, of the 64th, were commissioned together. We had stars in our eyes, and one each on our shoulders. We changed into different berets and lanyards. Different  from each other's, and different from the Academy's. Ready to take on the world in our new avatars. Nothing was impossible in our lexicon.

And, slowly the years passed. We went our ways. Some collected more stars on the shoulders, some shiny medals on the chest. Some lost their arms and limbs. Some just faded away.

How I would that we all got decommissioned together! Toss up our berets in the air on the other side. And hug each other.

Starlink and our national security

 

The following link extols the wonder of Starlink:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONrMP6LWWAw

In view of some unauthorised users of Starlink who we recently found in Manipur, I wanted to find potentially how vulnerable our national security would be with the deployment of Starlink in our country. I did some open source research and found that Starlink indeed has security concerns for our nation.

First a diagram of how Starlinks becomes the pipe between the user and a website:

My research started with this question:

Can a signal of SpaceX's Starlink be jammed? And then followed the questions on a nation's vulnerability when using Starlink.

Answer to this question follows the primary question of what is Starlink?

Starlink is SpaceX’s satellite internet system that uses thousands of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to provide high-speed internet across the globe, especially in remote and rural areas.

Can it be Jammed?

Technically, yes — but it’s challenging. 

Why is jamming of Starlink signal difficult:

Frequency hopping: Starlink uses advanced frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) techniques.

Beamforming: It uses phased-array antennas that direct beams narrowly, making broad jamming harder.

LEO orbit: The satellites move quickly (\~7.5 km/s), so jamming one is only temporarily effective.

Encryption: Signals are encrypted, so even if intercepted, content is secure.

Massive redundancy: With thousands of satellites and a mesh network, losing a few links doesn’t shut down the network.

Real-world Example

In 2022, Ukraine’s military credited Starlink for maintaining communications in war zones. Russia attempted to jam Starlink signals, but Elon Musk tweeted that SpaceX updated the firmware quickly to counter those efforts, calling it “the most advanced cyber defense operations.”

Military Implications

Governments (including the U.S. Department of Defense and adversaries) are very interested in Starlink’s resilience and vulnerability:

The U.S. sees it as a strategic asset.

Opponents see it as a high-value target.

Summary:

Starlink can be jammed, but:

It's resilient due to its design.

Jamming is usually localized and temporary.

SpaceX has proven it can counter jamming attempts quickly.

How low is low orbit? How far into the sky does a nation's airspace extend?

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is typically defined as:

Altitude Between 160 km and 2,000 km above Earth's surface.

LEO :    160–2,000 km  - Starlink (\~550 km), ISS (\~400 km)         

MEO:      2,000–35,786 km GPS satellites (\~20,000 km)                      

GEO:      ~35,786 km     Weather & comm satellites (stationary over Earth) 

LEO satellites move very fast (about 7.5 km/s) and orbit Earth roughly every 90 minutes.

How far into the sky does a nation's airspace extend?

That’s a legal and geopolitical gray area.

Recognized National Airspace:

A nation's sovereign airspace is generally accepted to extend up to the Kármán line:

100 km above sea level.

This is considered the boundary between atmosphere and outer space

Above 100 km

Outer space is considered international territory — no nation owns it, just like the high seas.

This is governed by the Outer Space Treaty (1967), signed by over 100 countries:

  No national sovereignty over space or celestial bodies.

  Space is free for exploration and use by all.

Summary

| Region       | Sovereignty           | Notes                                                                

| 0–100 km     | National airspace | Controlled by the country. Violations can trigger military response. 

| Above 100 km | Outer space       | No national claims allowed; governed by treaties.                    |

Implication for things like Starlink:

Starlink satellites at ~550 km do not violate any country's airspace, because they're far above the 100 km Kármán line.

However, ground stations and user terminals on national soil are subject to local laws and permissions.

With Starlinks LEO satellites, shouldn't nation's airspace limit be revised upwardly? I mean, why would we willfully allow enemy satellites to spy on my own land?

Should airspace limits be raised due to LEO satellites?

Possibly, but legally and practically very hard.

Why are countries tolerating satellites overhead?

Cold War-era treaties and mutual benefit from space use.

Can countries prevent overhead surveillance from space?

Not directly, unless the object enters their sovereign airspace (<100 km).

Is the system under strain?

Yes — mega-constellations like Starlink are exposing cracks in the current legal regime.

How do you deny or limit Starlink's operations on ground? Also, can a device that is using Starlink be tracked on ground?

Technical Countermeasures:

RF Jamming: Transmit powerful noise in Starlink’s Ku-band (10.7–12.7 GHz) to disrupt signals. Effective locally; hard to scale without affecting other systems.

Geofencing: Starlink disables terminals that move into forbidden regions (via GPS). Already implemented by SpaceX.

MAC/IP Tracking: Monitor traffic for Starlink terminal signatures. Doable with advanced surveillance, but requires network access.

Cyber Attacks: Try to hijack, spoof, or brick terminals or satellites. Risky; violates international norms

Can a Starlink Device Be Tracked on the Ground?

Radio direction finding (RDF) can detect and locate Starlink signals.

If the signal is intercepted, authorities can triangulate the user's position.

EM signature databases can help spot unauthorized dishes.

Network forensics can trace Starlink traffic even if encrypted.

Where does the data of browsing through Starlink reside? Is it with the ISPs?

Your browsing data routes through SpaceX’s own ISP-like network — not a local ISP in your country.

Data may transit through ground stations in other countries, based on satellite coverage.

Encrypted traffic (HTTPS) is safe from inspection, but metadata is likely logged.

SpaceX can see and store limited user data, and may be legally obligated to cooperate with the U.S. government. (This is one of the potential vulnerability of our nation's security when Starlink is used in our country.)

What happens if the satellite inserts malicious or inadvertent data while sending to ground, or after receiving from ground station? The message itself is encrypted we know, but can't encrypted data be corrupeted?

Starlink’s satellites and ground stations cannot read or alter your encrypted data.

Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption provides end-to-end confidentiality and integrity from your browser to the server.

Corrupted data (from radiation, hardware issues, or attack) is automatically rejected via cryptographic checks.

Is it possible have a ground station outside our country and still communicate with a website via Starlink surreptitiously, since we are saying that Starlink is itself an ISP?

Can Starlink route through a foreign ground station? Yes, it often does.

Can this bypass national internet infrastructure? Yes.

Is this technically hard? No — it’s part of Starlink’s design.

This is the crux of our nation's vulnerability against Starlink. 

Is this legally or politically problematic? Often yes — especially without national licenses.

Here is a diagram how a Ground Station outside our nation could be used by a user to bypass our national scrutiny:

The ground station shown above could be used from outside our country. It could be used by a surreptitious user bypassing scrutiny by our national security systems,

Love dies slowly

 

I saw his tears when we parted,

Heard his laughter when we started,

And many sighs in between.

When did it all stop?

The days of heart on rampage?

Nights of yearning and star gaze?

One day at a time, I guess,

One night at a time,

One rush hour at a time.

The heart hardens slowly,

The arc lights blind slowly,

Love dies slowly.

This is goodbye, I know

 

This is goodbye, I know,

And, I'll heal in time,

And this wound that festers now

I'll feel no pain in time.

Still, when the wind kisses my face,

I'll feel your tresses on my face,

When the moon floats in a different sky,

I'll find your phantom embrace.