space

The San Diego Comic-Con Málaga 2026 wants to wipe the slate clean with a redesigned space and an avalanche of guests

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The San Diego Comic-Con Malaga this year is determined not to repeat the organizational errors that hindered last year’s edition and that earned them criticism and complaints: little space to eat and drink, endless and poorly organized queues… Today we have seen it in one of the most important presentations to date about what awaits the event. Some data. It has begun to be highlighted that a physical expansion of the space has been carried out, designed to shorten the queues for access to the different activities. The total capacity this year will be 90,000 attendees, divided into 22,500 per day. They will be able to move in a space of 90,000 m² and enjoy more than 300 hours of programming. In this new presentation, 25 guests have been announced, adding to the more than 30 announced in spring. Fernando Piquergeneral director of SDCC Málaga 2026, also confirmed a considerable presence of Disney and its numerous franchises with a specific space in Hall M. Money. Those who already have their ticket purchased will receive a 20 euro gift redeemable at food trucksphotos and signatures with celebrities. Added to this is a portal and an official app, the Fan Portal, which will allow you to manage your profile, review the programming and reserve forums and signing sessions before setting foot on the premises, with identification by digital code. Piquer said that the goal is for the public to arrive “with everything prepared and organized” and be able to focus on enjoying themselves, without dedicating themselves to resolving logistical issues once there. Changes in infrastructure. A new auditorium will be built with capacity for 400 people, designed for interviews and small-format meetings that will operate in parallel to the main stage, Hall M. A covered and air-conditioned tent will also be installed that will accommodate the Exhibitor Hall Garden, intended for exhibitors, shops and collecting. Artist Alley will now have 90 stalls, while Meet The Artist will multiply its surface area by five: from four tents last year to twenty this year. The organization will also add new restaurant and rest areas to facilitate transit between pavilions. New guests. The guest line-up includes Karl Urban, star of ‘The Boys’ and ‘Dredd’. The presence of the entire cast of ‘Starship Troopers’ has also been announced, Christopher Lambert (‘The Immortals’), Kevin Sussman (‘Big Bang Theory’), Deborah Ann Woll (‘Daredevil’), Dave Jones (co-creator of ‘Lemmings’ and ‘GTA’), Jeremy Crawford (designer of ‘Dungeons & Dragons’), Shinichirō Watanabe (creator of ‘Cowboy Bebop’ and ‘Samurai Champloo’), Yoshihiro Ueda (director of ‘Dragon Ball’), Akira Yamaoka (composer of ‘Silent Hill’) and comic artists such as Carmen Carnero, David Messina, Chris Condon, Pepe Larraz, Álvaro Martínez Bueno and Michael Walsh. The posters. Illustrator Helen Chen, known for her work as art director and production designer on ‘The K-Pop Warriors’ and ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’, signs the first official poster of the festival, with Malaga as the visual protagonist. There will be a second poster, still without a scheduled date, by Jon Romita Jr., one of the key figures in superhero comics. In addition, attendees with tickets already purchased will be able to pick up an exclusive poster by the artist Jorge Jiménez at the venue. In Xataka | Masters of sewing (and 3D modeling): Cosplay comes of age and becomes mainstream

“We are going to see more and more cases like this.” There are six mysterious spheres on a beach in Australia, and everything indicates that they came from space

