space

Only three countries have launched human beings to space. A room is about to join the club: India

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The last great spatial power is preparing to register its name in one of the most exclusive clubs of humanity: that of nations capable of sending astronauts to space by their own means. Until now, only the United States, Russia (heiress of the Soviet Union) and China hold that honor. But India and its ambitious Gaganyaan program are knocking on the door. In two years. Announced in 2018 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the aim of launching in 2022, to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the country’s independence, the Gaganyaan program accumulates several delays. However, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has stepped on the accelerator, confirming that, although the first manned mission is postponed in early 2027, preparations advance at a good pace. The road map. Isro prepares three unmanned orbital missions of the Gaganyaan ship before starting to launch astronauts, According to Eureka. The first is called G1 and is scheduled for the last quarter of 2025. The Vyommitra humanoid robot will carry on board, loaded with sensors to prepare manned flights. The G2 and G3 missions will be followed in 2026, also with Vyommitra. And, if everything is going as planned, Mission H1, the first manned, will take off in the first quarter of 2027 aboard the HLVM3 rocket (a version of the LVM3 adapted for manned flights), followed by the H2 mission. Astronauts. India has already designated four astronauts for these historical missions: the pilots of the Indian Air Force Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Angad Prathap, Angad Pratap and Shubhanshu Shukla, who will previously fly to the International Space Station in the Axiom 4 mission aboard a Spacex ship. Everyone has formed as astronauts in Russia and, one of them, Shubhanshu Shukla, will have a previous experience this one before, when it flies to the International Space Station aboard a Crew Dragon ship as part of the commercial mission Axiom 4. Ambitious plans. Indian ambitions do not end with putting astronauts in orbit. After the first two manned missions, a fourth unmanned mission of Gaganyaan, the G4, will be attached to the US segment of the International Space Station with an coupling system compatible with the NASA standard. Will serve as proof of concept to put the orbit the first module of the Indian Space Station Bharatiya Antarksha Station (BAS), whose first module would be launched in 2028 in an orbit similar to ISS. The first load mission to BAS, the G5, is scheduled for 2029. BAS has the objective of establishing a permanent presence of Indians in low orbit, adding to China, which has its own space station, and the ISS member countries, which will be abandoned in 2030. The next step will be to put an Indian astronaut on the lunar surface by 2040. For this, Isro is developing a new generation rocket propelled by methane, the NGLV (Next Generation Launch Vehicle), which will have a version capable of placing 70 tons in low orbit. Image | Isro In Xataka | India is crowned in space history: it manages to land near the South Pole of the Moon days after the Russian failure

We have found bacteria at the Chinese space station. The most surprising thing is that it is a new species

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Space exploration has an obsession with cleanliness. It is not for less: if we want to look for life on other planets of our solar system we have to make sure that our ships do not lead with them terrestrial life that can lead us to confusion. This is the main reason why space agencies pay enormous attention to microorganisms that may appear in their ships, even in those who do not travel to other planets. Sometimes life gives us surprises. Bacteria on board. Sample analysis taken in the Chinese Space Station Tiangong It has allowed to detect traces of the presence of an unknown bacterium in this aseptic space environment. The newly discovered bacteria would have mechanisms that would have allowed her to stay alive in the extreme conditions of life aboard an orbital station. Niallia tiagongensis. The new species has been baptized as Niallia tiagongensisin reference to the name of the space station placed in orbit by China. Name in turn can translate as “Celestial Palace” N. tiagongensis Share taxonomic gender with the species Niallia Circumsa pathogenic bacterium capable of causing sepsis in immunocompromised patients. The New bacterium It has a cane shape, but it would be able to form spores, oval structures that protect the genetic information of the species in extreme conditions such as high temperatures, radiation or lack of water. N. tiagongensis It could have arrived in this way to the station that has given it. A space bacterium? The evolutionary origin of this bacterium is on earth, but We do not know for now If this new species can be found on the surface or if on the contrary it is the result of the evolution of another bacterium. An evolution that could have occurred aboard the station, allowing the survival of the bacterial colonies. It is also possible that the species has an almost fully terrestrial origin but that its “space colonies” have evolved to better adapt to the new extraterrestrial environment. Two years of study. The samples that have given rise to the finding were collected inside the station In May 2023 by astronauts of the Shenzhou-15 mission. The study of the remains found has allowed to know details on the survival strategy of this microorganism. Genes have been found that encode some responses of these bacteria to some extreme conditions, such as their response to oxidative stress or their ability to repair the damage caused by radiation. For example, we know that this bacterium is capable of generating protective particles obtaining nitrogen and carbon from the decomposition of gelatins. The details of the finding were published In an article In the magazine International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. From ISS A Tiangong. It is not the first time that we find bacteria aboard a space station. We have detected bacteria years In the International Space Station, so much so that their astronauts began recently began the Life search abroad of the ship. What we can intuit from the fact that we would not have detected the new bacteria in other ships such as the ISS is that there is diversity in the populations of microorganisms that populate the different vehicles and stations that we send to space. A lost race? The news of the new finding has been produced almost at the same time that The announcement by NASA of the detection of numerous species of microorganisms inside one of its “clean rooms”, allegedly aseptic environments designed precisely to maintain devices and vehicles safe from pollution. Bad news, not only before we send (or we have already sent) microorganisms aboard the probes that explore planets and satellites where we suspect can exist or have existed extraterrestrial life. The fact that we know that this life is able to survive in the low terrestrial orbits It does not necessarily imply That these microbes can resist an interplanetary trip, but it is a bad indication. In Xataka | The International Space Station is a farm of new species of candidate bacteria Image | Shujianyang / Bob Blaylock

