Image: Ariane 6 and Vega-C over Earth (artist impression)

Modern society has become profoundly reliant on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS).

Following the launch of two radar satellites for Greece at the end of last year, four infrared imaging satellites dedicated to detecting and monitoring wildfires across the country are now being prepared for launch this spring. As part of the final preparations, these four CubeSats have recently undergone magnetic cleaning at the European Space Agency’s facilities in the Netherlands.

The Smile spacecraft has arrived at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. During the coming weeks, the spacecraft will go through final preparations for its launch on a Vega-C rocket between 8 April and 7 May.

When packing your spacecraft for a return trip to Mars, it would be better to launch during a period of maximum solar activity.

At ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC), teams work around the clock to fly spacecraft across the Solar System and monitor Earth from orbit. Among them are women leading spacecraft operations, managing teams and helping shape the culture of ESA’s mission control.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Mar 09, 2026
NASA says it has finally found the 'back to basics' recipe to get Americans back on the Moon by 2028. A new intermediate mission, standardized hardware, a faster launch cadence: on paper, the Artemis overhaul looks like a sober course correction after years of drift. Look a little closer, though, and the same changes read like a managed soft-landing for a program that is structurally broken and

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Mar 09, 2026
NASA's latest reboot of the Artemis Moon program comes with familiar language: 'back to basics,' 'muscle memory,' 'step-by-step,' and an explicit nod to the Mercury-Gemini-Apollo playbook. The agency wants to fly more often, change hardware less, and build up capability incrementally, just like the 1960s. The problem is that Artemis is trying to cosplay Apollo in a world with very different politics, partners and rivals - and the gaps are showing.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Mar 09, 2026
In classic Washington style, the United States has found a way to keep 'winning' the new Moon race even as its flagship program slips, bloats and mutates. With the latest Artemis overhaul, NASA isn't just re-planning a mission sequence - it's helping Trump's America quietly rewrite the rules of the game so that almost any outcome can be spun as victory.