The Paz radar satellite has applications in border surveillance, environmental monitoring, damage assessment after natural disasters, and maritime traffic monitoring via AIS.

Hisdesat is participating in the World Defense Show in Riyadh to present the capabilities of its SpainSat NG I secure communications satellite to international delegations, especially from the Middle East.

SpainSat NG I features an active transmit and receive antenna system that is considered among the most advanced developed in Europe.

Hisdesat is showcasing the Paz radar satellite in Riyadh, which is dedicated to Earth observation and has a primary military role.

SpainSat NG I is the first unit of the SpainSat NG program driven by the Spanish Ministry of Defense to renew and expand military and governmental satellite communications capabilities.

SpainSat NG I includes a transparent digital processor that manages the satellite payload electronically in real time and enables reconfiguration of communications resources without physical interventions on the space system.

The active antenna system on SpainSat NG I enables precise geolocation of unknown terrestrial emissions and offers high protection against intentional and unintentional interference.

SpainSat NG I is designed to provide secure, resilient, and high-availability links for military operations and to support crisis management, humanitarian aid, and disaster response missions.

SpainSat NG I incorporates a new UHF payload intended to improve connectivity in demanding operational scenarios.

R5 Spacecraft 10 will serve as a free-flying imager for Vigoride 7 to monitor the spacecraft’s health and performance.

Momentus is moving to fulfill a contract with the U.S. Space Force that it signed last year.

Momentus’ Vigoride 7 orbital service vehicle will carry NASA’s R5 Spacecraft 10 alongside other payloads on a SpaceX Transporter mission set for March.

Momentus is demonstrating a Low-Cost Multispectral RPO Sensor suite with NASA support as stipulated by a $1.86 million contract signed with SpaceWERX last June.

The NASA cubesat will transfer large files to the Vigoride host platform and the Vigoride host platform will downlink those files to ground control.

The mission will demonstrate real-time space communication and inter-satellite links using Wi-Fi-based data transmission.

SpaceWERX is the innovation arm of the U.S. Space Force.

Momentus will undertake a rendezvous and proximity operations demonstration mission with NASA next month.

On 8 February, Elon Musk posted on X that SpaceX has shifted its strategic focus from colonizing Mars to building a Moon city.

Elon Musk posted on X that a self-growing city on the Moon can potentially be achieved in less than 10 years while Mars would take more than 20 years.

The proposal for a Moon city currently lacks verifiable operational evidence.

Musk's post implies SpaceX may reallocate medium-term development priorities from Mars toward the Moon.

The average distance from Earth to Mars is about 225 million kilometers.

The reference to a Moon city in Musk's X post is tied exclusively to his personal communication on X.

Elon Musk positioned the Moon as a higher-priority intermediate objective than Mars for SpaceX.

The average distance from Earth to the Moon is about 384,000 kilometers.

Elon Musk wrote that SpaceX's mission remains to extend human life and consciousness beyond Earth.

Musk's post did not include a technical plan or an official roadmap for building a Moon city.

The ESA EnVision mission and NASA VERITAS mission include radar imaging systems intended to improve identification and study of surface skylights and subsurface features on Venus.

Venus exhibits lava channels that are larger and longer than those observed on other planets.

The detected subsurface conduit is located in the Nyx Mons region of Venus.

The University of Trento identified a lava tube in the subsurface of Venus through radar data analysis.

The study analyzed Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images collected by NASA's Magellan spacecraft between 1990 and 1992 to search for subsurface conduits on Venus.

The EnVision mission will carry a Subsurface Radar Sounder capable of probing the Venusian subsurface for several hundred meters and potentially detecting lava tunnels even without surface skylights.

The research that identified the Venus lava tube was funded by the Italian Space Agency.

The identification of the lava tube on Venus was published in Nature Communications in the article titled "Radar-Based Observation of a Lava Tube on Venus" (doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-68643-6).

Venus has a slightly lower gravity and a denser atmosphere than Earth, conditions that can favor rapid formation of a thick insulating crust after lava extrusion.

The interpreted lava tube in Nyx Mons has an estimated diameter of about one kilometer.

The interpreted lava tube in Nyx Mons has an estimated roof thickness of at least 150 meters.

The interpreted lava tube in Nyx Mons extends into the subsurface to a depth of at least 375 meters.

The authors estimate that the Venusian lava tube could extend for at least 45 kilometers based on surrounding morphology and aligned surface openings.

The identified Venusian lava tube appears wider and taller than lava tubes observed on Earth or predicted for Mars.

Lorenzo Bruzzone, Leonardo Carrer, and Elena Diana are authors of the Nature Communications article reporting the Venus lava tube.

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter flies within 100 kilometers of the Moon’s surface.

Artemis I required seven fueling attempts over months before the rocket successfully flew.

During the February 2 fueling test teams closed the Orion spacecraft’s hatches as they would on launch day with astronauts inside the capsule.

NASA published a post describing how the agency will track the Artemis II mission using a network of ground stations.

Teams achieved safe defueling of the SLS rocket after the February 2 fueling test.

China operates two relay satellites, Queqiao 1 and Queqiao 2, for communicating with its Chang’e 4 and Chang’e 6 landers on the lunar farside respectively.

The official Artemis II target launch date can be March at the earliest.

A NASA fueling test of the SLS rocket on February 2 for Artemis II experienced repeat hydrogen leaks beyond acceptable thresholds at multiple points.