Globally, more than 70% of the freshwater withdrawn from Earth’s surface or from underground is used to irrigate crops. The need to produce more food for a growing population against the backdrop of climate change is challenging enough, but satellites reveal that extracting water doesn’t just affect the local environment – there are knock-on consequences for many aspects of the Earth system.

Teams preparing Ariane 6 for its inaugural flight successfully completed for the first time a launcher preparation and countdown sequence, on 18 July at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

In-space transportation services startup Impulse Space announced July 24 it has closed a $45 million iSeries A funding led by RTX Ventures, the venture capital arm of Raytheon Technologies.

Maxar Technologies announced July 24 that its new satellite bus designed for low Earth orbit constellations passed a critical design review.

Chinese space and defense contractor CASIC says it will begin building a constellation of 300 satellites in very-low Earth orbit late this year.

Image: Rhodes wildfire forces thousands to flee

A robotic arm – entirely developed and built in Europe – that enables a satellite to change and control its orbit fuel efficiently has passed its qualification review for launch into space on the OneSat range of satellites.

Launching soon on one of the next cargo missions to the International Space Station is the Multi-Needle Langmuir Probe that will measure the “weather” in the upper atmosphere. The experiment is part of ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen’s Huginn mission climate science.

Pittsburgh PA (SPX) Jul 21, 2023
A research group in Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute is creating the next generation of explorers - robots. The Autonomous Exploration Research Team has developed a suite of robotic systems and planners enabling robots to explore more quickly, probe the darkest corners of unknown environments, and create more accurate and detailed maps. The systems allow robots to do all thi

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jul 20, 2023
For many decades, the aircraft industry has predominantly relied on aluminium for manufacturing. Today, however, the drive for more sustainable, climate-friendly air travel necessitates innovative solutions. In a groundbreaking development, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), in partnership with Premium AEROTEC, Airbus, and Aernnova, has presented a prototype for an entirely new approach to aircr