THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR:

THAT WAS PROBABLY INEVITABLE:

HMM: Lutnick stalled Trump’s Nvidia–China chip curbs after Oval talks.

On Thursday, as the spy scandal rocked the administration, Lutnick met in the Situation Room with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and National Security Adviser and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

During the meeting, Bessent confronted Lutnick about why his department has resisted implementing the export controls, particularly on Megaspeed, the company at the center of the spy scandal. The group sided with Bessent.

Lutnick appeared to agree, but then muttered under his breath, “I need to check with the president.”

Friction point: Lutnick’s seemingly innocuous comment raised concerns, the sources said, because officials have repeatedly believed the Commerce Department would impose the export controls, only to have nothing happen.

Not good, if true.

NO. JUST NO.

IT’S MY THURSDAY ESSAY FOR VIP SUBSCRIBERS: Slipping Off America’s Leash.

Ukraine may have found a new internet tool for targeting Russia’s energy infrastructure. That’s good news for people who like punishing aggressors, and bad news for people who hate expensive diesel and inflation.

I am both of those people — real life is messy like that.

War is even worse, so let’s take a look at what’s going on over there, even though this week’s essay isn’t really about the Russo-Ukraine War. But it’s a good place to start.

Tons more at the link.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Anduril says its first satellite can see adversaries maneuver in orbital night.

Funded with Anduril’s internal capital, the company’s oven-sized satellite launched on a SpaceX rideshare mission in July with a package of tech demo payloads: an edge-compute processor, a power-management system adaptable to different mission types, and a long-wave infrared space sensor capable of detecting other objects in orbit.

Anduril reported on the success of the tech demo mission Tuesday. The company’s satellite, named Anduril-216, flies about 590 km (366 mi) above Earth, spending about one-third of each orbit in darkness. Anduril-216’s night passes allow its infrared imager to shine.

“This is a unique sensor that allows us to take imagery in long-wave [infrared],” said Gokul Subramanian, Anduril’s senior vice president of engineering. “What’s unique about that is it’s got a huge dynamic range. It has very low solar exclusion, so we’re blocked by the Sun very rarely, and we can see things in full dark.”

I wonder what Subramanian isn’t telling us…

OPEN THREAD: Hump Day.

WISHING HIM WELL: ESPN says that “Actor and race car driver Frankie Muniz was hospitalized Wednesday following a practice lap crash at Daytona International Speedway, according to his racing team.”

Normally when TV stars or business celebs get into racing it’s egotistical gibberish  but a pal who raced small formula cars against Munoz says he’s the real deal. Not a young Jackie Stewart, mind you, but when one racer refers to another saying “oh yeah, he’s quick” that’s a sign of mad props.

Get well soon, Frankie!

SEE THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE STUDENT SPACE TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION TEST FIRE ITS “BIG LIQUID” ROCKET ENGINE: