Category: Space Exploration

1. Why today’s flight matters At 02:31 EDT (08:31 CEST) a brand-new SpaceX Crew Dragon christened Grace roared off pad 39A, carrying four astronauts on Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4)—and with them the dreams of three nations returning to human space-flight after more than four decades. Among the passengers is Dr Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, who just became…
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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 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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SpaceX’s Starbase and Texas Infrastructure Updates Recent policy changes in Texas are shaping SpaceX’s launch operations at Starbase (Boca Chica). In June 2025, Texas lawmakers approved measures giving the newly incorporated city of Starbase – effectively a SpaceX company town – authority to close public roads and beaches for rocket activity texastribune.org texastribune.org. This allows…
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SummaryNewly released high‑resolution pictures from Maxar and Planet Labs show the once‑impenetrable Fordow uranium‑enrichment plant gashed open after the 22 June U.S. air‑strike, with blast‑sealed tunnel mouths, greyed mountain rock and lingering smoke plumes. Image‑forensics, expert interviews and open‑source intelligence indicate that successive GBU‑57 “Massive Ordnance Penetrator” (MOP) bombs pulverised access shafts, cut external power and…
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The global space economy was valued at around $630 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $1.8 trillion by 2035 smartbranding.com. Driving this growth are pioneering companies from across the world, building rockets, deploying satellites, and delivering new services from orbit. Below we highlight 100 of the most important space and satellite companies worldwide…
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The space industry is experiencing a new wave of growth and investor excitement. From satellite communications providers to rocket launch startups, companies around the world have seen stock prices soar over the past year, followed by a period of consolidation. This report dives into the current stock market performance of publicly traded satellite and space-related…
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Introduction: A New Era of Military Satcom is Here The U.S. Space Force has quietly teamed with SpaceX to create a secretive satellite Internet constellation for the military. Dubbed “MILNET,” this government-owned but SpaceX-operated network will comprise “480-plus” small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) breakingdefense.com. Announced in June 2025, the MILNET contract marks a…
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Background: A Long-Defunct NASA Satellite (Relay 2) Relay 2 is an experimental communications satellite NASA launched on January 21, 1964, as part of the early Relay programen.wikipedia.org. Similar in design to its predecessor Relay 1, this satellite was built by RCA and tasked with relaying television signals and studying Earth’s radiation beltsen.wikipedia.or en.wikipedia.org. After a successful launch atop…
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In June 2025 the French government announced a €1.35 billion capital injection into Eutelsat, Europe’s leading satellite operator marketscreener.com. Under the plan, the state (via its Agence des participations de l’État) will invest €717 million and absorb France’s existing 13.6% stake (held by the state bank Bpifrance), boosting its holding to 29.99% marketscreener.com spacenews.com. This deal makes…
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