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In 1979, the Skylab space station disintegrated over Western Australia and left so many remains scattered across the land that the authorities of the town of Esperance decided to fine NASA with 400 Australian dollars for “littering.” The sanction began as a joke, but ended up becoming one of the most curious episodes in the history of space exploration. A discovery that no one expected. The residents of Forrest Beach, a small town in the Australian state of Queensland, first thought in a jokethen in an accident and there were even those who made jokes about UFOs. However, the appearance of six large metallic spheres on the shore ended up mobilizing firefighters, hazardous materials specialists and the Australian Space Agency. What seemed like a strange object dragged by the sea actually pointed towards an origin much more unusual. From space. The first inspections indicate that the spheres They are pressure vessels used in space rockets for store gases and propellants during launch or in-orbit operations. Although authorities are still working to definitively identify the vehicle from which they came, they consider that they are compatible with remains of a foreign launcher that recently re-entered the atmosphere. This hypothesis explains both their shape and the material with which they are made and the fact that several similar pieces appeared in the same coastal area. Space Balls. Experts believe that they could be the well-known like “space balls”spherical tanks made of titanium alloys capable of withstanding extremely high temperatures. Unlike most parts of a rocket, which often disintegrate during reentry, these containers can survive the heat and end up falling to Earth even years after release. In fact, they constitute one of the types of space debris that most frequently appear in different places on the planet. The real risk. Authorities apparently did not cordon off the beach for fear of a meteorite or an explosive device. The concern was that these deposits could retain hydrazine residuesan extremely toxic rocket fuel. For this reason, specialized teams recovered the spheres using protocols for hazardous materials and asked the population to will not manipulate any object similar that could appear in the coming days. More and more will fall. The incident also reflects a phenomenon much broader. More space launches have been carried out in the last five years than in the entire previous history of space exploration, which implies a parallel increase in the number of re-entries of rocket and satellite stages. Most of these remains end up disintegrating or falling into the ocean, but some especially resistant components they manage to survive and reach solid ground. Australia already knows it. Because it is not the first time that Australia has received an unexpected visit from space debris. In 1979, fragments of the Skylab space station fell on Western Australia and, in 2022, pieces identified as part of a capsule SpaceX Dragon. The difference is that the six Forrest Beach spheres arrived all together and aroused such curiosity that local businesses took advantage of the commotion to sell food boxes inspired by “space junk”. Between jokes about aliens and photographs for social networks, the episode has served to remind us that, with growing space activity, finding objects from the sky will probably become less and less exceptional. As ditch archaeologist Alice Gorman: “We are going to see more and more cases like this: the more rockets are launched, the more space debris there will be.” Image | Forrest Beach Takeaway In Xataka | The Milky Way is 10% larger than we thought, and we have discovered it by looking at explosions in other galaxies In Xataka | The only black hole in the Milky Way hid an unsolved mystery for astronomers. Until now

China is preparing to be the only power with its own space station, but NASA does not want to make it easy for it

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The International Space Station (ISS) He is not in his best days. The increasingly frequent leaks in the Russian module and the failures of systems that increasingly require more maintenance have led NASA to set a date for its deorbitation. It will possibly be in 2030 or 2031. When that happens, the largest space station in Earth orbit will be the Chinese Tiangong. Even if it remained as it is today, it would be a step forward in the space race between the Asian country and Western agencies. However, by that time Tiangong will be even larger, as China has recently announced its plan to double the size of its facilities. Three modules and a large observatory. Currently, the Chinese space station It has three moduleswhich were assembled in orbit between 2021 and 2022. However, they are falling short for all the missions and experiments that are beginning to be carried out. For this reason, the installation of three others has been planned: a 20-ton multifunctional module coupled to the main module and two experimental modules. In total, Tiangong would go from 90 tons to 180 tons. But that’s not all. Even before the installation of the first of these modules, the Xuntian observatory will be launched, which will also be closely linked to the space station. More sky than Hubble. Xuntian will have a 2-meter main mirror, slightly smaller than Hubble’s. However, it also includes a 2,500-megapixel camera with sensors that cover a much larger area of ​​the sky. Specifically, the Chinese observatory has a field of view 300 times biggerwhich will allow it to map 40% of the sky in the 10 years that it is expected to remain active. That doesn’t mean it’s necessarily better than Hubble. Hubble is more precise in the details, but it will carry out very interesting work in much larger spaces of sky. The relationship with Tiangong. Although Xuntian will not be directly in Tiangong, they are closely related, since it will be placed in a very close orbit, so that it can dock with the Chinese space station when it needs to be repaired, upgraded or refueled. More ports. Docking the observatory will be possible because the new Tiangong modules will also include new spaceports. Thus, more ships can be docked simultaneously, improving the volume of work at the space station and making its arrivals and departures more flexible. Besides, in case of emergencyit will be easier to have a ship ready to protect itself or leave the facilities. Xuntian’s field of view is 300 times larger than Hubble’s The International Space Station comes to an end. All this occurs while the International Space Station prepares for his retirement. It is expected to be in 2030 or 2031 when it will join the deorbitation vehicle developed by SpaceX that will be responsible for removing it from its orbit in a controlled manner. NASA right now has its vision much more focused on the lunar bases. However, they must also think about how this station will be replaced when its days end. Initially, NASA had planned for private companies to take charge this time. However, this same year the strategy changed and proposed the construction of a main government module in which various private companies could be attached. Axiom or Blue Origin are the ones that, at the moment, best fit the requirements of this project. The reason for this plot twist has been, in fact, China’s progress in its particular space race. The United States does not want to lose its leadership due to the retirement of the ISS, but to do so it needs to maneuver quickly. The problem is that sometimes hasty decisions can lead to wrong moves. We will have to wait to see what happens with all this in the end. Images | Shujianyang | 中国科学院长春光学精密机械与物理研究所 In Xataka | Western scientists have been debating the origin of Kamo’oalewa for years. China went looking for him