We knew that the space spheres were at some point in the universe. We have a new theory about its origin

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The universe is full of spherical objects: stars, planets, black holes and a part of the satellites that we can find in our environment have more or less round shapes. However, there are other types of spheres (or rather other types), spheres that are not formed of compact matter but whose circular nature can be captured by our instruments. Teleios. A few days ago, an international team led by researchers at the Western Sydney University announced The discovery of a unique object spherical located in our own galaxy. Although the main hypothesis about the origin of this object is in the outbreak of an IA type supernova, the team admitted that some pieces did not fit. This leaves the door open to different possibilities. One of the details we know about this object is that it can be detected “almost exclusively” in radio frequencies, something not so conventional in this type of objects. This and other details of the discovery make the object an immense enigma. An enigma that does not even escape its location. The problem of distance. We know that this sphere is found at a not very large distance from our solar system, inside the Milky Way. The problem is that the team responsible for its study has only been able to delimit two possible distances to which the object could be found: either at around 7,175 years-years of us, or about 25,114 light years of our location. This has an obvious involvement and we don’t know what size this sphere is either. If we assume that it is located at the closest point, its size would be about 45.7 light years in diameter. However, it could also be further and be larger: it would be more than 156.6 light years of length if it was found in the farthest location contemplated. Unknown age. The size is in turn a temporary implication. Being an explosion, the object would have formed from inside out, as an expansive wave. That is, if the radius of this explosion is longer, we would be facing a burst occurred longer than if we were watching a shorter radius. The team’s estimates indicate that, if located at the closest point, the supernova that this remnant would have left would have been given less than one millennium; While if it was about the location, we would be talking about an event that occurred more than 10,000 years ago. The problem of X -rays. One of the enigmas that surrounds Teleios has to do with the X -rays or, rather, with the absence of these. The models used by the equipment suggest that the remnants of a supernova as the detected should emit radiation not only in radio frequencies but also in X -rays. IAX type supernovae. The fact that this is not the case has led the team to raise a somewhat different hypothesis: that it is not the remnants of a Ia supernova but of a IAX type. The IAX supernovas are a subtype of the former. The IA Supernovas occur in binary systems dominated by a white dwarf star that absorbs the subject of its companion star until reaching a critical mass that leads it to explode. The explosions of this type of supernovas are very predictable: as they always explode when reaching the same critical conditions, these supernovas shine with a predictable intensity. But not always: There are cases in which the outbreak is lower speed and luminosity. Something that makes these supernovae unique is that they leave behind a important remnanta “zombie star” that we cannot find in conventional supernovae. This hypothesis however poses another problem, and for this to be the case, Teleios would have to be much closer to our planet than the estimates of the team itself posed. As noted, none of the hypotheses raised can answer all the issues raised by this enigmatic object, so more observations will be necessary and determine exactly what we have in front. Askap. The finding of G305.4–2.2, another designation for teleIos, was made in the context of the creation of the evolutionary map of the universe or EMU (Evolutionary Map of the Universe), A work done by the Askap Observatory (Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder). The team recently sent an article to the magazine Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia detailing the details of the finding. The drafteven under review, it can be consulted through the repository Arxiv. ORCS. In recent years it has been done relatively common Topar with strange circular objects with a certain resemblance to teleIos. Some of these objects are usually classified as a strange circle of radio or orcs (Odd Radio Circles), A name that already accounts for the strangeness they generate in astronomers. These circles usually occur in the Intergalactic space So the scale in which they are given is different from that of Teleios. Initially cataloged as Supernovas, these circles still consider an important enigma for astronomers. In Xataka | We have a new explanation for dark matter. We have found it in superconductivity Image | SUPERNOVA TYCHO, NASA/CXC/SAO/JPL-CALTECH/MPIA/HIGH CALAR/O. Krause et al.

