ready

With AI saturating TSMC’s factories, there’s someone ready to take over: Chinese foundries

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Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, or SMIC, is the backbone of the semiconductor industry in China. Together with Huawei, he is the architect of the great government plan so that Chinese companies and data centers stop depending on foreign chips that, since punch on the table given in mid-2023 with the SoC of Huawei Mate 60 Prohas called a lot attention on the international scene. So much so that SMIC itself points out that there are already foreign clients who are changing orders so that they can manufacture them themselves. The reason? In the midst of the semiconductor crisis, China is one of the few places with available production capacity. Bottleneck. SMIC, and Chinese foundries, are in a different war: volume over sophistication. While TSMC, Intel and Samsung are fighting for superiority in the 2 nanometer war, China does not seem interested in that battle of the advanced nodes. The reason is simple: they barely represent 20% of the global chip market and producing them is extremely expensive. That strategy of being out of the forefront of the spotlight is working out well for them. It is estimated that between January and February, China has exported integrated circuits worth more than 43 billion dollars. It represents a growth of 21.8% and the reality is that, at this time, China cannot compete in technology with the one that dominates the segment: TSMC. The Taiwanese company is developing the most advanced nodes for clients such as Nvidia and Apple and a few years ago they stated that they could not handle all the demand. Today, that demand has skyrocketed with AI and TSMC is already saying that there may not be something for everyone. That is why there are 64 new factories planned to unblock the situation, 58 of them located in China. Orders. Returning to SMIC, Zhao Haijun, the company’s co-CEO, pointed out a few days ago during the earnings call that China is one of the few regions that has manufacturing capacity, which is motivating “many foreign clients to redirect their orders.” This is not news if we take into account the world situationbut the manager assures that some of these products “were previously manufactured in foundries abroad and are no longer produced there.” That is the relevant point in all this, since it states that, although SMIC as the largest national foundry is receiving the largest burden of these orders, there are other smaller companies that are also benefiting from the situation. This situation is occurring out of necessity, out of TSMC’s need, according to data from TrendForce. Because the Taiwanese company plans to reduce part of its capacity in mature nodes (to focus on cutting-edge ones), it is diverting part of that production and excess orders to Chinese suppliers and second-line foundries. This will also cause the wafers to be used to the millimeter and that from an average utilization rate of 80% in eight-inch wafers, the industry will go to 90% in 2026. Chips are needed and they will have to be scraped from wherever they can. domino effect. The situation is going well for a SMIC that reported revenues of 2,505 million dollars in the first quarter of this year, 11.5% year-on-year that will be surpassed in the second period of the year, with revenue growth of between 14% and 16%, well above the 7% that Wall Street expected. But it seems that not only SMIC is having good news within the current catastrophic situation in the components, memory and other segment. We already commented a few months ago that “crisis” could be synonymous with “opportunity” for the Chinese semiconductor industry because there were foreign manufacturers that were approaching them to have supplies, especially of RAM memories, which could cause the international flourishing of this industry traditionally overshadowed by the Samsung – SK Hynix – Micron trident. As we see in SCMPHua Hong is another Chinese foundry that is smaller than SMIC, but also saw its revenue grow 22.2% year-on-year due to increased wafer shipments and a higher average selling price. These companies that make NAND, DRAM and NOR memory chips are seeing their business grow, and analysts expect other domestic foundries focused on logic chips to also continue to grow over the coming months. not so untouchable. In any case, it is evident that the market leader continues to be TSMC, but if before it was an undisputed giant, now it is still that Goliath… for which its David is emerging. Several, in fact. Apple is no longer the preferred customer of a TSMC that has in mind Nvidia to your best ally and it has been ringing for a while that Intel could fill that spot in the heart of Apple. And, returning to 2 nanometers, AMD has been deeply involved in the battle for both consumer and AI segments for a few years and is looking for advanced chips. And, as in the case of Apple, since it is now Nvidia that has all the privileges of TSMC, AMD has looked a little further east to manufacture its 2nm chips. The lucky one? Samsung. Image | ASML In Xataka | ByteDance has already chosen its partner to manufacture its own chip. And it is a harsh message for China’s industry