We have been growing lettuce in space for years. Now we have discovered that they are more likely to make us sick

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Bad news for astronauts who usually eat healthy. That is, for all astronauts. It has been almost ten years since the crew of the International Space Station consume vegetables they grow themselves in microgravity: lettuce, peppers, radishes. Some hot chili. More recently, the astronauts of the chinese space stationwhich already has lettuce, cherry tomatoes and chiveseven though it hasn’t been in orbit that long. The problem is that space salads They are not as safe for consumption as we thought.. A team of researchers from the University of Delaware has discovered that lettuce and other vegetables grown in microgravity are more prone to contamination by bacteria such as Salmonella. Until now, we thought that under microgravity conditions, plants tend to open their stomata (the small pores in their leaves and stems) more instead of closing them to prevent the invasion of pathogens. However, a recent job from the same laboratory has discovered that at the entrance of Salmonella enterica in the tissue was independent of stomatal density, and that the factor that best predicts it is the variety (cultivar) of lettuce together with the microgravity itself. Friendly bacteria also lose their protective effect In previous studies, researchers explored the use of a friendly bacteria, B. subtilis, as a solution to the problem. However, the bacteria, which on Earth help plants fight pathogens, failed to protect them in it simulated microgravity environmentsuggesting that space significantly changes the interaction between plants and microbes. The finding is important. Not only because it calls into question whether salads on the International Space Station are completely safe, but also because it helps understand the challenges of agriculture in future space colonies. Now, anyway, we have another solution: use red lettuce. Probably, the higher content of phenols and antioxidants protects them from salmonella and the data suggests that selecting varieties with these traits could improve the food security of space crops. With population growth on Earth and the loss of agricultural land, space is an increasingly realistic option for growing food. But if they want prevent a salmonellosis outbreakfuture space farmers better wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water. A previous version of this article was published in February 2024 Image | NASA/Cory Huston In Xataka | NASA astronauts will eat their first lettuce from a garden in space today