After the blackout, false images of Spain and Portugal circulated from space. Now we have the real photos

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55 million people ran out of electricity in Spain and Portugal on April 28, but Total darkness images They circulated the next day, like the one above, they were false. The Balearic Islands did not suffer the blackout, and a good part of the Peninsula already had light when the night fell. Now the European Space Agency has compiled the real images captured from space. The trigger for this collection work were, in fact, the false images. Alejandro Sánchez de Miguel, researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia linked to ESA light pollution projects, He saw the photos that were circulating And he decided that the real ones had to be published. Three NASA satellites equipped with Night observation technology (Suomi-NPP, NOAA-20 and NOAA-21) spent a couple of times on the peninsula that night. Their Six images They tell us a nuanced story, and very different from viral montages, how the Peninsula finished illuminating. The blackout at 03:12, 03:36, 04:30, 04:54 and 05:18 While areas like Madrid had regained light around 22:00 on the 28th, other regions, especially in the souththey followed in the dark until Well enter the morning On the 29th, the almost complete recovery, visible in the last passes of the satellites, arrived at 5:00. The night was clear in almost the entire territory. Dark spots in France or the Portuguese coast are not due to supply cuts, but that the satellite did not go through that concrete region in the waterfall. In green, the areas that still had no light. Blank, the ones In these contrasted images, areas without light can be visualized more easily in green, while areas with electricity supply appear blank. The provinces of Almería and Granada They were the ones that took the closest to illuminate. There are also green areas in Castilla-La Mancha and dispersed regions of Levante, the Sierra Morena and the Campo de Gibraltar. The blackout in Andalusia seen by NASA Earth Observatory While satellites help quickly evaluate the scope and progression of light cuts, the blackouts itself offer space agencies the possibility of Study light pollution and its impact on the observation of heaven or In circadian rhythms of people. In areas such as Almería, the light pollution It was reduced between 70 and 80% during the blackout of April 28. But the light was restored, the stars turned off again and Pilas radio He went back to the drawer. Images | NASA, that In Xataka | ESA has launched the world’s first satellite equipped with Band Radar P. The goal: see through forests

