Space News from SpaceDaily.Com brings the space industry professional daily news from the frontier, with contract, bid, launch and on-orbit satellite news as it happens. https://www.spacedaily.com/index.html Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:29 GMT Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:29 GMT en-us Microsoft has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model that beats current forecasting methods in tracking air quality, weather patterns, and climate-addled tropical storms, according to findings published Wednesday. Dubbed Aurora, the new system - which has not been commercialised - generated 10-day weather forecasts and predicted hurricane trajectories more accurately and faster th]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:29 GMT When astronomers announced last month they might have discovered the most promising hints of alien life yet on a distant planet, the rare good news raised hopes humanity could soon learn we are not alone in the universe. But several recent studies looking into the same data have found that there is not enough evidence to support such lofty claims, with one scientist accusing the astronomers ]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:29 GMT Impulse Space and SES have entered a multi-launch agreement to utilize the Helios kick stage for direct satellite transfers from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to Geostationary (GEO) and Medium Earth Orbits (MEO), significantly reducing orbital transit time to just hours. The inaugural mission, slated for 2027, will see Helios transporting a 4-ton-class payload directly to GEO within eight hours af]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:29 GMT SpaceX said Friday it will make another launch attempt next week of the massive Starship rocket - key to CEO Elon Musk's long-term vision of colonizing Mars - after two consecutive in-flight explosions earlier this year. "The ninth flight test of Starship is preparing to launch as soon as Tuesday, May 27," the company said on its website, adding the launch window would open at 6:30 pm (233]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:29 GMT Rocket Lab USA has announced it will launch the next BlackSky Gen-3 satellite as part of its continued partnership with the real-time space-based intelligence company. The mission, named "Full Stream Ahead," is scheduled to lift off from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand during a window opening May 28, 2025 (UTC). This upcoming flight marks the second of four planned Electron missions this y]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:29 GMT Researchers from Nagoya City University and Tohoku University have successfully simulated the formation of barred olivine, a rare mineral texture found in chondrules-small spherical particles within meteorites dating back to the early solar system. Unlike textures in Earth rocks, barred olivine is unique to these primordial materials. Led by Associate Professor Hitoshi Miura, the team used]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:29 GMT Researchers at the University of Gottingen have uncovered evidence that material from Earth's core, including gold and other precious metals, is leaking into the planet's upper layers. Their study, published in Nature, reports the detection of the rare isotope 100Ru (ruthenium) in volcanic rocks from Hawaii, indicating that the samples originated from deep within the core-mantle boundary, around]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:29 GMT Where did the moon's magnetism go? Scientists have puzzled over this question for decades, ever since orbiting spacecraft picked up signs of a high magnetic field in lunar surface rocks. The moon itself has no inherent magnetism today. Now, MIT scientists may have solved the mystery. They propose that a combination of an ancient, weak magnetic field and a large, plasma-generating impact ma]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:29 GMT The Federal Aviation Administration has approved the launch of SpaceX's Starship 9 after two mission mishaps idled the program for months. "The FAA conducted a comprehensive safety review of the SpaceX Starship Flight 8 mishap and determined that the company has satisfactorily addressed the causes of the mishap, and, therefore, the Starship vehicle can return to flight," the FAA said in]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:29 GMT The unusual motion of Titan's atmosphere has been uncovered by scientists at the University of Bristol using data from NASA's Cassini-Huygens mission. Their research shows that Saturn's largest moon possesses an atmosphere that doesn't rotate in sync with its surface but instead exhibits a wobble resembling a gyroscope. Through 13 years of thermal infrared measurements from the Cassini spa]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:29 GMT Scientists at Paderborn University have set a new benchmark in quantum photonics by demonstrating the fastest control yet of individual photons in a cryogenic circuit. Their achievement marks a significant leap for quantum communication, simulation, and information processing by enabling real-time manipulation of single light particles at temperatures near absolute zero. The research team ]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:29 GMT South Africa's government is moving towards easing its black ownership laws in the telecoms sector - a policy change that would smooth the way for Elon Musk's Starlink to enter the local market. The directive came days after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa met his US counterpart Donald Trump for tense talks on deteriorating ties between the two countries. Telecoms companies oper]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:29 GMT SpaceX launched another batch of 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites into low-Earth orbit on Friday from California. The Falcon 9 flight was delayed from Thursday night. No reason was given for the scrubbing. The rocket lifted off 3:32 p.m. PDT from Vandenberg Space Force Base's Pad 4E. A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, the first stage booster landed on the drones]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:29 GMT A recent study led by scientists at the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (GIG-CAS), in collaboration with international partners, uncovers how deeply subducted carbonates reshape the Earth's mantle chemistry, influencing both diamond formation and the evolution of cratonic lithosphere. Using high-pressure experiments that simulate depths from 250 to 66]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:29 GMT A newly released image from the European Space Agency's Mars Express mission reveals a crater layered with geological history and sculpted by ancient martian forces. Captured in October 2024 by the orbiter's High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), the scene features Deuteronilus Cavus, a 120-kilometer-wide depression in Mars's mid-latitudes where planetary highlands meet lowlands. This nearl]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:29 GMT