It’s called Starfall and it points to the future of space mining

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At 6:53 AM EDT (12:53 in Madrid) today, Tuesday, took off a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida (USA). He did so with a very special mission: a technical demonstration of his new and mysterious re-entry capsule, called Starfall. This is not about missions to the Moon or Mars. What’s up? It goes from manufacturing products in space to then taking them to Earth. Musk Space Transport, SA. As they point out at Ars Technica, published documents by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) give more information. This document indicates that the purpose of Starfall is the “transport and delivery of goods through space.” We are therefore faced with a new and interesting business avenue for SpaceX, which once again – as is the case with Starlink – moves away from pure space exploration to propose alternative solutions to “terrestrial” operational problems. SpaceX does not release any pledge. The company has detailed some of the phases of the mission on their official websitebut he has not given much information about the burden of said mission, and his message is confusing. According to those responsible: “today’s mission includes a demo of a new vehicle that will allow affordable and routine access to the microgravity environment for scientific research and for manufacturing in the same space.” The vehicle will make its re-entry to end up in the Pacific Ocean about 1,300 km west of California. Space pharmacies. The FAA report reveals that Starfall will enable “point-to-point delivery of critical payloads through space in rapid times,” in addition to ushering in an era in which make products in space thanks to the absence of gravity or in microgravity environments. There are companies already involved in this objective, and the purpose at the moment seems to be to manufacture pharmaceutical products. Once manufactured, vehicles like Starfall could be used to deliver these products to Earth. One ton of cargo. Existing documentation shows how Starfall is shaped like a cylindrical disk. Its diameter is 3.1 m, its height is 0.75 m and its weight is 2.1 tons. The current design contemplates that the load capacity of this capsule is about one metric ton. SpaceX wants to eat the competition. Companies such as Varda Space Industries or Atmos Space Cargo had already launched reentry vehicles on missions with Falcon 9 rockets. With Starfall, SpaceX precisely enters this market to provide not only the rocket in which the cargo is launched, but also the reentry capsule that will bring the manufactured product to Earth. It will be very difficult to compete with its costs and vertical integration. Space mining in sight. The short-term focus seems to be the production of drugs in microgravity conditions, but SpaceX could have another objective in the medium and long term. Specifically, the asteroid miningwhich could end up being commercially viable and will require a cheap and massive way to bring metals and rare earths mined in space to Earth. Destination Mars. Starfall can also be part of the Elon Musk’s ambitious plan to colonize Mars. While the Starship will be tasked with moving massive 100-ton loads, Starfall can be very useful for precise delivery of smaller supplies and delicate equipment. A Starlink-like pattern. SpaceX’s plan seems to propose a strategy similar to that followed with Starlink. The satellite constellation It has become an increasingly important alternative to traditional communications systems, and with Starfall the idea is not to explore space, but to control the supply routes to exploit it. In Xataka | SpaceX wants to reach a capitalization of 1.75 trillion dollars. Analysts are clear that it is worth less than half

increase useful space up to 38%

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Planning space in a modern kitchen is often a puzzle in which you have to choose between capacity, aesthetics and performance. To break this barrier, Siemens has just presented its new generation of single-door refrigerators and freezers. A range of household appliances designed for a joint Sidy-by-Side installation (as a pair) that promises to become the technological and design core of any kitchen. These are the products that make up this new range Siemens iQ500 integrated refrigerator (177 x 55.8cm) by 1,185 euros in the official store. Siemens iQ500 integrated refrigerator (122.1 x 55.8cm) by 889 euros in the official store. Siemens iQ500 undercounter refrigerator (82×59.8cm) by 859 euros in the official store. iQ500 integrated freezer (177.2 x 55.8cm) by 1,385 euros in the official store. iQ500 integrated undercounter freezer (82×59.8cm) by 919 euros in the official store. iQ500 Built-in refrigerator 177.2 x 55.8 cm SoftClose closure with fixed door The price could vary. We earn commission from these links iQ500 Integrated freezer 177.2 x 55.8 cm SoftClose closure with fixed door The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A monumental format that expands space intelligently The main asset of this new range of free inspiration is its ability to adapt. When configured as a pair, both independent modules create a monumental-sized cooling solution that reaches up to 736 liters of useful volume. At the internal engineering level, the brand has optimized space through innovative cooling technology. The result is a significantly higher volume utilization If compared to their previous catalogues: the new single-door refrigerators gain 16% more capacity, while the freezers take an exponential leap, increasing their useful space by up to 38%. To manage such a space, the interior has balconies and flexible compartments that can be moved from the doors to the inside of the drawers on two levels. This makes it easy to store tall bottles, oversized containers or bulky purchases. They have Total NoFrost technology Unlike traditional systems, Siemens has brought Total NoFrost technology to the entire range, which means that the active moisture extraction system is no longer exclusive to the freezer, but makes the definitive leap to the refrigeration area. with this condensation and drop formation on the rear wall is completely eliminatedbanishing forever the need to defrost the appliance manually. When it comes to conservation, the spotlight goes to the system hyperFresh 0ºCwith a drawer for meat and fish, which maintains a constant controlled temperature just above 0 ºC to take care of the most delicate foods. It also has a drawer for fruits and vegetables with a precise humidity regulator that promises to keep them crispy and with their vitamins intact for up to 14 days. The exterior design maintains clean lines with white finishes, anti-fingerprint steel and its more premium version, black anti-fingerprint steel. Inside, the aesthetics are taken care of by a metal rear wall that helps to better distribute the cold, safety glass shelves and integrated progressive LED lighting to avoid glare. In addition, the firm has worked on acoustic comfort, achieving extremely quiet operation that oscillates between 30 and 35 dBwhich positions them as ideal appliances for homes with kitchens open to the living room. You may also be interested Hisense RB343D4CWE – Combi Refrigerators, 269L The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Haier FD 70 Series 7 HFW7720EWMP – Refrigerator with Water Dispenser The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Siemens In Xataka | American refrigerator or 70 cm Combi? Be careful with making mistakes when buying liters that you may not be able to use In Xataka | No Frost vs. cyclical (Static): why your refrigerator dries food and when it pays to buy a ‘low frost’ one