Space agencies do not match

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The failed Soviet ship Kosmos 482, Designed to land in Venushas entered the earth’s atmosphere after 53 years giving tumbos around our planet. However, nobody knows where exactly has fallen. Context. As a twin of the famous Venera 8 capsule, Kosmos 482 was intended for Venus, but was caught in an elliptical orbit around the earth due to a rocket failure that in 1972 promoted it to space. Since then, atmospheric friction has gradually reduced its altitude, which has culminated today in its inevitable fall. Despite The reentry was an expected eventthe different space agencies and follow -up organisms handle varied predictions. According to Russia. The Russian Space Agency Roscosmos He published in Telegram that the Kosmos 482 probe had entered the dense layers of the atmosphere at 06:24 UTC on Saturday. He did it in the Indian Ocean, some 560 kilometers west from the island of Andamán del Medio. Or as some rushed to point out, west of The famous Northern Sentinel Islandthat of isolated indigenous people. According to Europe. For its part, the European Space Agency Space Waste Office Place the reentry between 06:04 UTC and 07:32 UTC. The ESA radars in Germany did not detect the probe after that time, so the reentry is confirmed, although no direct visual observations or ground impacts have been recorded. The central prediction of ESA points at 06:16 UTC, which would place the reentry south of Turkmenistan, on the border with Iran and Agfanistan. According to the United States. The United States space force published through its Space-Track system that the Kosmos 482 reentry had taken place between 05:20 and 05:44 UTC over the Pacific Ocean. This prediction not only It is not consistent With the ESA and Roscosmos reports, but it is invalidated by the detection of the ship over Germany at 06:04 UTC, according to ESA radar data. Where is the capsule. The Dutch Langbroek Satellites tracker It is “reasonably consistent” with its own modelwhich makes a difference of just 15 minutes. That fell into the Indian Ocean, relatively far from any populated area Already daylighthe explains that we have not seen visual material from the reentry. It could be floating. If the capsule survived the reentry, the surface of the Earth hit a speed of about 240 km/h, generating a kinetic energy comparable to that of a meteorite between 40 and 55 cm. The particular thing about this reentry is the robustness of the Kosmos 482 capsule, designed to survive accelerations of up to 300 g and pressures of 100 atmospheres in Venus. Not only is it plausible that you have survived. The space historian Pavel Shubin believes that, if he is intact, could be found floating In the ocean. Image | Marco Langbroek In Xataka | There is an old Soviet probe about to fall on earth. The disturbing thing is that it was designed to resist hell

The European space agency begins to limit when the Soviet ship will fall. Where is it a lottery

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Like some people, there are spacecraft that say goodbye giving the note. The Kosmos 482 Soviet Missionlaunched 53 years ago with the failed objective of reaching Venus, is about to star in one of the most unpredictable atmospheric resentments of recent times. The European Space Agency is following her live. The last prediction. According to the ESA Space Waste Officethe capsule will fall to Earth tomorrow, on Saturday, May 10, 2025, at 08:16 UTC (10:12 in Spain). Although it has been reducing, the uncertainty window remains quite wide, with an error of +/- 8.61 hours. This means that the exact moment and the location can still vary (for now only latitudes above and below the 50º are discarded), but the predictions are noted as the object approaches. A capsule of the Cold War. Throwed on March 31, 1972, the Kosmos 482 ship was a twin sister of the successful Venera 8 mission, which did perch on Venus. However, a failure in the upper stage of the Molniya rocket that transported it prevented that it escaped the earth’s gravity, leaving it in an elliptical orbit with the earth all this time. What makes this event special is not only the longevity of the capsule, but the fact that it was built to survive the infernal conditions of Venus: surface temperatures of 464 ° C, pressures of 100 atmospheres and accelerations of up to 300 g. I could survive the reentry. What remains of the ship, the descent capsule of half a meter in diameter and 495 kg, was designed to support the extreme conditions of the Venusian atmosphere, so there is possibilities that it reaches intact to the surface of the earth. To survive, the impact could occur at about 240 km/h, with a kinetic energy similar to that of a 40-55 cm meteor. The big question is whether the parachute system, after 53 years and with exhausted batteries, could work. In view of telescope, the object seems to be tumbos. Prediction map on the reentry of the Soviet probe Kosmos 482. Image: that Do not panic. Taking into account that most of the planet is water, the risk of causing personal damage is “extremely remote.” And the probability of reaching a person is even lower, from 1 between 100,000 million, according to ESA. To put it in perspective, it is about 65,000 times more likely to be reached by lightning In addition, being an object that probably arrives as one piece, the risks are concentrated and therefore are lower than those created by the reentry of a rocket, which disperses multiple objects of metric size over a large area. Let’s take advantage of science. The almost spherical and smooth form of the Kosmos 482 makes it an ideal object to measure atmospheric density into very low orbits. Every time its elliptical orbit passes through perigee (the point closest to Earth), loses height due to atmospheric drag. This “accidental experiment”, which is being registered live by ESA, will provide valuable data on this type of event so far of the reentry. Perhaps a cold war ship shows us some lesson on how to reduce the problem of space garbage. Images | THAT In Xataka | There is an old Soviet probe about to fall on earth. The disturbing thing is that it was designed to resist hell

NASA’s longest -lived astronaut has returned to the land in his 70th birthday. We are left without the best space photographer

