The IRIS² constellation will consist of 290 new satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) and medium Earth orbit (MEO) that are expected to provide services in early 2030.

In December 2024, the European Commission awarded a €10.600 billion contract to the SpaceRISE consortium, led by SES, Eutelsat, and Hispasat, to build the IRIS² satellite constellation.

The visit by the Agencia Espacial Española took place within the framework of the Memorando de Entendimiento signed between Spain and Italy in February 2025 to deepen technological and strategic cooperation.

Leonardo’s Division de Espacio unifies Italian industrial capabilities and coordinates systems manufacturing and services through the Space Alliance formed by Telespazio and Thales Alenia Space.

Leonardo’s Division de Espacio enables alignment of Spain’s industrial base with a partner that manages the entire value chain from satellite construction to in-orbit operations and geoinformation.

The Agencia Espacial Española highlighted three key aspects of the visit: the presentation of Leonardo Space, smart manufacturing, and European sovereignty and autonomy.

The European Commission announced the IRIS² program in late 2022 to develop a multiorbit satellite network providing sovereign, secure, and resilient communications to EU member state governments.

The visit to the Space Smart Factory allowed analysis of automated production processes as a direct reference for the AEE’s objective to strengthen a more agile, competitive, and digitalized national industry.

Coordination between Spain and Leonardo strengthens Spain’s position in programs such as IRIS² and in Earth observation missions, supporting leadership in Europe’s technological autonomy.

The INAF study was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.

The INAF study is based on nearly 1,500 observations acquired by the CRISM (Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars) instrument on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Oxia Planum’s intermediate-composition clays make the site a particularly promising area for studying ancient aqueous environments and searching for potential biosignatures.

Saponites are concentrated primarily in the Nili Fossae and Libya Montes regions of Mars.

The INAF team implemented an approach to separate spectral signals associated with iron-rich clays from those associated with magnesium-rich clays.

Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) produced the most detailed map to date of the distribution and composition of clays on the surface of Mars.

Nontronites dominate the clay mineralogy in the Mawrth Vallis region of Mars.

Oxia Planum, the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover landing site, hosts clays of more intermediate composition including vermiculites and ferrosaponites.

INAF is a lead participant in the development of Ma_MISS (Mars Multispectral Imager for Subsurface Studies), a spectrometer designed to analyze subsurface Martian rocks and soils and reconstruct their geological and environmental history.

The INAF research team developed new methods to reduce noise in spectral data, improving the ability to identify and distinguish clay and other mineral signatures.

The INAF global map shows the distribution of major hydrated minerals on Mars, including clays, sulfates, chlorites, and carbonates.

The ExoMars mission plans to explore the Martian surface beginning in 2030.

The INAF study provides a detailed characterization of clay minerals on Mars ranging from iron-rich nontronites to magnesium-rich saponites and including intermediate compositions such as vermiculites and ferrosaponites.

The INAF analysis extracted and interpreted infrared spectral signatures of clay minerals on the Martian surface.

Since 2012, only the Long March 3B/E variant of the vehicle has flown due to its increased payload capacity.

Each of the four boosters of the Long March 3B/E has a diameter of 2.25 meters.

The Long March 3B is an older-generation geostationary-orbit workhorse developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology.

Hazard notices and ascent footage indicate the failed third stage and the Shijian-32 satellite probably fell into the Pacific Ocean.

The first and second stages of the Long March 3B/E performed normally while an anomaly occurred during the third-stage flight segment, resulting in mission failure.

Two partial Long March 3B third-stage failures occurred in August 2009 due to an engine burn through and in June 2017 due to a loss of roll control.

The Long March 3B/E is 56.3 meters tall on the launch pad and weighs 458,970 kilograms when fully fueled.

Combined, the four boosters and the first stage of the Long March 3B/E generate 590 tons of thrust.

The second stage of the Long March 3B/E is powered by one YF-22E main engine and four YF-23F vernier engines burning dinitrogen tetroxide and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine to generate 81 tons of thrust.

The first stage of the Long March 3B/E is powered by four YF-21C engines burning dinitrogen tetroxide and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine to generate 302 tons of thrust.

The Long March 3B/E launched thirteen times during efforts to increase its flight rate through 2025.

The Long March 3B/E payload capacity is 5,500 kilograms to geostationary transfer orbit.

The January 2026 mission was the 627th launch of the Long March launch vehicle series.

If the failure is related to the YF-75 engine, additional grounding could include vehicles using improved YF-75 variants such as the Long March 5 and Long March 8A.

The Long March 3B/E uses dinitrogen tetroxide and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine for the first two stages and boosters, and liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for the third stage.

The Long March 3B/E payload capacity is 11,500 kilograms to low Earth orbit.

Each booster on the Long March 3B/E is powered by one YF-25 engine burning dinitrogen tetroxide and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine to generate 72 tons of thrust.

Shijian-designated spacecraft are flown to evaluate operational practices for new technologies and the name Shijian literally translates to Practice in English.

The January 2026 mission was the fifth launch from China in 2026.

The Long March 3B/E payload capacity is 7,100 kilograms to sun-synchronous orbit.

The previous outright failure of a Long March 3B/E occurred in April 2020 while carrying Indonesia’s Palapa-N1 due to an abnormal startup in one of the third-stage engines.

Every Long March 3B launch has occurred from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southern Sichuan province.

A Long March 3B/E lifted off on January 17 at 00:55 China Standard Time (January 16 at 16:55 UTC) from Launch Complex 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

The Long March 3B/E payload capacity is 2,000 kilograms to geostationary orbit.

With the January 2026 incident, the Long March 3B/E has experienced three outright failures and two partial failures to date.

The third stage of the Long March 3B/E is powered by two YF-75 engines burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to generate 17 tons of thrust.

The first Long March 3B failure occurred on the rocket’s debut flight in February 1996 while carrying the American Intelsat-708.