The first dual core and 200 qubits on the planet is now ready

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The pulse between the US and China in the field of technology goes beyond semiconductors and the artificial intelligence (AI). The US leads the industry quantum computersand, although probably not all the achievements that Chinese companies and research centers have achieved have transcended, those that we know of reflect that China is also a power in quantum computing. In fact, these two countries have achieved notable milestones over the past few years. The quantum supremacy is one of those that share, but if we stick to quantum telecommunications China is intractable. In addition, the country led by Xi Jinping is one step away from having indigenous superconducting quantum computers. In recent years, Chinese companies and research centers have been forced to buy high-density microwave connectivity modules abroad, mainly in Japan. This dependency is about to come to an end, if it has not already done so. Be that as it may, the latest milestone for this Asian country has been signed by CAS Cold Atom Technology, a Chinese quantum technology company based in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province. And it has presented the world’s first quantum computer with neutral atoms and double core: the Hanyuan-2. We have known for a long time that China is very advanced in superconducting qubits, but now we also know that it is a competitive country in qubits of neutral atoms. Hanyuan-2 is a unique machine Neutral atom quantum computers are an alternative to quantum machines with superconducting qubits and ion traps, and are still in an experimental phase. Those responsible for the design of Hanyuan-2 have confirmed that this device incorporates two independent and complete arrays of qubits of neutral atoms. It integrates 100 atoms of rubidium-85 and another 100 of rubidium-87 to build a dual-core system that implements a total of 200 qubits. Each logical qubit is abstractly built on top of several physical or hardware qubits. Both matrices can work in parallel (hence this machine has 200 qubits) in order to increase its calculation capacity. However, and this is very interesting, one of them can operate as the main nucleus and the other can act as an auxiliary nucleus to build logical qubits. more stable and less sensitive to noise. An important note: logical qubits represent a way to overcome the difficulty involved in using hardware or physical qubits, which are extremely sensitive to noise, and therefore prone to making errors. Each logical qubit is abstractly built on several physical or hardware qubits, so that a single logical qubit encodes a single qubit of quantum information, but with redundancy. It is precisely this redundancy that allows us to detect and correct the errors that are present in physical qubits. Until very recently the number of hardware qubits needed to implement a single error-immune logical qubit made error correction infeasible in practice, but this limitation has been lifted thanks to the work of IBM and CAS Cold Atom Technology, among other companies. Although the quantum computer that you can see in the cover image of this article is the Hanyuan-1, its successor also has a conventional design. In fact, both look much more like a classical computer than a quantum machine with superconducting qubits or ion traps. What is truly striking about Hanyuan-2 is that does not need a cryogenic cooling environment to function. Instead, it uses a small laser cooling system with a total consumption of less than 7 kilowatts, which allows it to be installed in practically any space without extraordinary technical requirements. Image | CAS Cold Atom Technology More information | Global Times In Xataka | China has reached one of the holy grails of quantum physics. So says Peter Zoller, father of quantum computers

Huawei has been plotting a plan for six years and now they are ready to dethrone the undethroned: NVIDIA

