Washington (AFP) Feb 24, 2025
Elon Musk's SpaceX is preparing for the next test flight of its Starship megarocket on Friday, following a dramatic mid-air explosion over the Caribbean during its last trial. A launch window from the company's Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, opens at 5:30 PM (2330 GMT), pending regulatory approval. It will mark the eighth test flight of Starship, the largest and most powerful ro

The latest analysis from the European Space Agency (ESA) Planetary Defence Office has reduced the probability that asteroid 2024 YR4 might impact Earth in 2032 to 0.001%.

The Red Planet’s iconic rusty dust has a much wetter history than previously assumed, find scientists combining European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA spacecraft data with new laboratory experiments on replica Mars dust. The results suggest that Mars rusted early in the planet’s ancient past, when liquid water was more widespread.

London UK (SPX) Feb 24, 2025
Researchers at Heriot-Watt University have secured approval to initiate an innovative project designed to deliver affordable connectivity to everyone. A consortium of agencies that includes Heriot-Watt has been allocated GBP6 million through the UK Space Agency's Connectivity in Low Earth Orbit (C-LEO) programme. Under the leadership of Cardiff-based tech firm Excelerate Technology Ltd, the team

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Feb 24, 2025
ATMOS Space Cargo a leading European space logistics startup has received a total funding package of euro 13.1 million from the European Innovation Council Accelerator a flagship component of the European Union Horizon Europe framework This financial boost reinforces the companys innovative role in the space sector The EIC Accelerator targets firms that develop breakthrough innovations ca

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Feb 24, 2025
Earth is immersed in material streaming from the Sun. This stream, called the solar wind, is washing over our planet, causing breathtaking auroras, impacting satellites and astronauts in space, and even affecting ground-based infrastructure. NASA's PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission will be the first to image the Sun's corona, or outer atmosphere, and solar win

Paris, France (SPX) Feb 24, 2025
ClearSpace has commenced the consolidation phase of its GEO Life Extension Mission. Backed by the Government of Luxembourg and supported by an ESA contract under the Luxembourg National Space Programme LuxIMPULSE, which is implemented by the Luxembourg Space Agency, this initiative represents a major operational milestone. The mission underscores ClearSpace's steadfast commitment to sustai

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Feb 24, 2025
Optical atomic clocks hold the promise of enhancing timekeeping and positioning in everyday devices by a factor of one thousand. Yet their large size and complex design have kept them confined to advanced laboratories. Researchers at Purdue University, USA, and Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have now devised a method using on-chip microcombs to dramatically reduce the size of these p

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Feb 20, 2025
A research team led by Dr. Jae Hwa Seo at the Advanced Semiconductor Research Center of KERI has developed cutting-edge technology to evaluate radiation resistance and enhance the reliability of silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductor devices for space applications. Power semiconductors are critical in electronic systems, managing current flow and enabling power conversion. While silicon

Washington DC (UPI) Feb 23, 2025
A shell of icy objects at the edge of the solar system known as the Oort cloud has a pair of spiral arms that resemble a miniature galaxy, new research suggests. Until now, the shape of the cloud and how it is affected by forces beyond our solar system have not been largely understood. But the new research, published Feb. 16 at arXiv, says the cloud may look like a spiral disk, one of t