With launch planned for later this year, testing is well underway to ensure the MetOp Second Generation-B1 weather satellite is ready for its life in orbit around Earth. These checks include verifying that its spectacular four-panel, 11-metre-long, solar wing will deploy correctly.

From adding timestamps to banking transactions to mapping the best route to a destination, satellite navigation plays a significant role in daily life. At the same time, attempts to interfere with and fake navigation signals are increasing. For the last seven months, a new verification service for Galileo has mitigated the threat of spoofing in the Open Service by confirming that the satellite navigation data used for positioning originated in the Galileo system.

Paris, France (AFP) Feb 20, 2026
TotalEnergies faces cutting back oil and gas production if NGOs prevail in a trial that began Thursday over accusations the French energy giant failed to properly consider environmental risks. The case, brought by several NGOs and the city of Paris, is based upon a 2017 law that imposed a "duty of vigilance" on large companies. The law seeks to counter companies offloading responsibility

New Delhi (AFP) Feb 20, 2026
Fledgling Indian artificial intelligence companies showcased homegrown technologies this week at a major summit in New Delhi, underpinning big dreams of becoming a global AI power. But analysts said the country was unlikely to have a "DeepSeek moment" - the sort of boom China had last year with a high-performance, low-cost chatbot - any time soon. Still, building custom AI tools could

New York (SDX) Feb 23, 2026
Advances in supercomputing have enabled astronomers to resolve a long-standing problem in stellar evolution: how changes in the chemical composition at the centers of red giant stars connect to the altered chemistry seen at their surfaces as they age. Researchers at the University of Victoria's Astronomy Research Centre and the University of Minnesota report that stellar rotation provides

New York (SDX) Feb 23, 2026
New research by Southwest Research Institute and the National Science Foundation's National Center for Atmospheric Research has produced a new tool that could eventually extend space weather forecasts from hours to weeks. The approach aims to provide earlier warnings of solar activity that can disrupt GPS, power grids, satellites and astronaut operations. The work targets a longstanding he

Washington, United States (AFP) Feb 21, 2026
NASA chief Jared Isaacman on Saturday ruled out a March launch for Artemis 2, the first crewed flyby mission to the Moon in more than 50 years, citing technical issues. Workers detected a problem with helium flow to the massive SLS rocket that will "take the March launch window out of consideration," Issacman said in a post on X. "I understand people are disappointed by this development.

New York (SDX) Feb 23, 2026
As space agencies advance plans for human missions to the Moon and Mars, researchers are working to understand how the absence of gravity affects living cells over time. A team led by Newcastle University in the United Kingdom has now developed a rugged, low cost microscope platform that can monitor living cells in real time during zero gravity, and they are making the system openly available to

New York (SDX) Feb 23, 2026
Weather permitting, NASA plans to move the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for Artemis II off Launch Pad 39B at the agency Kennedy Space Center in Florida as soon as Tuesday, Feb 24. The integrated stack will travel back to the Vehicle Assembly Building so teams can investigate and correct an issue with helium flow to the rocket upper stage. Engineers began preparing for th