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With the beginning of the technological war between the United States and China, Huawei was given a mission: to become the spearhead of Chinese technology companies. After a tough first few years that were like a pilgrimage through the desert, the Chinese company has come back strong. Not only has it regained leadership in China, but it has taken steps to become the lever of the industry. Yes a few days ago presented its supercomputernow it’s time for something more modest, but essential in the AI ​​career. An inference chip that, they claim, is more powerful than the NVIDIA alternative. Atlas 350. Within the framework of the Annual Partners Conference, the company has once again introduce the Atlas 350 platform (already advertisement at Huawei Connect 2025 last September). This is a card that uses the latest version of its processor Atlas 950PR and which, according to the company’s data, has an improvement in inference performance of 2.8 times compared to the competition. That competition It’s the H20 chip, a trimmed version which was the one that NVIDIA had permission to sell in China. It is a platform focused on rapid data movement, which makes it ideal for a high workload in tasks such as search recommendations, multimodal generation and use of large-scale language models. It is an accelerator, in short, a piece of hardware dedicated to a very specific task, and it is what it knows how to do well within a server. to the mess. To train AI, China has other weapons, some from Huawei itself, but this Atlas 350 is to meet that goal of the Chinese industry of making AI tools accessible and monetizable as soon as possible. In fact, at the event it was confirmed that there are already partners launching servers built with the Atlas 350 as its heart. And here is the real relevant data. Huawei is not just presenting things: it is presenting and announcing that it already has partners launching products with this new technology. Because the idea is that each new piece of hardware begins to be distributed and deployed as soon as possible among Chinese companies that are within the ambitious five-year plan for technological sovereignty. Essential. For months now, the company has been moving to position itself as the lever for the rest of the Chinese technology network with NPUs, dissipation hardware, standard cards for AI, motherboards and “other different forms of hardware to facilitate the development of customers and partners.” At the event, they highlighted that “although the first half of the era of artificial intelligence focused on computing power, the second will be defined by data.” And it is in that inference where Huawei wants provide all your infrastructure to become an indispensable piece of the ecosystem. Because China, within the great future plan, is fighting to become a power not only of the AI ​​that we know, but of the physical artificial intelligencerobots or 6G networksa field in which Huawei also leads. Enough? That’s the big question, and the answer may not depend as much on raw power as it does on the ecosystem. I’m not talking about the rich ecosystem that Huawei is building, but rather the ecosystem of tools. If everyone uses NVIDIA cards for training (in the inference we see that little by little everyone is waging war on their own), it is for them that the software and processes are optimized. And the most leading Chinese companies they want NVIDIA hardware to be on par with or surpass American rivals. This has been a soap opera with NVIDIA pressuring Trump to let it sell the H200s in China, achieving it after 25% tariff for those purchases and then China sending contradictory messages. On March 31 there will be a meeting in Beijing between Trump and Xi Jinping and it is expected that export controls – and the issue of NVIDIA – will be put on the table. And someone who is going to be watching that meeting carefully is Huawei. Because China is at a crossroads right now: it knows that Your companies order NVIDIA chipsbut at the same time the Government does not want them to leverage themselves using foreign technology that could leave them stranded again. Images | Huawei In Xataka | The looming bottleneck in AI is neither RAM nor gas: it’s that TSMC’s N3 node is absolutely saturated

They have the first brain implant ready for commercial use

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With the data centersthe astronomical investment in artificial intelligence and plans for robotize factoriesthe most dystopian technological conversation has left out an important player: the cyborgs. If a few years ago the bells began to ring about the brain chipssoon fell into the background. He Neuralink Elon Musk moved on, but the rest of the world seemed to have forgotten. The rest of the world… except China, which already approves commercial implants. It’s the result of making brain chips a national priority. In short. There are several Chinese companies making significant progress in this field. NeuroXess, BrainCo -one of the “six little chinese dragons”- or NeuCyber ​​are two of the best known in this world, at the moment, and one called Neuracle Medical Technology has just achieved a milestone by becoming the first company that can sell an invasive brain-computer interface device in the world. It was a few days ago when the National Medical Products Administration granted marketing approval to the company, and once again puts on the table that China is following a very different strategy from that of the rest of the world. As with AI, while the West insists on increasingly powerful and faster models, China is looking for models that resonate with the general public with the aim of monetizing as soon as possible. The implant. The device is not much different from what we already know. It is a small system about the size of a coin that is placed on the outer surface of the brain. The process is minimally invasive because, although surgery is required, it does not penetrate the brain tissue. Surgeons make a small incision in the skull and electrodes are placed on the membrane surrounding the brain. This is where they can read the neural signals and where the “magic” begins: if the person thinks about grabbing an object with their hand, the SoC decodes the signal and transmits the order to a mechanical glove, which goes towards the object and closes the pneumatic fingers. Requirements. Obviously, it is desirable to never have to use a device of this type, since that would mean that you cannot use your own limbs. The regulatory body has put a limit to people who can use it: be between 18 and 60 years old, have suffered a cervical spinal cord injury, have some mobility in the upper arm, but without the ability to hold objects with their hand and the injury has been diagnosed at least one year before requesting the chip. The Neuralink Advantage. As we say, there are several other companies pursuing these advances and permits, and NeuCyber ​​has come to the fore to detail How is your model going? The Beinao-1 is the one they have been working on in recent years and is very similar to the one detailed: an implant that is placed in the outer membrane of the brain and is already being tested in about seven patients. The company has stated that they are working on a new generation called Beinao-2 (to the surprise of absolutely no one), but they have also said something more interesting: their implant is about three years behind Neuralink’s. And the key is not so much the technological superiority of Elon Musk’s model as the availability of patients for testing. For Beinao-1’s seven patients, Neuralink has more than 20. According to the company’s boss, this availability of clinical trials is what gives Neuralink a clear advantage. And something also interesting is that the new generation of Beinao changes its concept a little. If the first is semi-invasive, the second is completely invasive, using flexible electrodes implanted directly into the brain tissue. Strategic priority. At the moment, Beinao-2 is in animal testing and Beinao-1 is being analyzed in those seven humans, but with the hope of expanding the trials to 50 patients this 2026. We will see if, as the number of patients and real-world data collected increases, the system advances at a better pace, but what is clear is that China is not going to let off the accelerator. To say that these brain-computer interfaces are a priority national is not to magnify the issue. For decades, the Government has had something called the “Five Year Plan” that establishes objectives to be met during the five years following each review of the plan, and this technology, together with quantum computinghe 6G deploymentthe artificial intelligence Physical AI (robots with artificial intelligence, basically) is already within government-funded programs. That is why, from now on, we will begin to see a lot of news about companies that are beginning to promote these implants. And unlike other current technologies, which remains to be seen to what extent they help humanity, recovering mobility is an advance worth pursuing. Image | Mike Cai Chen In Xataka | The large Chinese AI and robotics companies have something in common: their chief scientists are from generation Z

