Paris (AFP) June 17, 2025
When director Cristina Costantini started making a documentary about the first US woman in space, she thought it would be looking back on the "sexism and homophobia of yesteryear". But the story of astronaut Sally Ride, whose queer identity was a secret when she blasted off more than four decades ago, took on a "completely different meaning" after the re-election of President Donald Trump, C

New Delhi (AFP) June 18, 2025
New Delhi had granted a licence to Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet service, opening India's "next frontier of connectivity", according to the country's communications minister. The launch of Starlink, which provides high-speed internet access to remote locations using low Earth orbit satellites, has sparked fierce debate in India over issues ranging from predatory pricing to spectrum

Tokyo (AFP) June 18, 2025
Japan's second-biggest carmaker Honda has successfully tested an experimental reusable rocket, the company said, as it seeks to expand into the space sector. Honda, which hopes to develop the tech prowess for a suborbital launch by 2029, conducted a test flight of its rocket on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. "The test was completed successfully, the first time Honda landed a r

Fayetteville AK (SPX) Jun 16, 2025
Satellite data used by archaeologists to find traces of ancient ruins hidden under dense forest canopies can also be used to improve the speed and accuracy to measure how much carbon is retained and released in forests. Understanding this carbon cycle is key to climate change research, according to Hamdi Zurqani, an assistant professor of geospatial science for the Arkansas Forest Resource

Washington DC (UPI) Jun 19, 2025
A SpaceX heavy-lift Starship launch vehicle exploded late Wednesday during a pre-flight test at Starbase in Texas. The two-stage rocket exploded at about 11 p.m. CT Wednesday as it was preparing for its 10th flight, SpaceX said in a statement on X. Both X and SpaceX are owned by Elon Musk. The Texas-based company said the Starship had "experienced a major anomaly." "A safe

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jun 17, 2025
China has launched a new satellite designed to improve the country's early warning capabilities for natural disasters by monitoring Earth's electromagnetic environment. Developed in partnership with Italy, the satellite lifted off Saturday aboard a Long March 2D rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert. The spacecraft, Zhangheng 1B, entered its designated orbit as

Paris, France (SPX) Jun 17, 2025
A new era in European meteorological observation has officially begun with Meteosat-12 assuming the role of primary geostationary satellite, replacing Meteosat-10. Operated by EUMETSAT, Meteosat-12-previously known as Meteosat Third Generation Imager 1 (MTG-I1)-now delivers the principal near-real-time satellite data service from its orbital position directly above the Gulf of Guinea at 0 longi

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jun 17, 2025
New research from the American Museum of Natural History has uncovered that fish biofluorescence-a phenomenon where organisms absorb light and emit it as a different color-has independently evolved over 100 times in the past 112 million years. This widespread trait is especially prevalent among species inhabiting coral reefs. Published in Nature Communications and PLOS One, the studies rev

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jun 17, 2025
BlackSky Technology Inc. (NYSE: BKSY) has announced a major expansion of its satellite constellation with the addition of a new class of multispectral, wide-area imaging satellites. The forthcoming system, known as AROS, will complement the company's existing Gen-3 constellation by enabling rapid digital mapping, navigation, maritime surveillance, and 3D digital twin applications at scale.

Image: Ariane 6 payload on board: MetOp-SG-A1 arrives in Kourou