Understanding Satellite Data Analytics
Satellite data analytics converts massive streams of orbital imagery into actionable intelligence, leveraging machine learning, cloud computing, and advanced sensor suites. The sector now processes petabytes of Earth‑observation data daily, delivering near‑real‑time products for agriculture, insurance, climate monitoring, and defense. Commercial constellations such as Planet and Maxar compete with government programs, while open‑data initiatives democratize access to moderate‑resolution imagery. Despite rapid adoption, challenges like data volume, cloud cover, and a shortage of skilled analysts temper growth.
Hubble Spots Lens-Shaped Galaxy
NASA and ESA released the sharpest Hubble image of NGC 7722, a lenticular galaxy 187 million light‑years distant in Pegasus. The photo reveals striking concentric rings of dust and gas spiraling around a luminous nucleus. Lenticular galaxies occupy an intermediate classification between...
Canada Ranks as the 5th Largest Starlink Market
Ookla’s 2025 Global Satellite Broadband Performance Report confirms Starlink’s dominance, placing Canada as the fifth‑largest market after the United States, Mexico, Indonesia and Brazil. By mid‑2025 more than 500,000 Canadians had subscribed to the service, reflecting rapid consumer uptake. After...
ReOrbit Partners With Google Cloud for Space Data Network
Helsinki‑based ReOrbit is teaming with Google Cloud to build Space Cloud, an orbital data network that links satellites with optical interconnects and on‑board AI compute. The system will be split into a sovereign cloud for national‑security workloads and a commercial...
French Startup The Exploration Company Completes First Splashdown Tests of Nyx Capsule Prototype
The Exploration Company, a French cargo‑capsule startup, completed its first splashdown tests of a 1:4‑scale Nyx prototype on 13‑28 January at the CNR‑INM towing tank in Rome. The 135‑kg mockup underwent 20 drops at varying heights and speeds, equipped with pressure...
Israeli Weather Satellite Startup Raises $175 Million in Investment Capital
Israeli weather‑data startup Tomorrow.io announced a $175 million financing round to launch DeepSky, an AI‑native satellite constellation. The company has already deployed 13 smallsats that deliver a 60‑minute global revisit, feeding its AI‑driven analytics platform used across critical industries. DeepSky will...
New £3.8m DEEP Lab Opens in Oxfordshire to Test Satellite Propulsion Systems
A new £3.8 million Disruptive Experimental Electric Propulsion (DEEP) lab opened at Harwell Campus in Oxfordshire, with £1.8 million contributed by the UK Space Agency. Built by Magdrive, the facility features a two‑metre vacuum chamber for testing electric thrusters and is open...
Space Force Must Adapt to Crowded, Contested Frontier
The future of the Space Force in a competitive, congested and contested space environment https://t.co/mdoxUaVypX https://t.co/0CobrnTYUE
Astronomers Use SphereX Infrared Space Telescope to Study Interstellar Comet 3I/Atlas
NASA’s SphereX infrared space telescope has detected a suite of organic molecules—including methanol, cyanide and methane—in the coma of interstellar comet 3I/Atlas as it brightened in December 2025. The comet’s activity surged two months after perihelion, driven by the release of...
Deep Space, Dim Objects: Why Asteroid Mining Caught the Space Force’s Eye
U.S. Space Force is closely evaluating asteroid‑mining firms as sources of deep‑space navigation and sensing technology. Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy highlighted that these companies solve “dim object” detection challenges critical for cislunar operations. AstroForge, a leading startup, has demonstrated both...
The Exploration Company Completes Nyx Splashdown Tests
The Exploration Company announced the completion of a controlled splashdown test campaign for a 1:4‑scale mockup of its Nyx reusable capsule. Conducted at the National Research Council’s Institute of Marine Engineering in Rome, the program executed 20 drops between 13...
Satellite Servicing Startup Starfish Taps Quindar for Mission Operations Software
Starfish Space has selected Quindar’s cloud‑hosted mission management software to run the first three Otter satellite‑servicing missions, slated for launch later this year. Quindar’s platform automates command sequencing, antenna reservations and routine ground‑segment tasks, offering a SaaS alternative to custom‑built...
Europe’s Launcher Woes Stem From Internal Issues, Not SpaceX
Europe's coming launcher struggle is not with @SpaceX Starship, but with itself. @esa @defis_eu @CNES @DLR_en @ASI_spazio @Arianespace @Avio_Group #EuropeanSpaceConf. https://t.co/Iy7puQTY19 https://t.co/4iJM7xnTOp
Feb 5, 2002: RHESSI Launches
On February 5, 2002, NASA launched the High‑Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI), a Small Explorer mission dedicated to capturing high‑energy solar phenomena. RHESSI delivered the first X‑ray and gamma‑ray images of solar flares using its imaging spectrometer, and routinely coordinated observations with...
Survey of 80 Near Earth Asteroids Sharpens View of Their Origins and Risks
An international team led by Purple Mountain Observatory completed a year‑long photometric survey of 80 near‑Earth asteroids, delivering the largest set of secure taxonomic classifications for small, faint objects to date. The results show 46% are S‑complex, 26% C‑complex, 15%...
BlackSky Expands Gen 3 Assured Deals with New Defense Customer
BlackSky Technology Inc. announced seven‑figure Gen 3 Assured contracts with a new international defense customer, expanding its high‑resolution, high‑frequency imaging services. The agreements guarantee priority access to the company’s Gen 3 satellite capacity for time‑sensitive ISR missions. Early‑access performance convinced the customer...
Why Modern Game Engines Struggle with Real Interstellar Combat Physics
Modern game engines such as Unreal 5 and Unity are finally powerful enough to attempt realistic interstellar combat, but they still wrestle with physics tick limits, tunneling, and the massive CPU load of continuous collision detection. Developers must balance Newtonian mechanics—velocity,...
James Webb Space Telescope's View of 800,000 Galaxies Paints a Detailed Picture of Dark Matter
Astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope to create the most detailed dark‑matter map to date, covering a sky region 2.5 times the size of the full Moon in Sextans. By observing for roughly 255 hours with NIRCam as part of the...
FCC Clears Logos to Deploy More than 4,000 Broadband Satellites
Logos Space Services received FCC approval to launch up to 4,178 low‑Earth‑orbit broadband satellites, cleared for K‑, Q‑ and V‑band use under conditions. The company must deploy half of the constellation within seven years and the full fleet by Jan 30 2035,...
Cosmic Megastructures and Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Cosmic megastructures—ranging from Dyson swarms to Matrioshka brains—represent theoretical engineering projects that could harness an entire star’s energy or compute at near‑universal scales. The article outlines their scientific basis, potential detection via infrared excess and transit anomalies, and the massive...
Turning Forgotten Telescope Data Into New Discoveries
Astronomers have unveiled Multiplexed Interferometric Radio Spectroscopy (RIMS), an algorithm that sifts through LOFAR’s archived background data. In just 1.4 years of observations, RIMS identified more than 200,000 previously hidden radio signals, many linked to stellar flares and a handful...
Space Force May Be Done with R-GPS, but Congress Isn’t
The Space Force ended funding for the Resilient GPS (R‑GPS) program in FY2026, opting to focus on the GPS III F modernization path, while Congress added $15 million in the 2026 spending bill to keep R‑GPS development alive. R‑GPS sought to use commercial,...
The Best Movies and Television Series About Generation Ships
The article surveys the most compelling movies and television series that use generation‑ship settings, highlighting how the concept lets creators probe humanity’s long‑term social, ethical, and psychological challenges. It examines landmark films such as Pandorum, Passengers, Voyagers, Aniara and classic...
Vantor Wins $5.3 Million NGA Contract to Spot Terrain Changes Using Commercial Satellite Data
Vantor, a commercial Earth‑observation operator, secured a $5.3 million contract from the National Geospatial‑Intelligence Agency under the Luno B vehicle to deliver automated terrain‑change insights. The award expands Vantor’s use of its high‑resolution electro‑optical constellation together with third‑party synthetic aperture radar, applying...
New Crew Set to Launch for ISS After Medical Evacuation
A new Crew‑12 team—Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot and Andrey Fedyaev—will launch to the International Space Station on Feb 11 after the unprecedented medical evacuation of Crew‑11. The launch faces added uncertainty as SpaceX temporarily grounds Falcon 9 flights to investigate...
The Coming End of ISS, Symbol of an Era of Global Cooperation
The International Space Station will be de‑orbited in 2030 using a SpaceX‑built vehicle, ending a three‑decade era of continuous human presence in low‑Earth orbit. Launched after the Cold War, the ISS became a flagship of U.S.–Russia cooperation despite recent geopolitical...
'Jetty McJetface': Star-Shredding Black Hole May Keep Ramping up Its Radio Jet Until 2027 Peak
A supermassive black hole identified as AT2018hyz, nicknamed “Jetty McJetface,” has been emitting a radio jet that is 50 times brighter than when first detected in 2019. Over the past four years the jet’s radio flux has risen exponentially and is...
Designing the Future
Augmented Reality could help NASA produce future spacecraft for new missions of discovery.
Military Applications of the SpaceX Starship
SpaceX’s Starship is being integrated into U.S. defense programs to enable rapid, point‑to‑point cargo delivery of over 100 metric tons in under an hour, rivaling traditional airlift. The Air Force Research Laboratory’s Rocket Cargo Vanguard program is testing fast loading, austere...
Viasat’s HaloNet: Building the Bridge to a More Connected Orbit
Viasat is developing HaloNet, a hybrid communications terminal that unifies L‑band, S‑band and future Ka‑band/optical links into a single adaptive package. The system automatically switches between links and maintains a low‑rate L‑band “lifeline,” managed by the Multi‑Mission Orchestrator software that...
Singapore’s DSTA and India’s Digantara to Develop SSA Tools
Singapore’s Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) has signed a partnership with India’s Digantara Industries to co‑develop Space Situational Awareness (SSA) software for the National Space Agency of Singapore. The collaboration will integrate Digantara’s sensor data and AI‑driven analytics to...
3I/Atlas Status Update 2026
Comet 3I/Atlas, discovered by the ATLAS survey in July 2025, became the third confirmed interstellar visitor after ‘Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov. A global network of telescopes and spacecraft tracked its hyperbolic trajectory, perihelion on October 29 2025, and post‑perihelion evolution. Refined measurements indicate a...
SpaceX Wants Revisions to Federal Rural Grant Program that Has Awarded It $733 Million
SpaceX is requesting revisions to the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, which has awarded the company $733 million in rural broadband grants, including $109 million in Texas. BEAD, originally a $42 billion initiative under the bipartisan infrastructure law, was halved to...
Elon Musk’s SpaceX Company Town Is Getting a Police Department
Starbase, the SpaceX‑built company town in South Texas, approved an ordinance to create its own municipal police department. The city commission plans to hire eight officers, pending approval from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. The department will be led...
SDA Expands Atombeam Contract for Data Transmission Tech
Atombeam received an expanded Small Business Innovation Research contract from the Space Development Agency to further develop its Neurpac AI‑driven data compression technology for Link 16 tactical datalinks. The company demonstrated an 86‑89% reduction in data streams while boosting bandwidth seven...
Kymeta Links Up with JDI for Unique Metasurface Terminal
Kymeta announced a partnership with Japan Display Inc. (JDI) to develop the industry’s first multi‑band metasurface terminal capable of simultaneous Ku‑ and Ka‑band operation. The collaboration builds on Kymeta’s 2025 lab demo of a single‑aperture antenna that could transmit and...
How to View the Artemis II Moon Launch
NASA’s Artemis II mission, the first crewed lunar flyby in over five decades, is slated for a March 2026 launch from Kennedy Space Center. The 322‑foot Space Launch System and Orion capsule arrived at the pad in mid‑January, and the launch date...
SpaceX Deploys Giant Crane to Dismantle Crew Access Arm
SpaceX set up a Leibherr LR 13000 crane alongside the crew access tower at Launch Complex 39A. The company appears to be readying the removal of the crew access arm. Watch live: https://t.co/tm2wZQn8Lb https://t.co/oXRoyniGM8
HSST Passes NASA Authorization Bill, Rejects Drone Detection Amendment
HSST unanimously adopted (37-0) the NASA auth bill, HR 7273, as amnded. List of adopted amndmnts: https://t.co/DpUjGFOTeA. One (Rep Stevens) rejected by recorded vote (18-19) to improve NASA's ability to detect drones entering its airspace. Opponents said not right bill...
Operational Resilience Is the New Gold Standard in Defence SatCom
The Global Satellite Operators Association webinar highlighted operational resilience as the emerging gold standard for defence satellite communications. Panelists from ST Engineering iDirect, SES, MDA Space and Global Invacom argued that static, encrypted links must evolve into dynamic, multi‑orbit networks...
TB 26-01 Evaluation of Adhesive and Solvent Alternatives for Polymeric Bonding Applications
NASA's Engineering and Safety Center completed a technical assessment of alternatives to dichloromethane for bonding transparent polymeric components used in spacecraft. The study was prompted by looming EPA TSCA restrictions that could limit the solvent’s availability. Researchers evaluated a suite...
EU Nears Security Accreditation for Galileo PRS Service
.@defis_eu says @GalileoGNSS secure PRS service to get EU security accreditation 'soon;' @DLR_en preparing service to geo-locate global GPS/Galileo interference. #EuropeanSpaceConf. @GrudlerCh. https://t.co/BEoAxMEwVU https://t.co/CtsfxxkoYt
Photographer Captures Rare Aurora over Brazil During Intense Geomagnetic Storm (Photo)
On January 19 a powerful geomagnetic storm pushed auroral activity far beyond its normal high‑latitude bounds, producing a brief southern lights display over southern Brazil. Astrophotographer Egon Filter captured the faint purple‑red glow from Cambará do Sul, a location well outside...
Why Elon Musk Has Misunderstood the Point of Star Trek
Elon Musk praises Star Trek for inspiring space exploration but overlooks its deeper message. The article argues that Star Trek’s heart lies in social equity, cooperation, and a hopeful future for all humanity. It highlights the current US climate—immigration anxieties...
A New 'Brief History' Of the Universe Paints a Wide Picture
Sarah Alam Malik, a particle physicist, releases *A Brief History of the Universe (and our place in it)*, a modern counterpart to Stephen Hawking’s 1988 bestseller. The book translates the latest discoveries in cosmology—dark energy, gravitational waves, and multiverse theories—into...
Congress Orders Study on Boosting ISS Post‑Operations
At ongoing markup, HSS&T just adopted a Whitesides/Begich amndmt requiring an analysis of viability/costs of boosting ISS at end of ops instead of deorbiting it. No mandate to do that, or $, just an analysis so can understand options. Babin...
Book Review: Born to Explore – John Casani’s Grand Tour of the Solar System
Born to Explore – John Casani’s Grand Tour of the Solar System, written by space historian Jay Gallentine, chronicles the career of JPL legend John Casani, who oversaw Voyager, Galileo and Cassini. The 400‑page hardcover, released by Nebraska Press, blends...
Rep. Beyer Proposes, Then Withdraws Discovery Transfer Amendment
At HSS&T markup of NASA auth bill right now, Rep Beyer (D-VA) offered amndmt abt transferring shuttle Discovery to Houston. Wld have req info about cost and protecting vehicle from harm. Offered to withdrew after commitment from cmte chair Babin...
The Arithmetic of Ambition: Engineering Rigor and Aesthetic Futurism in Deeptech VC
The episode critiques the current venture‑capital approach to SpaceTech and DeepTech, arguing that hype‑driven narratives often replace rigorous engineering and economic analysis. It highlights the “drunkard’s walk” of investment decisions, using orbital data centers as a case study to show...
NASA Addresses TSMU Leaks After SLS Wet Rehearsal
Following the wet dress rehearsal for the SLS rocket on Feb. 2, NASA leadership discussed, among other aspects of the test, the leaks that cropped up connected to the tail service mast umbilical (TSMU), and the next steps towards launch. Full...