THIS IS GETTING TO BE A PROBLEM: A Chinese rocket breaks apart dangerously close to the Starlink constellation.

The breakup occurred shortly after the Zhuque-2E rocket reached orbit on June 9 with two satellites providing direct-to-cell communications, perhaps around the time the upper stage was expected to perform a disposal burn. The US Space Force confirmed the breakup event in a post on space-track.org, a website used by the military to distribute orbit data to the public.

“The tracked pieces are being incorporated into routine conjunction assessment to support spaceflight safety,” the Space Force wrote in an advisory. “There are currently no threats to human spaceflight. Analysis is ongoing.”

So far, the Space Force has not added any of the debris fragments to the official catalog of human-made space objects. Darren McKnight, a senior technical fellow at the orbital intelligence company LeoLabs, told Ars the fragmentation event likely generated 100 to 150 pieces of debris.

China’s attitude toward space junk is so cavalier I was surprised to read the upper stage was even supposed to have a disposal burn.

LIKE, FLAMING?

More and more, the state is just a trillion-dollar grift operation.

FROM NATHAN C. BRINDLE: I’m the Beautiful But Evil Space Princess Who Rules A Galactic Empire But Really Wants To Leave People Ruthlessly Alone!: Volume 4.

Imperial Princess Regnant Alice and her fiancé, Crown Prince Daniel of Xeros, and the plucky crew of the Imperial Space Yacht Aurora, with the assistance of the Goddess Eireala, have traveled tens of millions of light-years from the Milky Way Galaxy to mend a rift in space.

Once that’s fixed, they’ll head home – and Alice and Daniel will finally be wed!

But nothing ever goes according to plan . . . not even an Imperial wedding.

You’re all invited to the nuptials, regardless . . .

The fourth volume of the BBESP light novel!

GO AWAY, BARACK, YOU’RE A PAIN.

WHAT PART OF HAMSTERS IS GREAT BRITAIN NOT GETTING?  On Hamsters.

They can’t overrule our first amendment. They can tell it to the hamsters.

LYING TO CONGRESS IS A CRIME: