The past 24 hours delivered a blizzard of space headlines: an explosive Starship test darkened Elon Musk’s Mars timeline; Europe’s “Project Bromo” megaconstellation stalled amid board‑room drama; the U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA) surprised the Pentagon by lofting a prototype SATCOM bird four months early; T‑Mobile promised Starlink‑powered mobile data for every U.S. dead‑zone; and a shoebox‑sized CubeSat beamed…
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The City of Lyon has just put Big Tech on notice. By replacing Microsoft Office with a home‑grown open‑source productivity stack and hosting all data in regional datacentres, France’s second city is betting that “digital sovereignty” can be affordable, secure and greener. This report unpacks the facts behind the announcement, brings in fresh reporting from…
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A burst of high‑speed solar wind from a giant coronal‑hole on the Sun is slamming Earth’s magnetic field this week, prompting NOAA to issue a G2‑level geomagnetic‑storm watch and raising the odds that the aurora borealis will spill far beyond its usual haunts—potentially as far south as Illinois, Ohio and New York on the night of 24–25 June 2025.…
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There is a strong chance that tonight’s sky will erupt in ribbons of green, purple and crimson light across much of the northern United States. A moderate (G2‑level) geomagnetic‑storm watch from NOAA aligns with unusually high solar‑wind speeds, setting the stage for auroras that could spill far south of their usual haunts. Below is a deep‑dive…
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A rare alignment of space‑weather ingredients is expected to push shimmering curtains of green, pink and violet as far south as the lower Great Lakes and Pacific Northwest overnight on 24–25 June 2025. NOAA has issued a G1–G2 geomagnetic‑storm watch with the Kp index forecast to peak at 5.67, enough to expand the auroral oval into at least 15…
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At lightning speed on 24 June 2025, President Donald Trump upended foreign and domestic politics: he jetted into The Hague demanding a historic 5 %‑of‑GDP defense pledge from NATO, proclaimed (and then scolded) a shaky Israel‑Iran cease‑fire hours after ordering U.S. B‑2 strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, and watched Congress shelve an impeachment bid even as lawmakers advanced War‑Powers curbs. Oil…
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Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) via satellite is poised to become a cornerstone of cybersecurity in the coming decade, addressing the looming threat that quantum computers pose to today’s encryption. Between 2024 and 2031, this nascent sector is expected to transition from experimental pilots to early commercial services, driven by an urgent need for quantum-safe communications.…
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The maiden flight of QUICK³, a 4 kg CubeSat led by Germany’s Technical University of Munich (TUM), has hurled quantum‑secure communications research into orbit. Launched 23 June 2025 on SpaceX’s Transporter‑14 rideshare from Vandenberg SFB, the nanosatellite carries the first true single‑photon source ever flown, a laser‑pumped hexagonal‑boron‑nitride chip that could underpin an unhackable global data network. Over the next few months…
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1. Launch Day in Numbers At 07:18 UTC on 23 June 2025, a Falcon 9 lifted the QUICK³ (Quantum Upgraded Innovative Cubesat Kit) nano‑satellite into a 550 km sun‑synchronous orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base during SpaceX’s Transporter‑14 rideshare mission. Although low coastal clouds obscured the pad, onboard cameras confirmed successful separation of the shoebox‑sized payload barely nine minutes after booster…
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The European Space Agency’s new BIOMASS mission has started to deliver on its dramatic promise: a 12‑metre, umbrella‑shaped radar antenna that peers through dense jungle canopies has sent back its first colour‑coded maps of the Amazon, Indonesia and even the bedrock of the Sahara—offering an unprecedented view of how much carbon the world’s forests really…
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