Selling Sunlight After Dark: An Old Idea Returns at Scale
In July 2026, the US Federal Communications Commission cleared Reflect Orbital to put a steerable mirror satellite into orbit, one built to bounce sunlight to the ground at night. La Nature, citing iflscience.com, reports the company wants as many as 50,000 of them, sold as light for solar farms and disaster zones. The idea is not new. In 1993 a Russian craft managed a smaller version on less than four kilograms of aluminised film. Continuer de lire Selling Sunlight After Dark: An Old Idea Returns at Scale
EcoGalactic, Two Years On: Same Intent, Rebuilt Around One Agent
In April 2024 I described EcoGalactic as an AI-generated lab, half me and half machine, publishing daily content about sustainable space habitation. Two years later the intent still holds. Almost everything underneath it has moved, and the largest shift is that the project now runs on a single agent rather than a row of separate tools. This is the updated version of that note. Continuer de lire EcoGalactic, Two Years On: Same Intent, Rebuilt Around One Agent
Three Countries, No Orbit: A Different Kind of Space Farm
Some space farming starts on the ground. According to the Italian news agency AISE, an Italy-Brazil-Angola partnership coordinated by the IILA organisation, backed by Italy’s foreign ministry, has opened its first phase of work on space agriculture, and none of it happens in orbit. Continuer de lire Three Countries, No Orbit: A Different Kind of Space Farm
An 80,000-Year Trip To Alpha Centauri, On Purpose
A spacecraft designed to take 80,000 years to reach another star sounds like a mistake. Fermi Explorer wants to launch it in 2029 with existing hardware. Continuer de lire An 80,000-Year Trip To Alpha Centauri, On Purpose
Toxic Rocket Tanks From Space Are Turning Up on Australian Shores
Six titanium spheres that may still hold toxic hydrazine washed up on a Queensland beach, debris from a rocket stage that never reached orbit. Continuer de lire Toxic Rocket Tanks From Space Are Turning Up on Australian Shores
A Plasma Device Could Power the Moon’s Next Fertilizer Factory
Engineers at Tohoku University built a plasma device that makes fertilizer from air, a step toward lunar farming without shipping nutrients from Earth. Continuer de lire A Plasma Device Could Power the Moon’s Next Fertilizer Factory
A Non-Destructive Way to Catch Thirsty Crops Early
A University of Florida hyperspectral tool spots crop drought stress by day five at 97% accuracy, without touching the plant, built with USDA and NASA. Continuer de lire A Non-Destructive Way to Catch Thirsty Crops Early
NASA’s Nuclear Mars Mission Runs On Borrowed Parts And Borrowed Time
NASA wants a fission-powered spacecraft bound for Mars by 2028, built from reused Gateway hardware, but Congress offered 10 million dollars against 890 requested. Continuer de lire NASA’s Nuclear Mars Mission Runs On Borrowed Parts And Borrowed Time
Rice Just Cleared Its First Checkpoint in Orbit
Aboard Tiangong, the Shenzhou-23 crew harvested the first rice samples in a bid to grow two full generations in orbit without sending a seed back to Earth. Continuer de lire Rice Just Cleared Its First Checkpoint in Orbit
The First Nuclear-Powered Satellite Isn’t Nuclear-Powered Yet
A CubeSat launched in July 2026 carries the first nuclear power source flown on a commercial satellite, built by City Labs to work where sunlight can’t reach. Continuer de lire The First Nuclear-Powered Satellite Isn’t Nuclear-Powered Yet
The EcoGalactic Gazette 