“All pollution can be sent into space to return to the state before the Industrial Revolution”

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Taking data centers to space. Although Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, it seems that the idea does not convince him too muchsome of the largest companies in the world have embarked on the race to fill low orbit with satellites. AWS with Blue Origin is there, Google is thereElon Musk says that he already has them with a simple Starlink update and even Nvidia, Eric Schmidt and Sam Altman They have an interest in the matter. The advantages of take these data centers to space They seem clear: without water consumption because they are cooled by the cold of space, without energy consumption because they are powered by inexhaustible solar energy and without taking up space. The astronomers They are not particularly enthusiasticbut it seems that the industry is moving in that direction and one of the most enthusiastic, Jeff Bezos, has left a curious message. By taking data centers into space, “we can make parks like Paris everywhere on Earth.” Playing this card is a dangerous thing. Improve the Earth by taking factories to space We have already discussed the objective: to have space computing power to support terrestrial computing thanks to a power that can scale by carrying more and more satellites that do not require investing in dissipation and power systems. With energy being a problem in some countries due to what these data centers consume, makes sense in the roadmap of these large companies. But Bezos, who has spoken at length about why they want to go to the Moon, why they want to turn the satellite into a gas station and how they plan to achieve the goal, has not been so specific when talking about constellations in low orbit or computing beyond the clouds. It has focused on two things: remembering why they are investing so much and launching a romantic message that clashes with what these data centers are causing on Earth. “We have to build the infrastructure for a constantly changing scenario,” says Bezos. “The price of the space race is very high and if you look back, before the Internet, there were very few actors. Two boys in a workshop could make a huge company. “We’re at that point in the space economy.” “We can make parks like Paris everywhere on Earth” The objective is to collect resources and materials on the Moon because, as he has admitted, “The Moon is a gift”but he has also commented that “many of the resources we need are in space.” And it does not refer so much to the regolith as to the aforementioned dissipation and infinite solar energy. “We are focusing a lot on that to exploit the space economy. It is infinite and it will happen,” he says. Now, he points out that they don’t know when it will happen because orbital computing will be a big step, but he did leave some… curious phrases. “Everything is better than 500 years ago, but we have more pollution on Earth than 500 years ago. If we send all that away, if we can send all the pollution from factories on Earth away from Earth, we can return to the state before the Industrial Revolution.” At this point, someone would ask, precisely, who are the ones that are generating the most pollution with the energy needs of their data centers and the need to return to coal In order to satisfy the demand, the private jet travel, what rockets pollute space, one’s own low orbit pollution with as many satellites or actions as promoting a fast consumer society that wastes so many resources. But, beyond that, it is not easy to send “all the pollution from Earth’s factories to space.” There are industries that are simply impossible to send to low orbit because, beyond the obvious logistical limitations, we are talking about a first-come, first-served space. And America is moving, but also ChinaIndia, Russia and Europe. The message that there are parks like in Paris anywhere in the world is powerful, of course, but start watering those parks in some countries. In Xataka | Data centers are real “heaters”. And they are settling in regions as hot as Aragón

China is responsible for 3 of the 4 worst space debris episodes of the 21st century and a latest event shows that it is not getting better