underwater drone swarms are ready

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During the Cold War, hundreds of nuclear submarines simultaneously patrolled the oceans, turning the seabed into the quietest and most strategic setting on the planet. Today, unlike air or land space, the underwater domain remains one of the least mapped and harder to monitor: Communications travel slower, signals are distorted and visibility is practically zero. In that opaque territory is getting rid a new career strategic. The Russian submarine challenge. They remembered this week on Insider that, while the war in Ukraine hits Russian soldiers and material at a pace that is difficult to sustain, Moscow seeks to compensate for its conventional inferiority compared to the 32 members of NATO by strengthening asymmetric capabilities. With a fleet of more than 60 submarinesseveral capable of carrying ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads, and the development of experimental systems such as the Poseidon autonomous torpedo or the missile Burevestnik nuclear cruiserRussia is committed to mastering the underwater domain as a space where it can hide and strike without needing to match the allied surface power. For controls as Norwegian Vice Admiral Rune Andersenthe bottom of the sea is the last place where a great power can still hide, and that is why NATO has redoubled its attention to that invisible area. The European essay. In this context, the European Defense Agency has completed the Sabuvis II project after four years of joint work between Poland, Germany, Portugal and Slovenia. The objective was not to develop a simple underwater drone, but everything a coordinated swarm of autonomous vehicles capable of operating as a coherent system, sharing data, adjusting formations and adapting missions in real time in an environment where there is no GPS, limited bandwidth and high latency. Tests in real settings showed that these groups can keep self-configurable acoustic communications, integrate platforms from different manufacturers using common standards and continue the mission even if a unit fails, transforming individual vulnerability into collective resilience. A special command against asymmetry. If you will, Europe has also successfully tested a kind of special command against the greatest challenge that Russia presents. Faced with Moscow’s fleet that relies on the opacity of the ocean and second response weapons of almost unlimited range, the swarm logic introduces a new layer of surveillance and control in the marine subsoil. Furthermore, it is not a single hunter submarine, but rather multiple distributed nodes capable of monitoring critical infrastructures, ports and strategic routes, carrying out intelligence and reconnaissance, and reacting in a coordinated manner to threats. Interoperability between countries and manufacturers also demonstrates that the European response is not fragmented, but integrateda key requirement in a theater where early detection can make all the difference. From the invisible submarine to the monitored ocean. One thing is clear: Russia may not match Allied conventional strength, but its commitment to submarine and nuclear asymmetry forces NATO to strengthen control of the underwater domain. With 14 allied countries operating their own submarines and growing investment in anti-submarine warfare, the objective is to prevent May the sea once again be an impenetrable sanctuary. Those autonomous swarms They add a technological dimension that, a priori, multiplies the presence without increasing crew costs or exposing manned platforms. In a scenario where Moscow trusts hide underwater to compensate for its wear and tear on land, Europe responds by filling that space cooperative sensors capable of bridging the gap between invisibility and detection. Image | Royal Navy In Xataka | Europe faces a question it can no longer avoid: how to respond to a war that is rarely declared In Xataka | In the midst of rearmament, Spain has just surprised Europe: 5,000 million for 34 warships and four submarines

