The European Space Agency announced a budget of approximately €8.26 billion for 2026, representing a 7.6% increase compared to the previous year.

Germany contributed 24.2%, France 17.8%, and Italy 14.6% to the ESA budget.

Space BD will utilize its domestic and international customer base to support the sales and export assistance of space hardware components developed by Kick Space Technologies.

Trevor Smith presented Space Armor technology to 19 underwriters for Lloyd’s of London.

Trevor Smith is the CEO of Atomic-6.

Space Armor tiles are hexagon-shaped and designed to protect space assets.

Atomic-6’s Space Armor tile system will fly to space for the first time in October on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare mission.

The Space Armor system comes in two levels of protection.

Lloyd's of London underwriters are interested in offering a discount on the premium if a spacecraft is protected by Space Armor.

The goal of Atomic-6's Space Armor tile system is to protect Portal Space Systems’ Starburst-1 satellite.

Space Armor technology is designed to create no secondary debris when hit by space debris.

Trevor Smith envisions implementing Space Armor technology into astronaut suits to make them more lightweight and robust.

Hydrosat previously secured a NOAA grant in early 2024.

Hydrosat closed a €51 million ($60 million) Series B funding round on January 15, 2026.

Hydrosat's operational capacity was bolstered by its 2023 acquisition of IrriWatch, which integrated advanced irrigation management software.

The Series B funding round was led by Hartree Partners, Subutai Capital Partners, and Space 4 Earth.

Hydrosat serves high-stakes clients including the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Hydrosat provides a daily collection capacity of more than 10 million square kilometers of imagery.

Hydrosat's sensors deliver high-frequency field-level insights into soil moisture, crop health, and surface temperature.

The capital from the Series B funding is designated to accelerate the global deployment of Hydrosat's thermal infrared satellite constellation and AI-driven geospatial analytics platform.

Truffle Capital participated in the funding round, alongside follow-on support from the Luxembourg Future Fund, OTB Ventures, and Statkraft Ventures.

With the Series B funding close, Hydrosat plans to deepen its presence in regions including the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Central Asia, India, and Latin America.

Hydrosat experienced increased demand for thermal data due to climate change-induced water scarcity and agricultural volatility.

Hydrosat processes data through proprietary machine learning models to provide predictive analytics for agribusinesses and government agencies.

Hydrosat has active contracts with the U.S. Air Force to improve weather modeling for national defense.

Hydrosat intends to double its workforce of remote sensing and machine learning specialists at its Luxembourg headquarters by the end of 2026.

Hydrosat currently operates two thermal infrared satellites on-orbit.

NASA described this unexpected return as a 'controlled medical evacuation'.

The crew spent 167 days in space on this mission.

The crew was originally scheduled to return next month after receiving a replacement expedition.

The spacecraft descended with parachutes and landed at 9:41 AM Spanish peninsular time.

The four crew members landed in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego, California on Thursday.

The astronauts undocked from the orbital laboratory at approximately 11:20 PM on Wednesday.

The capsule carried Zena Cardman and Michael Fincke from NASA, Kimiya Yui from JAXA, and Oleg Platonov from Roscosmos.

During the live broadcast of the departure preparations, all four astronauts appeared to be in good health.

NASA has not disclosed the identity of the sick astronaut or the medical problem, stating only that the affected astronaut is stable.

The landing followed an unscheduled departure from the International Space Station (ISS) due to a health problem of one astronaut.

Crew-11 has returned to Earth.

This is the first controlled medical evacuation in the 25-year history of the ISS.

The spacecraft fired its thrusters to leave orbit at 8:51 AM on Thursday.

The four crew members were traveling in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.

The Polaris proposal explicitly referenced lessons and technology derived from the Starsailor project, supporting Concordia's claims.

The court's judgement included directives for Polaris to cease using any proprietary information from Concordia and to withdraw its proposal for the Launch the North initiative.

Concordia does not possess the capabilities, trained personnel, equipment, or facilities necessary to produce complex orbital rockets within three years.

The court found that Concordia had a strong appearance of right to the intellectual property developed under the Starsailor project.

As of now, Polaris is shut out of the competition for the Launch the North Challenge.

Khalimonov delayed his undergraduate studies for several years and financed the Starsailor project personally through difficult times.

The injunction was issued by the Superior Court of Québec on January 8, 2026, hours before the deadline to submit proposals for the DND 'Launch the North' Challenge.

The evidence demonstrated that Oleg Khalimonov had access to Concordia’s confidential information and breached his employment agreement by using this information to benefit Polaris Aerospace.

Polaris Aerospace submitted a proposal for the Launch the North Challenge on December 29, 2025, without Concordia’s involvement.