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On June 9, the Chinese Zhuque-2E rocket released two satellites into low Earth orbit without any incident. With this, the upper stage of the rocket had already completed its mission. China does not reuse rockets, how SpaceX doesFor example. However, like any other space company, whether private or public, it has the obligation to try to ensure that its discarded rockets do not pose a risk to its space neighborhood or to the Earth itself. Unfortunately, the Asian country is not very efficient at preventing this from happening. Therefore, it is not entirely surprising that the upper stage of Zhuque-2E ended up exploding, violently ejecting more than 100 pieces at a dangerous distance from the International Space Station and much of Starlink satellites. By the hair. A United States Space Force dedicated to inspecting space for possible dangerous activities was the one that raised the alarm about this event. Not many details were given, other than that the person responsible for the explosion had been the Zhuque-2E rocket, with an upper stage 8 meters long and 3.35 meters in diameter. However, Darren McKnight, senior technical researcher at the orbital intelligence company LeoLabs, did venture to calculate in statements to Ars Technica that the explosion would have possibly released between 100 and 150 debris into low Earth orbit. The highest part of the orbit in which everything happened intersects the orbit of the International Space Station. However, the residual atmospheric resistance would be pushing the debris beneath it, so it would not pose a danger to it. The same cannot be said for the Starlink satellites, many of which are still quite close to some of the fragments from the explosion. Fortunately, also because of the residual atmospheric resistance, this debris will continue to fall, so that in a few months it should re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up into much smaller fragments that would no longer pose a risk. Many fear China. The experts They have been warning for years on China’s role in generating space debris. Currently, Russia and the former Soviet Union lead the list of launch-related debris into long-duration orbits. They are followed by China and the United States. However, while Russia and the United States are decreasing these numbers more and more, the number of this type of fragments associated with the Chinese space race has increased by 150% in the last 5 years. 3 of 4 dangerous events. A good example of the risk China poses in this regard is that it is responsible for 3 of the 4 largest explosive debris release events in low Earth orbit during the 21st century. The first of them took place in 2007, with Fengyun-1C. This was an anti-satellite test, so a kinetic destruction vehicle was used to deliberately hit a Chinese weather observation satellite. 3,500 pieces of debris were released. On the other hand, in 2022 and 2024 there were explosions in the upper stage of a Long March 6A rocket. It was something similar to what has happened now, although more fragments were formed. 500 in 2022 and between 700 and 900 in 2024. The only case that is not Chinese. The fourth of these dangerous events was another anti-satellite test, but this time carried out by Russia. This is how the Cosmos 1408 satellite was destroyedwith the subsequent release of 1,800 fragments. Space debris is an increasingly serious problem The solutions. All companies releasing inactive vehicles into low-Earth orbit or geostationary orbit should do everything possible to prevent them from becoming dangerous fragments. On the one hand, you can try to make a controlled deorbitation so that the objects return to Earth, without losing control over them. Passivation can also be carried out, in which the tanks are emptied of fuel to prevent explosions from occurring due to pressurization. Possibly, what has happened in China is due to the fact that some residual fuel has remained. Rockets or satellites can also be sent from geostationary orbit to a graveyard orbit. This is a higher orbit, far from any operational orbit where there are satellites, spacecraft or facilities of any kind that are operational and could be impacted. Finally, if the object in question is in a very low orbit, it can be monitored until it deorbits naturally. China could do all this, but it does not seem to be investing enough in optimizing results. Beware of the domino effect. These types of events could be dangerous if they occur something known as Kessler syndrome. It is a phenomenon that begins when a fragment of space debris collides with another or with an active object, such as a satellite, breaking it and generating more fragments that in turn continue to collide. It would be a kind of domino effect that could cause serious damage to the entire space infrastructure that we have been deploying little by little. For all this, what happened with this latest Chinese rocket is a wake-up call to what could happen in the future. It is not a serious case, compared to others, but it still happens. If this country does not take action, the consequences will be increasingly dangerous. Image | 中国新闻社 | POT In Xataka | Orbital cleanup is no longer science fiction: the first regular space debris collection service will arrive in 2027

“We don’t want to reinvent space travel. What we have to do is make it profitable”