the A400M is now combat ready

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Since Spain opted for the A400M More than two decades ago, the aircraft has gone from being an ambitious European industrial program to becoming a centerpiece of the country’s military capabilities. Between budget adjustments, delays and a progressive incorporation of capabilities, its history has reflected both the difficulties and the determination to provide itself with its own means to deploy strength, help and presence where it is most needed. Now, the key to Spanish military transport has leveled up. The spine that had to be armored. Spain had been supporting a good part of its military deployment capacity for years on an aircraft that was as versatile as it was vulnerable. Talk later of the A400Ma key piece to move troops, vehicles and material where the war really begins. The reason? In modern conflicts, reaching the front has become almost as dangerous as fighting there, especially for large, heavy aircraft that are slow to take off and land, as well as exposed to low-cost portable missiles. From that perspective, protecting that critical link had become a strategic needbecause without safe transportation there is no possible military projection that is worth it. A laser that changes the rules. The national response appears under the InShield namea self-protection system based on laser technology that allows the A400M to detect missile launch guided by infrared, calculate its trajectory and divert its guidance system in a matter of seconds and, very importantly, even in the face of multiple attacks. Integrated for the first time into an operational unit, this DIRCM makes the A400M the closest thing to an airplane “combat ready”one capable of operating in disputed airspace with a level of survival unthinkable until recently, de facto shielding the backbone of the Spanish military transport. A strategic and industrial leap. Behind this effort appear common actors in the Spanish defense. The development and integration of InShield, led by Indra and certified by the National Institute of Aerospace Technology, represent a technological milestone top level within the reach of very few countries on the old continent. Plus: how do we count last week, that the system is entirely national not only reduces external dependencies, but also reinforces sovereignty and the strategic autonomy of Spain in an area as critical as electronic warfare, demonstrating that the Spanish defense industry can compete in the global technological elite. First A400M – T23 of the Air Force From prototype to fleet standard. The first A400M equipped with InShield is has delivered through Airbus Defense and Space to the Air and Space Army, from where the system will be operationally evaluated before deciding its extension to the rest of the fleet. With 14 aircraft already in service in the 31st Wing and others six planned until 2029the A400M is definitively consolidated as an expanding platform, one that is increasingly capable and prepared for high risk missionsfrom tactical deployments to evacuations in hostile environments. Why is it so important? As we said at the beginning, it is not just any plane, it is the spine of Spain’s modern military transport capacity and a central piece of both national defense and foreign projection. For the Army, the A400M covers a critical void between large strategic aircraft and smaller tactical transports, allowing troops, heavy vehicles, material and humanitarian aid to be moved thousands of kilometers or directly to combat zones with short, damaged or unprepared runways. Not only that. Spain especially needs it due to its geographical position, with responsibilities on the southern flank of Europe, Africa and the Atlantic, as well as its constant commitment to NATO, EU and international operations missions. Furthermore, the A400M replaces and unifies functions that were previously distributed among several aging models, such as Hercules C-130reducing logistics costs and increasing operational flexibility. And now “prepared” for war. The combination of a growing fleetthe new operational configurations and that system laser self-protection Tested with live fire, it radically transforms the role of the A400M within the Spanish Armed Forces. It is no longer just a transport plane, but everything a strategic system capable of sustaining operations in contemporary war scenarios where, as has been confirmed in wars like Ukrainethe threat is not only in the front, but in every kilometer of the journey to it. With InShielda priori, Spain has not only protected a plane: it has armored the very ability to reach, fight and deploy military power. Image | Ronnie Macdonald, Air and Space Army Ministry of Defense Spain In Xataka | Spain has a dilemma that is difficult to solve: call the US or be the last with a fighter jet in danger of extinction In Xataka | Spain has been a weapons exporting power for decades. Now he has made a decision: keep them

The United Kingdom has always been a country of pets, but fear has triggered a dangerous demand: dogs ready to attack

