Until the last few weeks the conventional wisdom in Washington, London and Arab capitals was that Isis had been forced on to the back foot, suffering from shortages of cash, weapons and problems of resupply, even if its morale was sustained by a slick propaganda machine that kept attracting recruits.
In April, as part of a mission by SpaceX, an American company, to resupply the ISS, a small mothership was placed in orbit carrying 104 "sprites" (pictured below).
That added about $100m a month to the cost of the war, as the coalition turned to a much longer resupply route running through Central Asia.Pakistan had demanded an apology and new terms for its alliance with America.
German efforts to resupply the beleaguered protectorate in east Africa were audacious.
That added at least $100m a month to the cost of that war, as the coalition turned to a much longer resupply route through central Asia.Islamabad had demanded an apology and new terms for its alliance with America.
And if the rebels can capture nearby towns, the airport may be used to to resupply them.
But it is an important step: if everything continues to go well, then a Cygnus test flight may take place in a few months' time, and Orbital's first ISS resupply mission could happen before the end of the year.The firm has a $1.9 billion contract with NASA to fly eight cargo missions to the station.
The fourth iteration, and fifth physical version, of NASA's PhoneSat was put into low-earth orbit (LEO) on April 18th as part of the SpaceX resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS .PhoneSat 2.5 is the fifth of its kind to circle the globe, and should remain in orbit for at least six weeks.
In many areas it is now logistics and resupply that worry its international mentors, not the Afghans' capacity for fighting (which they are evidently rather good at).But these gains are not enough for the doubters.
Though this is just a test, paid for by a campaign on Kickstarter, a crowdfunding website, and launched gratis by NASA, SpaceX's customer for the resupply mission, Mr Manchester thinks clouds of sprites could have real applications.
Serco, the private firm that operates the system, uses lorries to lug bikes across London in order to free up space in crowded racks and resupply depleted ones, but does not always seem able to keep up.Stephen Glaister, a transport economist at Imperial College, London (and another devoted cyclist), wonders if the scheme is aiming at the wrong problem.
