Space Flight – Impact Lab

AI, Historical Perspectives, Space, Space Flight

Curiosity 2.0: How NASA’s 13-Year-Old Mars Rover Just Got a Brain Boost

August 15, 2025

Thirteen years into its mission, NASA’s Curiosity rover is proving that age doesn’t have to mean decline—it can mean evolution. This nuclear-powered veteran of the Martian surface just got a mental makeover, gaining the ability to multitask, manage its own naps, and stretch every watt of power like never before.

The rover’s new capabilities aren’t just engineering flexes—they’re survival tactics. Curiosity relies on a multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG) powered by slowly decaying plutonium. As the years tick by, the available energy shrinks, making efficiency the currency of survival. The upgrades let Curiosity relay data to orbiters while still driving, maneuvering its robotic arm, or snapping pictures—compressing days of work into hours, and keeping heaters and instruments active for less time.

3D Printer, Space, Space Flight, SpaceX

Sun-Forged Cities: China’s Plan to 3D-Print the Moon into Habitable Worlds

August 12, 2025

It sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi novel—colonists on the Moon building cities from nothing but sunlight and lunar dirt. But in a laboratory in Hefei, China, engineers have turned this fantasy into working hardware.

The Deep Space Exploration Laboratory has developed a 3D-printing-style machine that takes lunar regolith—the powdery soil covering the Moon—and uses concentrated sunlight to melt it into tough, functional bricks. No glue. No additives. No supply rockets hauling cement from Earth. Just heat, dust, and ingenuity.

People Making a Difference, Space Flight

The Sky Is Thinking: Φsat-2 Ushers in the Era of Autonomous Earth Surveillance

July 21, 2025

While most satellites dutifully beam raw data back to Earth for humans to analyze, Φsat-2 has a different job: thinking.

Launched in August 2024, this compact cubesat—roughly the size of a shoebox—quietly crossed a major threshold this year. It didn’t just start sending images back to Earth. It began making decisions. Real decisions. About what matters, what doesn’t, and what needs our attention now.

Orbiting 510 kilometers above us, Φsat-2 is equipped with AI powerful enough to sift through cloud-covered landscapes, ignore unusable images, and zero in on wildfire zones, oil spills, marine traffic, and even earthquake aftermath. It doesn’t wait for instructions. It triages. It prioritizes. It edits reality before we even see it.

China, NASA, Space Flight

The Moon Just Became a Gas Station

July 21, 2025

While most nations are still debating the ethics of AI or struggling to regulate TikTok, China is quietly preparing for a permanent presence on the Moon—and they may have just cracked the code that turns lunar dirt into breathable air and rocket fuel.

In a scientific sleight of hand, researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, have demonstrated a breakthrough that reads more like science fiction than reality. Using actual moon dust collected by the Chang’e-5 mission, they’ve figured out how to extract water and convert astronauts’ carbon dioxide exhalations into usable fuel and oxygen—all in one elegant, light-powered reaction. No complicated supply chains. No Earth-bound logistics. Just sunlight, CO₂, and the Moon itself.

Space Flight

JWST’s Mesmerizing 3D Flight through Intergalactic Space

July 23, 2023

Buckle up for an extraordinary journey through space, past thousands of galaxies, and at an astonishing speed of 200 million light years per second. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has recently unveiled a captivating 3D flight through the Extended Groth Strip, a region between the constellations Ursa Major and Boötes, showcasing the universe’s distant past and unveiling hidden cosmic wonders.

The Extended Groth Strip is teeming with at least 100,000 known galaxies, spread across more than 13 billion light years of space. In this virtual tour, we traverse approximately 5,000 galaxies, heading towards the distant reddish galaxy named Maisie’s Galaxy. The light from Maisie’s Galaxy began its journey to Earth just 390 million years after the Big Bang, offering a glimpse into our universe’s earliest epochs.

Space Flight

Tiny Spacecraft Using Solar Sails Open Up a Solar System of Opportunity

April 24, 2023

A new generation of tiny spacecraft could be the key to unlocking the potential of solar sails, allowing us to explore the solar system in new and exciting ways. These spacecraft, which are no larger than a postage stamp, use the power of the sun to travel through space, and could help us to study asteroids, comets, and other celestial bodies in more detail than ever before.

Solar sails work by using the pressure of sunlight to propel the spacecraft forward. The sails are made from thin, reflective material that reflects the light and generates a small amount of thrust. Over time, this thrust can add up, allowing the spacecraft to reach high speeds and travel great distances.

According to Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye, solar sails have the potential to revolutionize space exploration. “Solar sails offer a new way of exploring the solar system,” he said. “They allow us to travel much faster and much farther than we ever have before.”

Space Flight

Space startup Bellatrix to test electric propulsion for satellites on-board PSLV

April 24, 2023

Hall-effect thruster (HET), on Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C55 that is set for launch

Space startup Bellatrix Aerospace is set to test its innovative electric propulsion system for satellites onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket. The test will take place as part of a satellite mission scheduled for later this year, marking a major milestone for the Bangalore-based startup.