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There are ways and ways to celebrate a birthday, but few like Don Petit’s. He NASA’s longest active astronaut He returned to Earth after seven months at the International Space Station just the day he turned 70. A bittersweet milestone because, although it is healthy and safe, we lose the unique perspective of one of the best photographers of space. Delicated landing in the kazaja steppe. 220 days after its launch aboard the Soyuz MS-26 Russian capsule landed on the plains of Kazakhstan Together with his crew companions, the Russian cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin (53 years old) and Ivan Vagner (39 years old). The landing occurred without technical setbacks, although with a small scare: Pettit needed immediate medical attention when extracted from the capsule. The cameras captured him practically motionless after landingwhich revived the debate on the Russian practice to expose the crew instead of prioritizing its intimacy, as is done in the United States and China. 70th birthday, and farewell? “When our capsule lands on those desert plains, I will be literally on the other side of the earth, almost 19,000 kilometers from home. However, I will be at home,” Don Pettit wrote from the orbit shortly before returning. A reflection that puts in perspective what ‘home’ means after seven months seeing the earth 400 km high, from the International Space Station. This has been the fourth space mission for Petit, which accumulates a total of 590 days in space. Despite being NASA’s longest astronaut, it is only the tenth human being that accumulates more time outside the earth. With 48 active astronauts in the space agencythe last incorporated in 2022, it should be thought that this could be its last mission to space. Goodbye to the ISS photographer. If we will miss this astronaut is his extraordinary ability for photography. Pettit is one of the best photographers who have gone through the ISS and during this last mission, he has given us spectacular images again: The dairy and Starlinks: one of its last captures shows the core of our galaxy and zodiac light, with Starlink satellitous steles crossing in the frame Reimaginated terrestrial landscapes: using infrared filters or playing with the reflection of the sun, Petit reveals hidden details of oceanic currents or terrestrial geology with an almost pictorial quality Atmospheric phenomena: captured impressive northern lights during the intense new year solar activity and contributed to the study of elusive “transient light events” (Tles), electric discharges on storms Long exhibition: Master of this technique, has created iconic images of stars steles or the night lights of cities turned into rivers of light by the Iss orbital movement More than photos. Chemical Training and Scientific Engineer rather than Astronaut, Pettit’s creativity is not limited to photography .. invented A cup of coffee to drink without straw taking advantage of the surface tension of the microgravity fluid. And a device that compensates for the movement of the International Space Station to obtain more clear nightcare photos on Earth. It is also Famous for his “Opportunity Science”small experiments carried out in their free time to demonstrate physical principles in microgravity. To play with drops of water charged electrostátically to freeze ice sheets To study their crystals with polarized filters in the freezers of the station. With the return of Soyuz MS-26, expedition 73 is under the command of Japanese Takuya Onishi. He is accompanied by NASA Astronauts Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers and Jonny Kim, and Russian cosmonauts Kirill Peskov, Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky. In Xataka | The best photos from the International Space Station are made by the same astronaut: Don Pettit

We have been asking us for years, we will eat in space. Now we know that at least miso

