Earth orbit

SpaceX is preparing to send its Starship rocket into Earth orbit for the first time, a milestone test for the vehicle the company plans to use for missions to the Moon and Mars. The attempt, widely reported by international outlets including France 24, is being closely watched by space observers as Starship is the most powerful rocket ever developed, and a successful orbital flight would mark a major step forward for private spaceflight.

SpaceX's Starship, the most powerful spacecraft ever built, is preparing for a launch that would attempt to reach Earth orbit for the first time. A successful flight would mark a major milestone for the rocket program, which is central to SpaceX's ambitions for deep space travel and NASA's plans to return astronauts to the Moon.

SpaceX has launched its giant Starship rocket on its first mission intended to reach orbit around Earth. The test flight from Starbase in Texas marks a major milestone for the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, which Elon Musk's company hopes will eventually carry crews to the Moon and Mars.

Elon Musk's SpaceX is preparing its Starship spacecraft for its first orbit around Earth, according to a report from NewsNation. The fully reusable rocket system, designed for missions to the Moon and Mars, has undergone earlier test flights, and reaching orbit would mark a major milestone in its development programme.

SpaceX's Starship, described as the world's most powerful spacecraft, launched in a first attempt to orbit Earth. Viewers followed the flight live as the giant rocket lifted off from Texas, with coverage focusing on whether the vehicle could complete its inaugural orbital test flight.

SpaceX is preparing to send its Starship spacecraft into orbit around Earth for the first time, with the launch available to watch live. The mission marks a major milestone for the company's next-generation heavy-lift rocket, which is central to its plans for deep-space travel. Coverage and live viewing are drawing widespread attention from space enthusiasts and media worldwide.

SpaceX is preparing to launch its Starship rocket on its first planned flight into Earth orbit, a milestone test for the vehicle designed for missions to the Moon and Mars. The uncrewed flight would be the first time Starship flies as a full stack, with the Super Heavy booster and upper stage together. Success would mark a major step for Elon Musk's company and for NASA's lunar plans, which rely on a Starship variant.

SpaceX launched its Starship rocket on a roughly 10-hour test flight, with the spacecraft aiming to orbit Earth six times before returning. The mission is part of SpaceX's ongoing campaign to prove out the vehicle for future deep-space missions, and the extended duration marks a step up in ambition from earlier, shorter tests.

China is preparing to send a Pakistani astronaut into space, a move widely reported by Reuters and picked up by financial and global news outlets. The mission is being framed as part of Beijing's broader space diplomacy, extending its cooperation with Pakistan beyond Earth-based projects and showcasing China's growing role as a partner in human spaceflight for friendly nations.

Google has announced Project Suncatcher, an initiative to place machine learning infrastructure in space, with details published on the company's research blog. The announcement is drawing attention among technologists debating the feasibility and costs of running data centers off Earth, powered by solar energy in orbit. Discussions center on how satellite-based compute could scale and whether the idea is realistic.

Google is planning to launch an experimental satellite into orbit, marking the first move by a Big Tech company toward building AI data centers in space. The report, from the New York Times, signals the company's interest in shifting computing infrastructure beyond Earth, a concept floated to address the enormous power and cooling demands of AI.

Asteroid 2024 YR4, discovered in December 2024, has drawn attention from NASA and space watchers worldwide after early calculations suggested a small but nonzero chance it could hit Earth in December 2032. The roughly 40-metre-wide rock briefly topped impact-risk monitoring lists, and astronomers have been refining its orbit as it moves away from view.

Google has announced Project Suncatcher, an initiative to test its AI chips in space for the first time. The plan points to putting data-processing hardware aboard satellites, a step that could eventually move parts of AI computing off Earth. The announcement is drawing attention across the tech and semiconductor world, with observers weighing the engineering challenges of running chips in orbit and what it could mean for the future of data centers.

DARPA is developing a robotic spacecraft designed to service and repair satellites in geosynchronous orbit, some 35,000 kilometers above Earth. The effort, covered by IEEE Spectrum, would allow maintenance of aging communications and military satellites that are otherwise unreachable after launch. It marks a step toward routine robotic servicing in the most valuable and crowded orbital region.

Google is preparing to test its AI chips in space, according to a report carried by The Brussels Times. The move suggests the company is exploring how its custom AI hardware performs outside Earth, though details on the mission, timeline and partners have not been disclosed. Observers of the semiconductor and space industries are watching for what this could mean for satellite computing and data processing in orbit.

Google is reportedly preparing to launch AI chips into orbit, an effort that would place its semiconductor hardware on satellites in space. Details beyond the announcement remain sparse, but the idea points to computing infrastructure moving off Earth, potentially for data processing and connectivity in orbit. Observers are watching to see how the company plans to deploy and operate chips in the harsh space environment.

Indian startup TakeMe2Space plans to launch a satellite equipped with orbital edge-computing capabilities aboard an upcoming SpaceX mission. The company aims to process data in space rather than sending it back to Earth, a move that could reduce costs and delays for satellite data users. The announcement highlights the growing role of Indian space startups in commercial spaceflight.

Google has announced Project Suncatcher, an initiative to launch a prototype satellite designed to test the performance of AI chips in orbit. The company is exploring whether data centres could eventually operate in space, taking advantage of continuous solar power while avoiding land and cooling constraints on Earth. The project puts Google in competition with other tech firms weighing space-based computing.

Google is moving forward with an unusual experiment to test running data centers in orbit, a project long discussed as a way to harness continuous solar power and ease the energy and cooling demands of AI computing. The news that the project is finally leaving Earth is drawing attention across the tech press, with observers weighing whether space-based infrastructure could become a realistic answer to data centers' growing power needs.

Starlab, the planned commercial space station being developed by Voyager Space and Airbus, is being discussed as a possible answer to Europe's orbital ambitions once the International Space Station is retired around 2030. The question being raised is whether the station can give European astronauts and researchers continued access to low Earth orbit, and whether Europe should commit to the project or pursue other options.