Bellatrix Aerospace was founded in 2015 by Rohan M Ganapathy and Yashas Karanam, two young engineers from India’s prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. The startup is focused on developing cost-effective propulsion systems for satellites and spacecraft, with a particular emphasis on electric propulsion.

Electric propulsion systems are seen as a game-changer for the satellite industry, as they offer several advantages over traditional chemical propulsion systems. They are more efficient, which means they can carry more payload while using less fuel, and they can operate for longer periods of time, which is particularly useful for deep-space missions.

Space Flight

China Develops New Aerospace Launching System That Offers Stiff Competition to Elon Musk’s SpaceX

April 13, 2023

China’s National Space Administration (CNSA) has reportedly developed a new aerospace launching system that could offer tough competition to SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk. The Long March-9 rocket is said to have a payload capacity of over 100 tons, significantly more than SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, which can carry up to 64 tons.

“The Long March-9 rocket is China’s answer to the heavy-lift demands of ambitious space exploration programs,” said a CNSA spokesperson. “It will be capable of carrying payloads of over 100 tons into low Earth orbit and over 50 tons into Earth-Moon transfer orbit.”

The Long March-9 rocket, expected to be ready for launch by 2030, will stand at 93 meters tall and 10 meters in diameter. It will be able to transport manned spacecraft and cargo ships, among other payloads.

Space Flight

PENTAGON SPACE MISSION AIMS TO TEST LASER POWER BEAMING IN SPACE

April 1, 2023

The Pentagon is preparing to launch a space mission aimed at testing the ability of laser power beaming to support missions to the Moon and beyond. This technology has the potential to revolutionize space travel by allowing spacecraft to receive power from land-based facilities on Earth or orbiting satellites.

The project, called the Space Solar Power Incremental Demonstrations and Research (SSPIDR), will begin with the launch of a small satellite equipped with a solar panel and a laser transmitter. The satellite will be placed in a low-Earth orbit, and the laser will be used to beam power to the solar panel, which will then convert the energy into electricity.

According to the US Air Force, which is leading the project, SSPIDR aims to “demonstrate the technical feasibility of space-based solar power for DoD (Department of Defense) applications.” The project also has the potential to support civilian space missions, including those led by NASA.

Space Flight

An Alternative Theory of Inertia will Get Tested in Space

March 31, 2023

On June 10th, 2023, IVO Ltd. will test the first all-electrical thruster in space.

The ION-DVR, the first all-electric thruster, is on its way to space. Developed by IVO Space Systems, this innovative thruster represents a significant advancement in electric propulsion technology.

The ION-DVR is a quantum drive that uses a patented ion engine to generate thrust. Unlike traditional rocket engines that burn fuel to create thrust, ion engines use electricity to accelerate ions, creating a continuous thrust.

According to IVO Space Systems CEO John Wright, “The ION-DVR is a game-changer for electric propulsion. It provides a more efficient and reliable way to travel in space, reducing the cost and time of space missions.”

Space Flight

How a Beam of Pellets Could Blast a Probe Into Deep Space

March 28, 2023

A team of researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara has proposed a new method to propel probes into deep space using a beam of pellets. The technique involves firing a beam of small pellets, each about the size of a grain of sand, at a probe to create a burst of energy that would propel it forward.

According to the team, the method could potentially solve one of the biggest challenges in deep space exploration: how to efficiently and cost-effectively send probes beyond our solar system.

“We wanted to find a way to get a spacecraft up to a very high speed using a method that doesn’t require a lot of propellant,” said Philip Lubin, a professor of physics at UCSB and one of the authors of the study. “And that’s what led us to the idea of using a beam of pellets.”

Space Flight

Starfish Space raises $14M to advance development of satellite servicing vehicles

March 23, 2023

An artist’s conception shows an Otter servicing vehicle docked to a larger satellite. (Starfish Space Illustration)

Starfish Space, a startup based in the Seattle area and founded by two former employees of Blue Origin, has raised $14 million in Series A funding to develop spacecraft for satellite servicing. The company plans to use the funds to complete the Otter Pup, a prototype satellite servicing vehicle, and the full-size Otter spacecraft. Otter Pup is set to launch this summer as a rideshare payload on SpaceX’s Transporter-8 mission. If successful, the Otter Pup will use electrostatic-based capture to latch onto a docking target on the space tug.

Starfish Space has raised a total of $21 million in investment, including pre-seed and seed funding rounds, and has received technology development grants from NASA and the US Space Force’s SpaceWERX program.

According to Austin Link, one of the company’s founders, “The technology that [Otter Pup] can demonstrate around satellite rendezvous, proximity operations and docking” is a major focus for the company. The successful launch of Otter Pup will boost confidence in the development of the full-size Otter, which aims to do satellite life extension at scale and less expensively.