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The space has become in recent years a more and more open place, not only reserved for a handful of trained professionals but also to anyone who can afford one of the nothing cheap passages that can lead one to cross the last border or even put it into orbit. Now, if we want to continue taking more and more people to space, solve The question of food It will be a key step. Miso in space. A group of researchers Miso has managed to ferment In a mission to the International Space Station (ISS), demonstrating that the food fermentation process is possible in environments like this. The experiment is a small step towards improving habitability conditions in space trips. From koji to miso. The miso It is a popular seasoning in Japanese cuisine. It is prepared from fermented soy, barley or rice grains, and salt. Soy fermentation is performed through a Koji fungus culture (Aspergillus oryzae), a fungus also used in the elaboration of the Sake. The team wanted to verify if this fermentation was possible in orbit, since microgravity conditions or cosmic radiation could affect the growth capacity of microbes in food. To check it, they sent a sample to low terrestrial orbit, to the ISS, For 30 days. As a control, they also fermented samples of the same lot on the mainland, at the MIT headquarters (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and at the Technical University of Denmark. Fermantado. The experiment was successful. When the sample came to Earth, the team studied the state of microbial communities, aromatic compounds and sensitive properties. They detected, yes, some changes. “Fermentation (in the ISS) illustrates how a living system on the microbial scale can prosper through the diversity of its microbial community, emphasizing the potential of life to exist in space,” stood out in a press release Maggie Coblentz, who collided the study. Nuts. Trying things in a laboratory is usually a bad idea, but this time the team should also verify the taste of this space miso. They first verified that the orbital recipe contained the same aromatic compounds and amino acid profiles similar to terrestrial miso. Those who tested the space miso explained that the taste was good and similar to that associated with this product. They noticed that, a greater flavor of nuts and more toasted. The details of the study were published In an article In the magazine iscience. Expanding the menu. The experiment can be used to improve access to new flavors among people traveling to space. Today the foods that can be consumed in space are limited by factors such as the amount of water that we can lead to the space or product development requirements. The possibility of fermenting products in orbit will expand The limits What we can eat in space (e Even on other planets). And it is not only about the possibility of introducing new flavors: fermentation is a process that humanity has taken advantage of during millennia to preserve food and increase its useful life through transformation. Not so sterile. As Explain COBLENTZalthough we tend to see ISS as an aseptic and sterile environment, the experiment also demonstrates that microbial life is possible in these environments. This also implies bioethical issues about the fact that, if humanity ever becomes an interplanetary species, it will not do it alone but accompanied by both plants and infinity of microorganisms that can settle in these extraterrestrial environments. In Xataka | The food knows very different in space. The reason is more intriguing than it seems: confinement Image | Maggie Coblentz / POT

Miura 5 of Pld Space

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After the flight of Isar Aospace flight and a sudden change of CEO in RFA, the Spanish company PLD Space cuts distances in The race to put in orbit The first European private rocket. From Miura 1 to Miura 5. Founded by the Ilicitanos Raúl Torres and Raúl Verdú in 2011, PLD Space successfully launched The suborbital rocket Miura 1 from Huelva In 2023. The 12.5 meter pitcher served as a test bench to validate many of the technologies that PLD Space has now been able to apply directly to his older brother, Miura 5. Miura 5 is A two -stage orbital rocket and 35.7 meters high Designed to put up to 540 kg in polar orbit or 1,080 kg in the low terrestrial orbit. Your heart is five trell-c engines of liquid oxygen and oxygen, internally developed with a total thrust of 950 kN. The second stage uses an optimized version for the emptiness of the same engine. First tests in Teruel. The new PLD Space headquarters is a 12,500 square meter factory located in Elche. It can produce up to six and 60 treprel-C per year. However, the engines’s trial center and the Spanish rocket is located at Teruel airport. At the end of 2024, PLD raised a 20 -meter test tower in its Teruel facilities to submit tanks and other structural components to pressure tests at cryogenic temperatures. In addition, he adapted the Miura 1 test banks to validate components of the new engines, and is building a new bank capable of trying three of these engines at the same time. With the height of a person, Treprel-C engines have the largest liquid propellant combustion chamber that has developed a commercial company with private capital in Europe. Worse funded, but growing. Unlike the German Isar Aerospace, which has a financing of 400 million euros, PLD Space has raised 170 million With the support of the aerospace belonging (40.5 million in the second phase), syndicated loans (31.2 million Santander, EBN and ICO), public financing (11 million co -confisses) and ESA contracts, Like the Boost program! to launch before 2027. PLD Space also has the client portfolio almost full. The Spanish company claims to have covered more than 80% of its launch holes up to 2027, which translates into an income forecast of 596 million euros. Just a few days ago, PLD closed an agreement With the D-AORIT space logistics company to launch its Ion Orbital Transfer vehicle and other satellites to equatorial orbits. In addition, they have exceeded 300 employees and grow at a rate of 15 hiring per month, especially in technical and business profiles. Two space ports. The main base of Miura 5 will be the European Space Puerto of Kouroou, in the French Guiana. PLD Space reached an agreement with the French Space Agency CNES for the construction of the complex. On the other hand, in February 2025 he announced his Second launch base In the Etlaq Space Puerto, in Oman. This movement will give PLD Space direct access to the Middle East market from 2027. The company also raises a third base to reach 30 launches a year from 2030. When will Miura 5 and its rivals fly? Although Raúl Torres, the PLD Space CEO, He opted money to Miura 5 would fly in 2025the inaugural flight of the rocket is scheduled for the first quarter of 2026. Miura 5 will not be alone, although the last months have been moved for some of the main rivals. Isar Aerospace made his Spectrum rocket take off from Andøyain Norway, on March 30, but joy lasted little: at 20-25 seconds, the rocket lost control, He turned around and activated his self -destruction systemfalling to the sea near the platform. There is still no new date for the second attempt. Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), another heavyweight based in Germany, suffered a capital reverse in August 2024: The explosion of your first stagewhich has delayed its first flight to not before the third quarter of 2025. Just a few days ago, Stefan Tweraser, signed in 2021 as CEO, It was replaced by Indulis Kalninsa veteran of the aerospace industry. Maiaspace, A spinoff of the French group Arianegroupit is also in the race, with the advantage of belonging to the company that has maintained the coheretes of Europe next to Avio for decades. The other two great competitors of PLD Space host in the United Kingdom: Orbex, with their little prime rocket (180 kg to orbit Heliosíncrona) plans its first flight by 2025. Skyorora and its Skyorra XL rocket (315 kg capacity) also point to this same year. Image | PLD Space In Xataka | PLD Space does not conform to the first Spanish rocket: it has been secretly developing a spacecraft a year