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Although AI gurus, former prime ministers of Italy and the United Kingdom and CEOs of giant companies are passing through the Vivatech stages, the figure that has attracted the most attention is Jeff Bezos. The main theater of the event was packed as has not happened with any other speaker. Even Yann LeCun, the so-called ‘godfather of AI‘, he had to speak to some empty seats. On that stage, alongside Bezos were David Limp, CEO of Blue Origin, and Mike Massiminoformer NASA astronaut and the one who asked the questions. The first was obvious: the feeling behind the explosion of the brand new New Glenn rocket of Bezos. The answer was not so obvious, with the tycoon pointing out that the team ‘celebrated’ it in a rather curious way. And the conversation soon focused on the main point of the talk: build the roads to go to space. Because Blue Origin is in the same race as SpaceXbut also in the same competition as Chinathe race to find a way to reduce launch costs so much that it is viable to constantly put things into orbit. And, apart from infinite money, you only need one thing that Rajoy already said at the time, finding a way to make more of those machines that make the machines that make rockets. And this is where Prometheus, Bezos’s new AI company, has to do. so much controversy is awakening. The Moon as a space gas station “People underestimate (whatever)” was a phrase that was repeated up to three times during the talk. Because Bezos and Limp came to Paris to make it clear that what they are doing is very difficult, but that it is a great leap for humanity. After talking about the New Glenn explosion, Massimino said “everyone wants to go to the Moon”, and there Bezos expanded because the phrase touches on one of the three key points of Blue Origin’s objective in space exploration (and the rest of the countries and companies that are on the same path). “We will go to Mars and do other things, but the Moon is the first step, the first base“he commented. There are several reasons. The first, according to the businessman, is that “it is close and we can go in three and a half days and also return in three and a half days. We do not have to wait for it to align with the Earth as happens with Mars. And the reason why we would want to go (and to stay, no less) is because, although he did not say it explicitly, it was printed in the message: the Moon is a space gas station. We have already said on several occasions that our satellite has a lot of resources that we can use, and the most recent missions have focused, in part, on collecting and studying samples of lunar soil to see what can be done with that material called regolith. “Now that we are going to go to the Moon to stay, not just to visit it, we need to build fuel with materials that are on the Moon. With electrolysis we can create liquid hydrogen and that is the goal: to create fuel from raw materials on the Moon“, commented Bezos. Because that is the first step to, from there, launch missions further away, such as to Mars. The reason is that it is ‘cheaper’ to launch rockets from the Moon than from the Earth due to gravity. The rocket does not need as much fuel to take off or as much force, so it is much easier and costs are greatly reduced. The problem is that loading the tanks with liquid hydrogen to go to Mars has the disadvantage that it is a fuel that takes up a lot of space and it is not feasible to leave so loaded from Earth. “If we want to explore space and make colonies on Mars, the Moon is the first step” That’s where the Moon comes into play again. Because that’s what this is all about: “We don’t want to reinvent space travel. These trips were surpassed 60 years ago. What we want to do is make them profitable. That’s what Blue Origin is focusing on.” Extracting the materials also comes into play. “The Moon’s gravity is much lower, so you can extract those materials using 28 times less energy per kilo than you would need on Earth.” What keeps a billionaire who wants to play with rockets up at night But we must not lose sight of something: this is a business, and Bezos points out that there are many players who want to go to space, but not all of them can make rockets. And there are companies like yours or Musk’s. “Neoconstellations of satellites, resources on the Moon and in low orbit – solar panels, space data centers -, missions on the Moon to stay… there is a lot of demand. I think people greatly underestimate the demand for space travel,” he said. Beyond the Moon and that Martian objective, he is right in pointing out that low orbit is looking like an electric station during Easter. United States and China are launching military and communication satellites, but Europe does not want to be left behind and Russia, India and Japan are in the same competition. The law of “who comes first, gets the spot” prevails here, and everyone wants to get there first. “We are in the golden age to achieve the objective. It already happened years ago with the US getting ahead of the Soviets. Now it is going to happen again” The point is that, as Bezos comments, “if the launches are very expensive, the satellites must have a very long life and remain behind technologically, but if we make upload is cheaperwe can speed up times. Limp went on to say that reusable rockets are the way to create these mega satellite constellations, but beyond the problem of fuel, … Read more

Raquel González, director of Airbus Space in Spain, on the challenge of Spain as a space power: “We lack people”