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The proverb says that the dog is man’s best friend. In United Kingdom more and more people He believes he can be something more: his best protector. At least that is the feeling conveyed by dog ​​training companies, which have found a curious increase in demand thanks to the visibility that networks and networks are giving them. celebrities. They are not cheap, they carry many more responsibilities than a ‘conventional’ pet and they operate within a complex legal framework, but that does not prevent the fact that on the other side of the English Channel it is increasingly easier to come across dogs ready to jump at the command of their owners. There are those who prediction even that personal defense dogs are a billion-dollar market that is rapidly expanding in the United Kingdom. What has happened? That the training of defense dogs is becoming an increasingly profitable business in the United Kingdom. We know it thanks to Guardianwhich a few days ago published an extensive report in which he explains that this type of pets, ready to obey the orders of their owners and defend them with hooves and teeth (in the most literal sense of the expression) if necessary, is experiencing considerable growth. There are not many statistics or official data that corroborate the trend (Guardian does not provide them at least), but of course the message from the sector is clear. “Demand has increased, without a doubt,” confirms Alaster Bly, founder of K9 Guarda company specializing in “highly trained security guard dogs.” There are even trainers who offer special courses to train pets that people already have in their homes. Has demand increased that much? A quick search Google shows a good number of British companies and blogs dedicated to the same thing: selling or informing about defense dogs. And that’s not the only clue. There are even market reports that assure that it is a business in full expansion. A recent study published by AdAstra Solution estimated the size of the British protection dog market at 1.2 billion dollars in 2024. Its forecast is that in just a decade it will rise to 2.5 billion, with a growth rate CAGR of 9.2%. The key is not only that these pets arouse more interest, but that they are expanding their demand base. What does that mean? That dogs trained to serve as bodyguards seem to be ‘becoming popular’ in the United Kingdom. They are far from being a mass phenomenon, but something has changed: they are no longer a ‘whim’ of the wealthiest families or professionals in the security field. According to confirm Guardian After interviewing professionals in the sector, the panorama is changing little by little, as demand increases. Bly acknowledges that the majority of his clients are still wealthy people, but he has also seen growing interest from families who are not wealthy and simply want to “invest in security.” The reasons for this change? There are two that seem key. The first is concern about crime. Although official statistics can be contradictoryStatista tables reflect that the number of violent crimes against people recorded by the police in England and Wales have increased in recent decades. And clearly. In fact, although they have decreased in recent years, they continue to remain well above the snow levels of the beginning of the 21st century. Are there more reasons? Yes. The networks. British reporter Elle Hunt remember that the increase in demand has gone hand in hand with greater media exposure of this type of dogs through various means. One is celebrities. In recent years, personalities such as Rochelle and Marvin Humes, Molly-Mae Hague, Katie Price, J.Terry…actors, singers, footballers and television personalities with well-identifiable faces in the United Kingdom. In the sector, there are those who remember that the increase in demand coincides with greater visibility through Instagram or TikTok of defense dog exhibitions and competitions. Schuzthunda canine agility sport. And how much do they cost? Much more than a ‘conventional’ dog. A trained dog requires considerable work that, sometimes, begins even before the dog is born. Bly works, for example, with hybrids of German and Belgian shepherds, a “very specific genetic mix” that allows it to adapt to its function. Hence they are not cheap. They cost (at least) £32,000. However, price is only one of the factors that the owner must take into account. ¿Is there anything else? Yes. Another factor, even more important, is the care and responsibility that comes with having a dog specially trained for defense. Guardian remember that these personal protection dogs have a complex legal framework, since they are not under the Guard Dogs Law, which does regulate animals in charge of protecting premises or professionals. “They receive the same treatment as any other dog,” explains a criminal lawyer. The problem is that standard home insurance policies can leave them out of your coverage. An important factor in a country that has seen how in recent years attacks increased of dogs recorded by the police. Images | Bignsmall Paws317 (Unsplash) and Wikipedia Via | Guardian In Xataka | Asturias has been fighting for years to have a decent train connection. And now he is also fighting to include his dogs

The fastest private plane in the world is now ready to fly, covering non-stop intercontinental routes and less jet lag

