Copernical Team
Friday, 05 December 2025 09:52
Astrobee: AI-guided robot navigates space station corridors with improved speed and safety
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Friday, 05 December 2025 08:14
Hubble reobserves 3I/ATLAS
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The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reobserved interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on 30 November with its Wide Field Camera 3 instrument. At the time, the comet was about 286 million km from Earth. Hubble tracked the comet as it moved across the sky. As a result, background stars appear as streaks of light.
Hubble previously observed 3I/ATLAS in July, shortly after its discovery, and a number of observatories have since studied the comet as well. Observations are expected to continue for several more months as 3I/ATLAS heads out of the solar system.
For the latest updates and FAQs related to comet 3I/ATLAS, see
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Friday, 05 December 2025 08:00
Earth from Space: Singing dunes and mysterious lakes
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This Copernicus Sentinel-1 image features part of the Badain Jaran Desert in northwestern China.
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Friday, 05 December 2025 08:21
Italian Earth observation fleet gains eight new IRIDE satellites
Paris, France (SPX) Nov 28, 2025
Italy's IRIDE Earth observation programme has expanded with the launch of eight Eaglet II satellites, adding a second constellation to the growing national fleet. The spacecraft rode into orbit on a Falcon 9 mission that lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 19:44 CET on 28 November, with deployment completed about an hour after launch and signals from all satellites later
Italy's IRIDE Earth observation programme has expanded with the launch of eight Eaglet II satellites, adding a second constellation to the growing national fleet. The spacecraft rode into orbit on a Falcon 9 mission that lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 19:44 CET on 28 November, with deployment completed about an hour after launch and signals from all satellites later
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Friday, 05 December 2025 08:21
Greece deploys first national ICEYE radar satellites for disaster monitoring
Paris, France (SPX) Nov 28, 2025
Two new ICEYE radar satellites have entered service under Greece's National Small Satellite Programme, expanding the country's capacity to track floods, wildfires, landslides and other hazards as well as areas of security interest on land and at sea.
The pair of synthetic aperture radar spacecraft were launched on 28 November 2025 on SpaceX's Transporter-15 rideshare mission from Vandenber
Two new ICEYE radar satellites have entered service under Greece's National Small Satellite Programme, expanding the country's capacity to track floods, wildfires, landslides and other hazards as well as areas of security interest on land and at sea.
The pair of synthetic aperture radar spacecraft were launched on 28 November 2025 on SpaceX's Transporter-15 rideshare mission from Vandenber
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Friday, 05 December 2025 08:21
Gels may have given early Earth chemistry a place to organize into life
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Dec 03, 2025
An international team from Japan, Malaysia, the UK, and Germany has proposed that life on Earth may have emerged within sticky, surface-bound gels that formed before the first cells. The researchers argue that these prebiotic gels, attached to mineral or other surfaces, could have provided both structure and chemical environments that helped early chemistry progress toward biology.
The tea
An international team from Japan, Malaysia, the UK, and Germany has proposed that life on Earth may have emerged within sticky, surface-bound gels that formed before the first cells. The researchers argue that these prebiotic gels, attached to mineral or other surfaces, could have provided both structure and chemical environments that helped early chemistry progress toward biology.
The tea
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Friday, 05 December 2025 08:21
Small satellite mission targets maritime activity monitoring from orbit
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Dec 03, 2025
The OTTER Optical Traffic Tracking Experiment for Responsive Space satellite has entered service in orbit to support maritime monitoring following its launch on 28 November 2025 into an orbit at about 500 kilometres altitude. The nanosatellite has a mass of roughly six kilograms, is comparable in size to a shoebox and deployed its solar panels and instruments after separation from the launcher.
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Friday, 05 December 2025 08:21
UK plasma thruster test positions Pulsar Fusion for larger satellite propulsion
London, UK (SPX) Dec 05, 2025
Pulsar Fusion and partners have tested what they describe as the largest space plasma engine yet fired in Britain, designed to provide high-thrust in-space propulsion for heavier satellites. The engine, which the company reports is roughly ten times larger than its previous plasma thrusters, was demonstrated at the University of Southampton on 29 January in a large vacuum chamber to replicate on
Pulsar Fusion and partners have tested what they describe as the largest space plasma engine yet fired in Britain, designed to provide high-thrust in-space propulsion for heavier satellites. The engine, which the company reports is roughly ten times larger than its previous plasma thrusters, was demonstrated at the University of Southampton on 29 January in a large vacuum chamber to replicate on
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Friday, 05 December 2025 08:21
NASA extends ISS National Lab management contract through 2030
Washington DC (UPI) Dec 4, 2025
The Center for Advancement of Science in Space will continue to manage the International Space Station National Laboratory for at least another five years, CASIS announced on Thursday.
CASIS has managed the ISS National Lab since 2011, after Congress created it to enable researchers to build a "robust market" in low Earth orbit by leveraging the unique environment that exists in space, CAS
The Center for Advancement of Science in Space will continue to manage the International Space Station National Laboratory for at least another five years, CASIS announced on Thursday.
CASIS has managed the ISS National Lab since 2011, after Congress created it to enable researchers to build a "robust market" in low Earth orbit by leveraging the unique environment that exists in space, CAS
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Friday, 05 December 2025 08:21
Congress warned that the U.S. faces a new space race with China
Washington DC (UPI) Dec 4, 2025
The United States has entered a consequential new era of competition with China in space - one that lawmakers said will shape global power, economic security and military advantage for generations.
House Science, Space and Technology Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee Chairman Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., posed the issue during a hearing Thursday as a question for the future.
"Will huma
The United States has entered a consequential new era of competition with China in space - one that lawmakers said will shape global power, economic security and military advantage for generations.
House Science, Space and Technology Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee Chairman Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., posed the issue during a hearing Thursday as a question for the future.
"Will huma
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