Earth orbit

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 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 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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.