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Few aircraft projects raise as much expectation as that of the Bombardier Global 8000 because he who It will be the fastest civil aircraft in the world since the Concorde It has some characteristics that leave people open-mouthed and others, such as the promise of ending jet lag, that arouse some skepticism. And furthermore, it is rigorously complying with its roadmap to go from becoming an ambitious prototype in testing to being a certified commercial reality: a few days ago completed its international certification process and can now operate without restrictions in the European sky. He Bombardier Global 8000 breaks records. In its test flights, one of its aircraft reached a Mach speed of 0.941, even exceeding Mach 1.0 (Mach. 1.015) in a dive, making it the first aircraft within its commercial people transportation category to break the sound barrier in a controlled and sustainable manner. And also, in the fastest civil jet in active service. However, his certified maximum operating cruising speed is Mach 0.95, exceeding its own expectations and leaving behind others like the Gulfstream G700 or the Dassault Falcon 10X. This is possible thanks to its engines GE Passport and its aerodynamics. Its propulsion system is optimized for a high bypass ratio and thermal efficiency, enabling long flights. Its wings have a design Smooth Flĕx Wing critical: it is a variable profile structure that optimizes lift both when flying at low speed and at cruising speed. This minimizes resistance and improves stability against turbulence. With intercontinental capacity. Precisely its surname 8000 comes from its autonomy: it is capable of flying 8,000 nautical miles, about 15,000 kilometers. Again, its engines and design are largely to blame. If we take into account its range and speed, in practice it means that it is practically capable of linking two cities in the world without the need for stopovers. It is no longer that it can connect New York with Hong Kong, it is that compared to the traditional commercial flight it could save almost two hours. Goodbye to damn jet lag? As if flying from one end of the planet to another non-stop and in less time was not enough, the Bombardier Global 8000 promises minimize jet lag through pressurization and systems engineering. Go ahead something: the jet lag It’s not just lack of sleep and jet lag, it’s also an effect of air pressure. While a standard commercial airliner maintains cabin pressure equivalent to 6,000 – 8,000 feet, the Global 8000 maintains it at only 2,900 feet (about 880 meters) even when flying 41,000 feet. This means more oxygen in the blood of people traveling, so fatigue is reduced. Likewise, it integrates the Soleil System LED circadian lighting based on the dynamic position of the sun depending on the destination. A most exclusive aircraft. This aircraft does not skimp on details to optimize flight or comfort. Thus, it has a HEPA filtration system that renews the cabin air in less than 90 seconds, it has very comfortable a priori Bombardier patented Nuage seats with zero gravity position, four private suites with king-size beds and there is no shortage of shower on board. Beyond its innovations and luxuries, it has something essential from a practicality point of view: its design allows it to operate in small airports and even on wet and bad runways, so it can land or take off in up to 2,050 airports. According to Bombardier, this marks the difference with the competition. The interior of one of its exclusive suites ready to fly. As we mentioned in the intro, the Bombardier Global 8000 already has everything to fly. After the envelope validation phase which took place between 2021 and 2023 where the company verified that elements such as the wing and the stabilizers supported transonic shock waves without losing structural integrity, they moved on to the testing and certification phase. First Transport Canada, then the FAA American and a couple of weeks ago, the European, which opens the doors to accepting deliveries in the United States and Europe. However, the first customers of the launch have already begun to receive their units from 2025. By the way, those who own the previous model, the Global 7500, you can upgrade it to the new Global 8000. In Xataka | The largest plane in the world has just broken its record for flight hours: its real mission is even more ambitious In Xataka | The whale of the skies says goodbye: the Airbus Beluga ST retires after years transporting other aircraft parts Cover and images | Bombardier

