ΛD ΛSTRΛ

Lunar Outpost is advancing lunar mobility…

ΛD ΛSTRΛ — Fri, 22 May 2026 23:53:16 GMT

Lunar Outpost is advancing lunar mobility and surface operations technologies through the development of next-generation robotic and crewed rover systems designed to support scientific exploration, infrastructure development, resource prospecting and sustained human activity on the Moon. The company’s rover platforms are being engineered to operate in extreme lunar environments while supporting NASA Artemis missions, commercial lunar operations and future long-duration exploration initiatives.

Lunar Outpost is developing rover technologies intended to enable astronauts, researchers and commercial operators to access difficult terrain, transport equipment and cargo, conduct scientific analysis and support long-range lunar exploration activities. The company’s mobility portfolio includes the Eagle Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) and the Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP), two rover systems designed for different but complementary operational roles across the lunar surface.

A major focus of Lunar Outpost’s lunar mobility strategy is the Eagle Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV), a crewed rover platform being developed under a NASA contract to support Artemis astronauts and future human exploration missions. The Eagle LTV is designed as an advanced off-road lunar transport system capable of carrying both astronauts and cargo across challenging lunar terrain.

Orbital Data Centers: Power and Thermal…

ΛD ΛSTRΛ — Thu, 21 May 2026 17:06:02 GMT

Orbital Data Centers: Power and Thermal Management for Scalable Architectures

As orbital data centers move from concept to reality, scalable power generation and efficient thermal management are emerging as critical enabling technologies.

A new whitepaper from Redwire examines how power generation and distribution, along with thermal rejection, will fundamentally shape the future of large-scale orbital compute infrastructure.

Drawing on decades of Redwire spaceflight heritage in deployable structures, high-power solar arrays, and thermal management systems, the whitepaper highlights how existing flight-proven technologies can support practical and scalable orbital compute architectures.

Redwire frames orbital data centers as integrated systems, where power generation, electrical distribution, compute performance, and thermal management must be designed together from the start. Redwire also explores how system-level constraints become key architectural drivers as orbital compute platforms grow in scale. Rather than treating these challenges as barriers, the whitepaper demonstrates how modular architectures and deployable thermal systems can enable scalable orbital computing using technologies already in development or flight today.

In addition, Redwire presents a representative near-term orbital compute node concept built around the company’s flight-proven Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA) architecture and deployable radiator technologies, illustrating how current-generation space systems can support data center-class compute capabilities in orbit.

Psyche Spacecraft Completes Mars Flyby

ΛD ΛSTRΛ — Thu, 21 May 2026 03:04:26 GMT

Psyche Spacecraft Completes Mars Flyby

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft completed its close approach of Mars on May 15, coming within 2,864 miles (4,609 kilometers) of the planet’s surface. During the flyby, it took this image and others. This representative color image, captured by Psyche’s multispectral imager instrument, features the double-ring crater Huygens and the surrounding heavily cratered southern highlands.

This flyby used a gravity assist from Mars to provide a critical boost in speed and to adjust the spacecraft’s orbital plane without using any onboard propellant, sending it on its way toward the metal-rich asteroid Psyche. When it arrives in August 2029, it will insert itself into orbit, then map the asteroid and gather science data. If the asteroid proves to be the metallic core of an ancient planetesimal, it could offer a one-of-a-kind window into the interior of rocky planets like Earth.

Firefly Aerospace Doubles Spacecraft Infrastructure to…

ΛD ΛSTRΛ — Wed, 20 May 2026 17:18:21 GMT

Firefly Aerospace Doubles Spacecraft Infrastructure to Build Multi-Vehicle Production Line

On May 19, 2026, space and defense technology provider Firefly Aerospace (Nasdaq: FLY) announced the completion of a major corporate campus expansion in Cedar Park, Texas. The infrastructure development adds two new facilities to the company’s existing footprint, effectively doubling the physical square footage of its spacecraft division to accelerate the assembly line production of lunar landers and orbital transfer vehicles.

The expanded Cedar Park campus now encompasses 144,000 square feet dedicated to spacecraft assembly, integrated environmental testing, avionics manufacturing, and engineering operations.

Alongside the primary manufacturing lines, Firefly has commissioned a dedicated emergent-work facility named Gloworks. The innovation lab functions as an internal technology incubator, allowing engineers to develop and test hardware enhancements without disrupting the cadence of the active commercial production lines.

The specialized lab houses advanced manufacturing and rapid prototyping machinery:

Additive Manufacturing: High-capacity 3D printers and specialized titanium laser sintering systems for structural components.
Materials Fabrication: Advanced plasma cutters, automated milling machinery, and dedicated carbon composite curing enclosures.
Deep Space Research: Prototyping subsystems optimized to solve survival hurdles, including thermal storage units designed to help electronics survive the two-week lunar night.

On May 19, 2026, satellite manufacturer…

ΛD ΛSTRΛ — Wed, 20 May 2026 17:14:45 GMT

On May 19, 2026, satellite manufacturer York Space Systems (NYSE: YSS) announced a definitive merger agreement to acquire Solestial, Inc., an Arizona-based pioneer in next-generation space solar technology.

The acquisition represents York’s third major corporate transaction within the first half of 2026, highlighting a aggressive consolidation campaign designed to turn the satellite prime into a completely self-reliant manufacturer.

The acquisition follows two other multi-million-dollar deals completed earlier in the year:

Propulsion Integration: In March 2026, York acquired Hall-effect electric propulsion specialist Orbion Space Technology for approximately 74.9 million dollars.
Communications Scaling: In April 2026, the company announced the 355 million dollar acquisition of satellite terminal and multi-network connectivity provider All.Space.

The acquisition directly positions York to capture a larger share of the national security and defense space sectors. The Space Development Agency (SDA) and wider Department of Defense programs increasingly rely on proliferated low Earth orbit architectures—large networks of low-cost, mass-produced satellites built to absorb individual losses while maintaining orbital operational continuity.

Varda Space Industries is developing orbital…

ΛD ΛSTRΛ — Wed, 20 May 2026 08:09:17 GMT

Varda Space Industries is developing orbital manufacturing and reentry infrastructure designed to support the commercialization of low Earth orbit for pharmaceutical production, advanced materials research and microgravity-enabled industrial applications. The company’s W-Series spacecraft platform combines autonomous orbital manufacturing capabilities with reusable reentry systems engineered to return materials from orbit safely and efficiently back to Earth. Varda Space Industries is focusing on building the logistics and operational infrastructure required to support routine orbital production and high-cadence return of manufactured materials from space. The company’s W-Series platform is designed as a fully autonomous commercial satellite and reentry vehicle architecture intended specifically for orbital manufacturing and material return missions.

At the center of Varda’s orbital manufacturing strategy is the W-Series spacecraft platform, a commercial satellite and reentry vehicle system developed specifically for microgravity manufacturing and material return operations. The W-Series operates as a free-flying autonomous spacecraft capable of independently conducting manufacturing operations in orbit before returning processed materials back to Earth. The platform is designed to function independently of existing orbital stations, enabling dedicated manufacturing missions designed to customer requirements and production workflows. The spacecraft is engineered to support a range of in-orbit industrial processes, particularly those involving pharmaceutical and advanced material formulation activities that benefit from microgravity conditions. In orbit, specialized onboard processing equipment performs functions such as heating, cooling, mixing and material handling in a low-gravity environment where unique crystal growth, fluid dynamics and molecular behaviors can occur differently than on Earth. Microgravity manufacturing has attracted increasing interest because certain pharmaceutical compounds, semiconductors, fiber optics and advanced materials may exhibit improved structural or chemical properties when processed in orbit.

Astrolab, an aerospace company building planetary…

ΛD ΛSTRΛ — Wed, 20 May 2026 07:58:52 GMT

Astrolab, an aerospace company building planetary rovers, announced NASA payload customers for its first lunar mission aboard the company’s FLIP (FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform) rover. FLIP will fly aboard Astrobotic’s Griffin-1 lander, part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Griffin-1 will deliver payloads to the Moon’s south pole, advancing the Artemis campaign to return humans to the lunar surface. This mission is slated for launch in late 2026. Additional commercial payloads will be announced in the coming months.

FLIP is Astrolab’s platform for delivering small payloads and conducting autonomous mobility operations on the lunar surface. The mission will mark FLIP’s lunar debut, carrying instruments from multiple NASA centers while gathering operational data to inform future Artemis missions.

NASA payloads aboard FLIP include:

▪︎ NASA Ames Research Center — Moon Exploration for Titanium with Active Lighting (METAL). A multicolor camera and radiometer developed by NASA Ames in partnership with Interlune, a natural resources company, to estimate helium-3 concentrations in lunar regolith, advancing resource assessment strategies for future lunar utilization.

▪︎ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center — Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA). First LRA mounted on a lunar rover to retro-reflect laser beams for precision tracking of the rover’s position by an orbital laser altimeter. Made of eight quartz corner-cube prisms set into a dome-shaped aluminum frame, the array requires no power or maintenance. After the rover completes its mission, the LRA will remain as a permanent location marker on the Moon for future exploration.

