Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jan 13, 2026
A Chinese suborbital spacecraft designed for reusable operations and future space tourism has completed a key test flight, marking a new step in the country's commercial space ambitions. The vehicle, designated PH-1, is developed by Beijing-based commercial aerospace company CAS Space and is intended to support low cost scientific experiments in microgravity as well as pave the way for pas

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Romanian company ATD Aerospace RS SRL is developing a 10 kN rocket engine that can be re-ignited and adjust its thrust. This builds on the 1 kN engine they developed with support from the European Space Agency (ESA).

Before working with ESA, ATD had already created several engines in the 0.5–1 kN range, which paved the way for their later developments. This project is part of ESA’s Future Launchers Preparatory Programme (FLPP), that helps develop the technology for future for space transportation systems. By conceiving, designing and investing in technology that doesn’t exist yet, this programme is reducing the risk entailed

Image: Astris infographic

Menlo Park CA (SPX) Jan 08, 2026
Researchers hoped to clarify the boundaries between different types of superionic water - the hot, black ice believed to exist at the core of giant ice planets. Instead, they found multiple atomic stacking patterns coexisting in overlapping configurations never seen before in this phase of water. Superionic water - the hot, black and strangely conductive form of ice that exists in the cent