In 2023, the global space economy reached $570 billion, with private/commercial ventures accounting for about 78%. In 2023 there were 221 orbital launches (the most on record), more than 2,500 satellites launched, and experts project up to 100,000 satellites in orbit within the next decade. Since 2009, investors have poured about $347.9 billion into roughly…
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April 2001: Dennis Tito became the world’s first space tourist by paying about $20 million for a seat on a Russian Soyuz and spending seven days aboard the ISS. In 2004, Mojave Aerospace Ventures won the Ansari X Prize by launching SpaceShipOne, the first privately built crewed spacecraft, on back-to-back suborbital flights. The Commercial Space…
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Solid-state batteries use a solid electrolyte and lithium-metal anodes, offering 50–100% higher energy density than today’s Li‑ion and 1,000+ cycles with about 95% capacity retention, with Toyota targeting 750 miles per charge and 10-minute charging by 2027–2028. Lithium-sulfur batteries have a theoretical energy density above 500 Wh/kg, and a recent all-solid-state Li‑S cell demonstrated around…
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Fiber-optic broadband delivers 100–1000+ Mbps download and upload with latency around 5–20 ms, but availability is limited to about 25–40% of U.S. households and roughly 70% of OECD regions. Cable broadband offers 25–500 Mbps down and 5–50 Mbps up with 15–30 ms latency, is widespread in cities, and can reach up to 1 Gbps downstream…
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From 2006 to 2023, violent non-state actors carried out 1,122 drone attacks, with a peak of 265 in 2023. The 2018 Gatwick airport incident highlighted the public-safety risks posed by off-the-shelf quadcopters. The Ukraine war has been described as the first “drone war,” with both sides deploying swarms of small drones for surveillance and strikes,…
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In 1965 Lloyd’s of London issued the first space insurance policy for an early Intelsat satellite. In 2019 insured losses reached about $788 million against roughly $500 million in premiums, following major failures such as a Vega launch with a ~$414 million loss. The global space insurance market was valued at about $3.6 billion in…
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Odin (Brokkr-2) launched on Feb 26, 2025 aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 as part of Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 lunar mission. Its target was near-Earth asteroid 2022 OB5, about 20–30 meters in size (up to ~100 meters diameter) and suspected to be M-type metal-rich, with a flyby planned roughly 300 days after launch to confirm its metallic…
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The F-35 is a family of three variants: F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL), F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL), and F-35C carrier-capable version. The aircraft first flew in 2006, with IOC achieved by the F-35B in July 2015, the F-35A in August 2016, and the F-35C in early 2019. As of mid-2025, more than 1,170…
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The 2017 U.S. Department of Defense project Maven was launched to apply AI-based computer vision to analyze drone surveillance footage in the Middle East, with fielding by year’s end. In 2019, China released its National Defense White Paper announcing the goal of “intelligentized warfare” and a plan to become the world AI leader by 2030.…
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Number tender in CDB Purchaser Trade subject Budget, uah UA-2025-06-06-004551-a MUNICIPAL ENTERPRISE “INFORMATICS” OF THE EXECUTIVE BODY OF THE KYIV CITY COUNCIL (KYIV CITY STATE ADMINISTRATION) Equipment and materials for the development of a comprehensive video surveillance system and security systems 9,000,000.00 UA-2025-06-06-010654-a MUNICIPAL ENTERPRISE “INFO-RADA-DNIPRO” OF THE DNIPRO CITY COUNCIL Service for technical maintenance…
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