▪︎ NASA Johnson Space Center — Lunar Dust level sensor and Effects on Surfaces (LDES). Quantifies dust-induced degradation of critical Moon Base and Lander subsystems, including significant loss in radiator cooling, reduced solar array power generation, and potential loss of mission. LDES will measure thermal performance data to characterize dust accumulation on system surfaces and anchor predictive modeling, ensuring reliability and survivability of long-term lunar assets.

▪︎ NASA Marshall Space Flight Center — Lunar LiDAR Demonstration. A hardened LiDAR system adapted for extreme lunar conditions to generate high-resolution 3D surface maps for navigation, obstacle detection, and hazard avoidance.

Unlike larger rover platforms, FLIP is specifically designed to operate without a deployment ramp, enabling direct egress from the top of the lander. This innovation reduces mission complexity and enables a wider range of landing configurations. In addition to delivering payloads, FLIP will collect valuable engineering data and operational experience that will inform the development of Astrolab’s larger Flexible Logistics and Exploration (FLEX) rover, which is being designed to support future Artemis missions and commercial operations on the Moon.

Astrolight and ESA unveil Operational Optical…

ΛD ΛSTRΛ — Tue, 19 May 2026 13:31:07 GMT

Astrolight and ESA unveil Operational Optical Ground Station in Greece for Satellite Laser Links. The European Space Agency and the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance announced the successful development and commissioning of the Holomondas Optical Ground Station (OGS) in Greece.

Implemented by Lithuanian space and defense technology company Astrolight in collaboration with the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the facility is officially operational. It is now positioned to anchor Europe’s next-generation secure communication network by testing ultra-high-speed satellite-to-Earth laser links.

The milestone represents the transition of the historic Holomondas astronomical observatory into a high-capacity optical communications hub. Astrolight equipped the site with a proprietary optical core, an advanced 808-nanometer laser beacon, and a C-band optical receiver designed to achieve precise beam alignment and data reception speeds of up to 2.5 Gbps under varying atmospheric conditions.

Ubotica Technologies, a pioneer in space-…

ΛD ΛSTRΛ — Tue, 19 May 2026 12:25:54 GMT

Ubotica Technologies, a pioneer in space-based AI, has announced a partnership agreement with NOVI Space, a global leader in orbit edge computing and next-generation satellite infrastructure. The partnership will deliver decision-grade and real-time intelligence directly from Earth’s orbit. The collaboration integrates Ubotica’s SPACE:AI platform with NOVI’s GENIE smart-satellite constellation and platform, enabling Earth observation data to be processed directly onboard satellites, supporting faster decision-making in time-critical domains such as maritime monitoring.

Intuitive Machines, announced it has entered…

ΛD ΛSTRΛ — Tue, 19 May 2026 04:51:10 GMT

Intuitive Machines, announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd, a world-class deep space communications provider with major ground station assets in the United Kingdom and Goonhilly USA Inc.

The acquisition, which will include the Goonhilly Lunar and Deep Space Communications, Commercial Satcom and Defense and Security divisions, significantly expands global ground station resources and capacity on Intuitive Machines’ integrated space-to-ground network.

Upon completion of the proposed acquisition, the expanded network is expected to deliver communications, data transport and position, navigation and timing (PNT) capabilities for sustained lunar and cislunar operations.

Exotrail Confirms Successful Deployment of NASA-…

ΛD ΛSTRΛ — Mon, 18 May 2026 14:35:21 GMT

Exotrail Confirms Successful Deployment of NASA-Funded AEPEX CubeSat via Spacevan 002

The 6U CubeSat was delivered to its precise target orbit using Exotrail’s spacevan 002 orbital transfer vehicle (OTV), which launched earlier this year as part of the SpaceX Transporter-16 rideshare mission.

The AEPEX mission, led by the University of Colorado Boulder, is designed to study how high-energy electrons from Earth’s radiation belts precipitate into the upper atmosphere. This process plays a critical role in Earth’s atmospheric chemistry and climate modeling. By utilizing the spacevan 002, the AEPEX team was able to achieve a specific orbital inclination and altitude (approximately 500 km at an inclination above 70 degrees) that standard rideshare launches typically cannot reach without secondary propulsion.

The spacevan 002, dubbed “Wings of Light,” is Exotrail’s first fully vertically integrated OTV, featuring an in-house designed satellite bus and electric propulsion system. Unlike the company’s 2023 debut mission, spacevan 002 was optimized for “pick-up and drop-off” services, allowing it to transport multiple customer payloads to distinct orbital trajectories within a single mission.

NASA is testing a next-generation…

ΛD ΛSTRΛ — Sat, 16 May 2026 12:38:10 GMT

NASA is testing a next-generation space computer chip that could give spacecraft the ability to operate far more independently in deep space. The radiation-hardened processor is showing performance levels hundreds of times beyond current spaceflight computers while surviving punishing tests designed to mimic the harsh conditions of space. The technology could enable AI-powered spacecraft, faster scientific discoveries, and smarter missions to the Moon and Mars.