Two atomic watches in space

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The European Space Agency is about to empirically verify one of the most fundamental theories of physics. To try this at home, you will only need an atomic clock and a space station. Three decades of gestation. After 30 years in development, the launch of the ACES INSTALLATION (Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space) is just around the corner. This ambitious ESA project will send a set of atomic watches of very high precision to the International Space Station to measure how gravity affects the passage of time. ACES not only hopes to validate, with unprecedented precision, the effect of the gravitational expansion of time, predicted 100 years ago by Albert Einstein in his theory of general relativity. He also hopes to open the door to new research on fundamental constants and dark matter, in addition to Improve time synchronization global. A little context. According to Einstein’s general relativity, gravity deforms space-time, which has a direct consequence: time goes at different speed depending on the intensity of the gravitational field. Experiments on Earth have already shown that Watches on the top of the mountains (where gravity is slightly lower) they go infinitesimally faster than the watches located at sea level. ACES will take this concept to the extreme. Orbiting 400 km on Earth aboard the ISS, the instrument of ESA will experience a remarkably weaker gravitational field than on the surface. The objective is to create an “atomic watches network” comparing the signals of ACES instruments with the most precise watches on Earth. It will be this comparison that allows measuring temporary dilation more accurately than ever. In addition to ratifying general relativity, ACES will accurately measure the differences in gravitational potential between continents, will verify If the universal constants of physics are constant Over time, and will discover whether dark matter interacts with atomic watches. Two watches better than one. The heart of ACES are two complementary atomic watches with each other. Pharao (Projet d’Onomique atomique French space agency CNES. AND SMH (Space Hydrogen Maser), produced in Switzerland by Safran Time Technologies. Pharao is an atomic cesium clock. Use lasers to cool cesium atoms to almost absolute zero (-273 ° C). This extreme cooling allows incredibly precise time and frequency measurements. Pharao is much more compact than its terrestrial equivalents (which can measure several meters high), since in microgravity, the atoms “float” more time in the interaction zone, without having to launch vertically against gravity. SMH uses hydrogen atoms as a frequency reference. It is an active masier, similar to those used in Galileo navigation satellites, but ten times more stable. It shines for its short -term stability, in periods of up to an hour. Combining this short -term stability with the long -term precision of the Pharao, ACES will offer a time signal with amazing precision, of only a second every 300 million years. Launch by Spacex. After being assembled and subjected to tests at the Airbus facilities, ACES traveled in March 2025 to the NASA Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, where ESA, Airbus and NASA engineers completed the final preparations in a clean room before its launch. The take -off of ACES to the ISS is scheduled for April 21 aboard the CRS-32 repayment missionin a Spacex dragon ship. Once at the orbital station, a robotic arm will install the instrument outside the European Columbus module. It will be operational for 30 months, collecting data continuously. Image | THAT In Xataka | In search of the Interplanetary GPS: NASA projects a space browser with the accuracy of an atomic clock

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