LabSpace
In lab, Interlune makes gas-bearing lunar simulant in four hours
The Seattle startup uses accelerated helium plasma to reproduce solar-wind damage in ilmenite.
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Reusable rockets, Earth observation, constellations: orbit is becoming infrastructure.
Orbit is becoming infrastructure: reusable launchers driving down the cost per kilogram, constellations that connect and observe, Earth observation feeding agriculture, weather forecasting and climate monitoring. The section follows flights, commissionings and order books — SpaceX of course, but also the Chinese, Indian, Japanese and European launchers the general press skims over.
The angle stays the journal’s: what changes concretely, quantified and sourced. A launch is not a feat but a price per kilogram; a constellation is not a project but a number of active satellites and a service rendered. We distinguish the test flight from the commercial cadence, and the announcement from the signed contract.
The Seattle startup uses accelerated helium plasma to reproduce solar-wind damage in ilmenite.
MIT Lincoln Laboratory and NASA Goddard built the infrared laser system for Orion.
Chang'e-7 will combine an orbiter, lander, rover and hopper for the Moon's south pole.
The crater formed on Aug. 5, 2026, when a Falcon 9 upper stage hit the lunar surface.
Starling used onboard cameras to locate itself by tracking objects in orbit.