Small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, NASA’s High Performance Spaceflight Computing processor packs the power of a full system-on-a-chip. This next-generation processor is made to survive deep space while delivering a massive leap in computational speed compared to current spacecraft technology.

The 34th SpaceX commercial resupply mission…

ΛD ΛSTRΛ — Fri, 15 May 2026 23:59:12 GMT

The 34th SpaceX commercial resupply mission under contract with NASA is headed to the International Space Station with new scientific experiments after lifting off at 6:05 p.m. EDT Friday on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The SpaceX spacecraft, loaded with nearly 6,500 pounds of cargo for the space station’s Expedition 74 crew, is scheduled to autonomously dock at about 7 a.m. Sunday, May 17, to the forward port of the station’s Harmony module.

The engine uses lithium metal vapor…

ΛD ΛSTRΛ — Mon, 11 May 2026 13:46:18 GMT

The engine uses lithium metal vapor and belongs to a class of technology known as magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thrusters. These systems create thrust by using electric currents and magnetic fields to accelerate plasma at extremely high speeds. During five separate ignitions, the thruster’s tungsten electrode glowed brilliant white as temperatures climbed above 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,800 degrees Celsius). The tests were conducted in JPL’s Electric Propulsion Lab, which houses a unique facility capable of safely evaluating electric thrusters that rely on metal vapor propellants at megawatt-class power levels.

The study, led by scientists at…

ΛD ΛSTRΛ — Sun, 10 May 2026 21:04:33 GMT

The study, led by scientists at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, shows that most of the mass surrounding our Galaxy is not distributed evenly in all directions, but instead lies in a vast plane dominated by dark matter. This structure helps explain why most nearby galaxies are moving away from the Milky Way rather than being pulled in by its gravity.

Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion…

ΛD ΛSTRΛ — Sun, 10 May 2026 01:31:04 GMT

Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab make a breakthrough in rotor technology. Testing shows rotor blades won’t disintegrate when they spin at supersonic speed. SkyFall helicopters preparing for deployment on Mars. The team pushed rotor tip speeds to Mach 1.08, boosting the Mars vehicle’s lift capability by 30 percent. This breakthrough allows future missions to support heavier scientific payloads, including advanced sensors and larger batteries for extended flight.

Produced by the FLAMINGO project — short…

ΛD ΛSTRΛ — Fri, 08 May 2026 18:36:13 GMT

Produced by the FLAMINGO project — short for Full-hydro Large-scale structure simulations with All-sky Mapping — the dataset contains more than 2.5 petabytes of data, an amount researchers say is roughly equivalent to half a million HD movies.

A routine experiment with a new…

ΛD ΛSTRΛ — Thu, 07 May 2026 22:12:56 GMT

A routine experiment with a new single-cell DNA sequencing method turned into a surprising scientific twist when researchers stumbled upon a bizarre genetic code in a microscopic pond organism. Instead of following the near-universal “rules” of life, this newly identified protist rewrites how genes signal their end. This unexpected discovery challenges long-held assumptions about how genetic translation works and hints that nature may be far more flexible—and mysterious—than scientists realized.

The boreal forest—the world’s…

ΛD ΛSTRΛ — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 23:46:29 GMT

The boreal forest—the world’s largest terrestrial biome—is warming faster than any other forest type. To understand the changing dynamics of boreal forests, Feng et al., 2026 analyzed the biome from 1985 to 2020, leveraging the longest and highest-resolution satellite record of calibrated tree cover to date. The study, published in February in Biogeosciences with four co-authors from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, confirms a northward shift in boreal forest cover over the past four decades.

The French divers had been descending…

ΛD ΛSTRΛ — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 22:49:53 GMT

The French divers had been descending along the steep Indonesian reef wall for long minutes, their beams of light swallowed almost instantly by the abyss. The computers on their wrists ticked past 100 meters. Then 110. Then 120. The hum of their rebreathers and the distant crackle of the reef were the only sounds. And suddenly, out of the dark, that eye. They all knew the shape from old black‑and‑white photos in biology books. They also knew nobody had ever filmed it alive, in this place, at this depth.

Before them, in the beam of three lamps, drifted a coelacanth, the legendary “living fossil” that scientists once thought had vanished with the dinosaurs. Its lobe-finned limbs paddled like four miniature legs. Its tail undulated with a quiet, prehistoric grace. For long seconds, nobody moved. The fish turned its head, regarded the lights, then retreated slowly into a crack in the cliff, as if reversing into time itself.