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It is not usual to cross the doors of Airbus Space in Getafe and tour a facility where the space industry stops being a succession of proper names and becomes something physical. During the visit organized by the 60 years of Airbus Espacio in Spainthe tour revealed production areas, clean areas, parts linked to launchers and satellite technologies and components that will end up operating outside of Earth. The first impression was not of a corporate celebration, but of an industrial chain much broader than its separate programs suggest. Rachel Gonzalezdirector of Airbus Space in Spain, summed it up with a very direct phrase during the presentation: “Spain is a space power.” He did not present it as a pending aspiration, but as a reality that, in his opinion, is explained by the accumulation of capabilities developed in the country. Satellites appeared on the table like PEACE, PEACE-2, Wit, CHEOPS either LSTMsecure communications programs such as Spainsat NGparticipation in European launchers such as Ariane 6 and even antennas made in Spain to communicate with the rovers Curiosity and Perseverance on Mars. The statement had weight because it did not rest on a single project, but on a sustained presence in various layers of the space sector. The Spanish space muscle and its challenges With that statement on the table, the next question was almost obligatory: if Spain has reached that position, How do you maintain yourself in an industry as competitive as the space industry?. The pressure does not come only from access to space, although launching more frequently and at a lower cost has become one of the great battles in the sector. Also important is the ability to design, manufacture and prepare increasingly complex systems, to respond to strategic needs and to do so on a board where pace has accelerated. SpaceX is the most visible symbol of this change, but not the only one: the US maintains a very active commercial ecosystem, China accelerates its commercial and state capabilities, India opens more space for private participationand Europe tries to strengthen its autonomy. Structure manufacturing area for Ariane 6 at Airbus Espacio España, within the Getafe facilities That was the question I asked González: what challenges now appear to remain in that position and what the next step should be. The director of Airbus Space in Spain opened the focus to the entire European space industry, but the response immediately landed on the terrain she knows first-hand. “There’s a talent challenge now. Budgets are increasing, programs keep coming up. There’s a lot of ambition.” “Now there is a talent challenge. Budgets are increasing, programs continue to emerge. There is a lot of ambition” The idea became even clearer when he condensed it into two words: “people are missing” González then turned the diagnosis into a call to those who are still deciding their educational path. His message was aimed at university students, but also at younger students who are beginning to choose where to direct their studies: space needs scientific, technological and engineering profiles, but not only that. Professional training trajectories and profiles linked to production are also needed, because an industry like this is not sustained solely by design on paper. Between an approved mission and a technology ready to leave Earth there are years of specialized work, and that quarry does not appear from one day to the next. Raquel González, director of Airbus Space in Spain, during the meeting with the press at the Getafe facilities The dimension of the problem is better understood by looking at the figures that Airbus put on the table. According to the company, Airbus Espacio in Spain closed 2025 with 295 million euros in turnover and 530 direct employees, but its impact does not end with its own workforce. Around 30% of this turnover goes to subcontractors, a fact that helps measure the extent to which space activity is distributed across a broader ecosystem. That is why the lack of talent does not only affect a specific company: when programs grow, pressure also increases on suppliers, specialized technicians and teams capable of supporting high-value-added work. This activity is better understood when you go down from the figure to the type of work behind it. Airbus maintains that its space division in Spain is the only company in the country capable of designing, building, integrating and delivering complex satellites into orbit, a statement that places the focus on high-level industrial responsibilities. González took it to the field of accumulated capacity during the presentation: “Everything that is satellite construction, that is where we are as a leader in Espacio España.” PAZ appears as one of the examples already in service within that trajectory, while PAZ-2 and LSTM show where that capability is now moving. Another part of the journey led to a less visible, but equally important layer: the technology that allows a mission to observe, measure or transmit useful information from space. Airbus spoke of radars, microwave radiometers and active antennas as areas in which its Spanish division has been accumulating knowledge. They are not elements designed to attract attention outside the sector, but they can make the difference between a space platform and a mission with real service capacity. Airbus Espacio España personnel work in the Getafe clean room, where the company assembles highly complex space systems The map was completed with another sensitive piece for Europe: access to space. Airbus recalled during the presentation that its activity in Spain has been linked to the family for decades. Ariane already Vegawith structures and subsystems that are part of the European launchers. In the case of Ariane 6, the company also noted that it is increasing production to supply 27 complete setsknown as shipsetsincluding large lightweight carbon fiber structures for Ariane 6 in the coming years. It is not necessary to go into the detail of each component to understand the relevance of this line of work: without reliable launchers and with sufficient cadence, a good part of European … Read more

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