Over 5,400 Earth observation satellites are projected to be launched globally from 2024 to 2033, nearly triple the previous decade. NOAA’s GeoXO program will deploy at least three geostationary satellites (with options up to four more) to upgrade GOES-R and extend Western Hemisphere coverage, following a $2.27 billion contract awarded to Lockheed Martin in 2024.…
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Google Quantum AI achieved quantum supremacy in 2019 with the 54-qubit Sycamore processor performing a random circuit sampling task in 200 seconds. IBM Quantum progressed from the 127-qubit Eagle milestone in 2021 to 433-qubit Osprey in 2022, with a plan for a 1,121-qubit Condor and a long-term goal of about one million physical qubits by…
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SpaceX (USA, founded 2002 by Elon Musk) achieved the first private orbital rocket launch in 2008, performed the first booster landing in 2015, and launched the Starlink mega-constellation. Blue Origin (USA, founded 2000 by Jeff Bezos) completed the first vertical landing of a New Shepard booster in 2015, flew the first crewed suborbital flight in…
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In 2024, global art and antiques sales reached $57.5 billion, down 12% year-on-year, while transaction volume rose 3% to about 40.5 million transactions and roughly 85% of dealer sales were for works under $50,000. Two leading houses Sotheby’s and Christie’s together accounted for about 49% of global fine-art auction turnover in 2023 (roughly $7.3B of…
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In 2024, Rocket Lab surged over 360%, Intuitive Machines jumped 720%, and Redwire climbed 436% amid a wave of small-cap space-stock rallies. By early 2025, many space stocks retraced 40–60% from their 2024 highs as investors reassessed profitability and valuations. Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ: RKLB) reported Q1 2025 revenue of $122.6 million, up 32% year…
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In the first four months of 2025, over 1,200 satellites were launched, roughly a 50% increase from the same period in 2024. SpaceX’s Starlink had more than 7,000 small satellites in orbit by late 2024, with 573 Starlinks launched in Q1 2025 and about 9,000 laser inter-satellite links moving some 42 petabytes of data per…
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In June 2025, T-Mobile began a nationwide beta of its “T-Satellite” service built on SpaceX Starlink technology, with a July 2025 rollout and plans to include it at no extra cost on high‑end plans and about $10/month for others. On June 19, 2025, Vodafone Idea and AST SpaceMobile announced a partnership to deliver 4G/5G access…
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Starlink has launched over 8,000 satellites since 2019 and serves more than 5 million users across 125+ countries as of 2025. Amazon’s Project Kuiper launched its first 27 satellites in April 2025 on an Atlas V, aiming for a 3,236-satellite constellation with Ka-band and user terminals around $400. The EU’s IRIS² plan is a €10.6…
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Relay 2 was a NASA experimental communications satellite built by RCA, launched January 21, 1964, atop a Delta B rocket from Cape Canaveral, designed to relay television signals and study Earth’s radiation belts. Ground support for Relay 2 ended by September 1965, and its transmitters began failing, with the first transponder dying on November 20,…
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Sentinel-1 radar imaged the aftermath of Cyclone Idai in Mozambique in 2019 and revealed approximately 2,165 km² of flooding around the coastal city of Beira. Idai’s satellite flood maps pinpointed about 400,000 people stranded and helped allocate rescue resources. NOAA’s GOES weather satellites monitored Hurricane Dorian in 2019 as it approached the Bahamas, providing real-time…
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