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Earth Intelligence

23 Feb 2024 — 6 min read

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CENTCOM Activity
U.S. Telecommunication Outage
U.S. Space Mission

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CENTCOM Activity:

On February 21, from midnight to 6:45 p.m. Sanaa time, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted precision defensive strikes against a collection of Houthi threats aimed at maritime security in the Red Sea. This included seven mobile Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles and one Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile launcher, alongside an unmanned aerial system (UAS), all originating from Houthi-held areas in Yemen.
These assets were identified as posing an immediate threat to both merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships operating in the vicinity, prompting CENTCOM to neutralize them to safeguard maritime operations in international waters. The subsequent day, February 22, saw further action between 4:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. Sanaa time, when U.S. aircraft and a coalition warship intercepted six Houthi unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over the Red Sea, deemed as targeting U.S. and coalition warships.
Later that morning, from 8:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m., Houthi forces launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles from southern Yemen into the Gulf of Aden. These missiles targeted the MV Islander, a Palau-flagged, U.K.-owned cargo carrier, causing minor injuries and some damage to the vessel. Despite the attack, the MV Islander continued its voyage. These incidents underscore the ongoing threats to maritime security in the region and the importance of maintaining vigilance to protect commercial and military maritime activities.

U.S. Telecommunication Outage:

On Thursday, numerous Americans encountered disruptions in their cellular service across a range of providers, including AT&T, Cricket Wireless, Verizon, T-Mobile, and others, as reported by Downdetector. AT&T experienced the most significant disruption, with over 64,000 reports of outages on Thursday morning. AT&T, being the largest carrier in the country with over 241 million subscribers, saw a substantial impact from these disruptions.
The company acknowledged that some customers faced interruptions in their wireless services and were actively working to restore them, suggesting the use of Wi-Fi calling in the meantime. An update provided by AT&T yesterday at 6:46 p.m. CT clarified that the outage resulted from an incorrect procedure applied during network expansion, not from a cyberattack, and reassured that a thorough assessment was ongoing to prevent future issues.
Cricket Wireless had over 13,000 reported outages, while Verizon and T-Mobile saw more than 4,000 and 1,900 outages, with Boost Mobile also experiencing around 700 outages. Verizon communicated that its network was functioning normally, attributing some customer issues in the morning to interactions with other networks and stating that they were continuing to monitor the situation. T-Mobile also indicated that its network was operating as expected, suggesting that Down detectors reports might reflect difficulties customers had when trying to connect to other networks.

U.S. Space Mission:

Yesterday, Intuitive Machines' autonomous lunar lander, named Odysseus, successfully landed on the Moon at 6:23 p.m. ET (2323 UTC), delivering NASA's scientific instruments intended to lay groundwork for future manned exploration under the Artemis program. This achievement was facilitated by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which launched Odysseus into lunar transfer orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, February 15, at 1:05 a.m. ET.
The launch was a part of SpaceX's extensive flight history, marking the 18th mission for the first stage booster used, which had previously supported a variety of missions including GPS III-3, Turksat 5A, and several Starlink missions. In the seven days leading to the landing, as Odysseus traveled from Earth to the Moon, all of NASA's powered science instruments aboard completed their transit checkouts, collected data, and functioned as expected.
Flight controllers have been closely analyzing this data and overseeing the instruments, optimizing preparations for the landing. The descent to the lunar surface was planned with several critical stages outlined for the landing process, including powered descent initiation, pitch over for main engine alignment, hazard detection and avoidance to ensure a safe landing site, followed by vertical and terminal descent phases, culminating in the lander's successful touchdown.
This endeavor, part of NASA's Artemis program, marks a new chapter in human lunar exploration, aiming to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon as a foundation for future missions to Mars. NASA, along with its commercial and international partners like SpaceX, is committed to advancing human exploration across the lunar surface and into deeper space.

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