the power is ready, but the cables do not reach

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While the country breaks renewable generation recordsits nervous system – the transportation network – suffers an administrative thrombosis that threatens to stop reindustrialization and access to housing in its tracks. The diagnosis we’ve been counting for days: We have the power, but we have nowhere to plug it in. The problem is more about papers than cables. The main person accused in this crisis, Red Eléctrica (REE), has decided to break its technical silence to point directly at the bureaucracy. As explained by the CEO of Redeia (REE parent company)Roberto García Merino, the company does not suffer financial or supply restrictions; The problem is that “he does not have permission to invest more.” The gap between administrative times and physical execution is abysmal. As detailed by El Economistawhile building a substation barely requires one year of work, its prior processing can take between three and six years. In the case of long-distance lines, the scenario is even more bleak: six to twelve years of “paperwork” for only two years of actual construction. The “waiting room” in data. This paralysis has left a worrying x-ray: 130 GW of renewable generation have access permissionbut they wait for the infrastructure to expand so they can pour their energy. It is a figure equivalent to the entire current generation fleet. 20 GW of industrial demand and data centers await a connection that does not arrive. REE’s investment in 2024 reached a record of 1.5 billion euros, but the company insists that every project with construction permit is already underway. A collapse that extinguishes brick and industry. The situation is not just an office debate; It has direct consequences on the street. The Spanish electrical system has suffered an administrative “heart attack”. As we have explained in Xatakathe CNMC has been forced to postpone the publication of the capacity maps for three months (from February 2 to May 4, 2026) due to fear that 90% of the network nodes would appear “red”, blocking everything from factories to 350,000 new homes that, according to the Asprima employer’s association, are at risk due to lack of power. Given this, García Merino calls for shock measures: the application of “positive silences” or “responsible declarations” that allow work to begin while the bureaucracy continues its course, a strategy that is already beginning to sound loudly in Brussels. The Pyrenean wall. As the internal grid collapses, Spain produces so much cheap energy that it is forced to throw it away (curtailment). The Peninsula registers a surplus of renewables that plummets prices to levels close to zero or even negative. However, this wealth cannot be exported towards the rest of Europe. The culprit, according to various analysts and the CEO of Redeia himselfit’s France. The neighboring country acts as a “buffer” to protect its nuclear industry, preventing Spanish solar and wind energy—much more competitive—from sinking its prices. With barely 2.8% interconnection, Spain continues to be an energy island that wastes its green potential. The price of modernization Spain’s electrical future not only depends on volts, but on politics and bills. To finance this “reinforced mode” of operation and unlock investments, it is expected that in 2026 citizens will assume an increase in tolls and charges on their bills. As industry sources conclude“the plans are very nice, but they have to be built.” Spain has everything to be the battery of Europe, but as long as the processing of a cable lasts a decade, that potential will continue to be trapped in an endless bureaucratic waiting room. Image | freepik Xataka | The great electrical jam in Spain: we have plenty of electricity, but there are no cables to build houses and invest more

your satellite “tug” is ready to fly

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We are used to talking about satellite launches as if that moment marked the end of the journey. The rocket takes off, the cargo reaches orbit and the mission seems accomplished. But that is not always enough: placing a satellite in space is only the beginning of a much more delicate process, that of taking it exactly to the point where it must operate and ensuring that it can fulfill its mission under the expected conditions. In that silent stretch is where new proposals begin to emerge. Among them, a Spanish startup which claims to have its own orbital transport vehicle ready and a first mission planned for 2026. UARX Space. Behind this proposal appears UARX Spacea company based in Nigrán, on the coast of Galicia. Founded in 2020, the company has defended an unusual strategy within the ecosystem: advance during its early years with a low public profile and focus on technological maturity before presenting to the market. That approach raises the idea of ​​coming up with more developed systems. ready to fly. The most recent turning point comes not from a launch, but from a technical validation. In a post published on LinkedIn a few hours agoUARX Space notes that its OSSIE orbital vehicle has completed the environmental qualification campaign, a phase that includes vibration tests, tightness and conditions representative of takeoff. The results, according to the company, confirm compliance with the mission requirements and place the system in a state of readiness for flight. The work of the “tugboat”. The difference between understanding the concept and seeing its real impact is how those capabilities are applied in a specific mission. A vehicle like OSSIE It not only moves satellites from one point to another, but also undertakes maneuvers that determine whether a constellation works as designed or whether a payload reaches the exact orbit it needs to operate. As we say, the system is designed to execute precise injections, modify orbital parameters and coordinate relative positioning between satellites. When will the launch be? With that milestone on the table, the next question is when liftoff could come. From what we have been able to observe in UARX public informationthe first OSSIE mission takes place in 2026 and is limited to the first quarter of the year, with an initial insertion planned into sun-synchronous orbit around 500-600 kilometers. Other data comes to us from a previously published statementwhich indicates that the orbital launch system contracted for this important step will be SpaceX’s Falcon 9. OSSIE will carry twelve loads on its initial flight. One of them will be CORTISa UVigo SpaceLab initiative designed to compare the performance of commercial radiation sensors with proprietary developments and to test a flight heritage camera planned for another mission. The project has passed vibration tests at the company’s facilities before its integration, a necessary step for any cargo that aspires to travel to space. This collaboration between the academic environment and industrial infrastructure offers a more concrete image of the model that the company is trying to build. Refuel in orbit, but later. The scope of the project is not limited to the movement of satellites, but rather points to a different way of operating in space. UARX works together with Dawn Aerospace in the integration of a docking system that, in this first mission, will only have a structural function, but which is part of an architecture designed to allow in-orbit services in the future. Among them appears the possibility of orbital resupply, an idea still in development within the European ecosystem. Images | UARX Space In Xataka | Starlink’s dominance in space begins to move: another company already has permission for a constellation of 4,000 satellites

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