Four pioneering ESA Technology CubeSats reentered Earth’s atmosphere over the last few months. Each was only about the size of a shoebox or smaller, but despite their diminutive dimensions the missions left an outsize legacy in terms of demonstrating innovative space technology, industrial capacity building and scientific data return. 

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Dec 16, 2024
The quest for fusion energy, a potential solution to global energy challenges, has advanced through innovative approaches to plasma performance prediction. Magnetic confinement fusion reactors rely on intricate systems that confine high-temperature plasma within powerful magnetic fields. While this effort integrates technologies like superconducting magnets and advanced heating devices, understa

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 16, 2024
Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has reached a significant milestone in the development of the U.S. Space Force's Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) Block 0 satellite. The satellite has been fully assembled, powered on, and advanced to system-level testing at the company's manufacturing facility in Sunnyvale, California. This satellite

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 18, 2024
SpaceX successfully launched the SES O3b mPOWER mission on Tuesday afternoon, delivering two advanced communications satellites into medium Earth orbit (MEO). Liftoff occurred at 5:26 p.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission carried the O3b mPOWER 7 and 8 satellites, part of SES's next-generation communications constellation designed to provide

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 18, 2024
NASA and SpaceX have rescheduled the launch of the Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) to no earlier than late March 2025. The adjustment allows teams time to finalize processing for a new Dragon spacecraft set to support the mission. The spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at SpaceX's processing facility in Florida in early January. "Fabrication, assembly, testing, and

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 18, 2024
Starlab, a NASA-supported commercial space station, has successfully achieved four critical milestones, signaling major advancements in its design and future operational capabilities. These milestones reflect key stages in the project's development and readiness for space operations. The progress is part of a NASA Space Act Agreement initiated in 2021, with milestones covering habitat stru

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Dec 18, 2024
Shenzhou XIX mission crew members completed their first extravehicular activity (EVA) on Tuesday, working for nearly nine hours outside the Tiangong space station, the China Manned Space Agency reported. Mission commander Senior Colonel Cai Xuzhe and crew member Lieutenant Colonel Song Lingdong successfully returned to the Wentian science module at 9:57 pm after completing several assignme

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 18, 2024
Brazilian researchers have introduced a thought-provoking perspective on a long-standing debate among physicists: how many fundamental constants are required to describe the universe? Their conclusion - just one, the "second" - could simplify how we understand physical measurements. The study, published in Scientific Reports, was conducted by George Matsas and Vicente Pleitez from Sao Paul

Boston MA (SPX) Dec 18, 2024
America is one step closer to tapping into a new and potentially limitless clean energy source today, with the announcement from MIT spinout Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) that it plans to build the world's first grid-scale fusion power plant in Chesterfield County, Virginia. The announcement is the latest milestone for the company, which has made groundbreaking progress toward harnessi

Tokyo (AFP) Dec 18, 2024
A space rocket built by a Japanese startup blasted off on Wednesday but was later seen spiralling downwards in the distance as the company said the launch attempt had failed. It was the second attempt by Space One to become the country's first private firm to put a satellite into orbit, after the first try in March ended in a mid-air explosion. This time its solid-fuel Kairos rocket had