Scientists have uncovered new evidence that tiny grains of ancient stardust may have played a key role in creating the first solid material in our solar system more than 4.5 billion years ago. The discovery suggests that these microscopic particles, left behind by stars that lived and died before our Sun existed, acted as the […]
Mars is slowly losing parts of its atmosphere to space, and scientists have discovered that the process may be driven by giant waves created where the solar wind meets the planet’s upper atmosphere. The new research, led by Boston University, shows that these waves act much like wind blowing across the surface of a lake, […]
Neptune’s small inner moons may actually be the broken remains of a much older family of icy worlds that were destroyed billions of years ago, according to a new study using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Scientists believe the evidence points to a dramatic event in the distant past, when Neptune captured its largest […]
Impulse Space has unveiled its first electric propulsion system, designed to work in tandem with chemical rocket engines to extend the capabilities of spacecraft during long space missions.
On Tuesday, the California-based company revealed Electra, which complements traditional rocket propulsion, rather than replacing it, providing a new layer of efficiency for spaceflight aided by electric thrusters.
“As launch becomes more accessible, the next frontier is enabling spacecraft to do more once they arrive in orbit,” said Tom Mueller, founder, CEO, and chief technology officer of Impulse, in a statement.
The Future is Electric
While electric propulsion systems produce lower levels of thrust compared to chemical rockets, they also consume far less propellant during spaceflight. Because of this, they are an ideal candidate for certain tasks, such as station keeping—the process where a spacecraft’s assigned orbit is maintained over long periods of months, or even years.
Presently, as much as 50% of a conventional spacecraft’s chemical propellant can be required solely for maintaining its orbit for the duration of a mission. Assigning those duties to an electric propulsion system allows chemical fuel to be reallocated toward higher-value mission operations, which include rapid orbital transfers and time-sensitive maneuvers.
Rapid Pace for Development
Electra was developed entirely in-house and in under a year, the company said in a statement this week. Engineers required less than half that time to advance from initial design stages to completion of a functioning propulsion system.
Almost all major components, which include Electra’s thruster and supporting avionics systems, were designed, manufactured, and tested in-house.
“The best part of building Electra has been the opportunity to move fast and try new things,” said Charlie Kelly, Lead Electric Propulsion Engineer at Impulse.
“We get to turn ideas into plasma in a matter of weeks or months, not years,” Kelly added.
Advancing Future Space Propulsion
Presently, the company is rapidly developing its next-generation designs, and qualification is currently underway for Electra’s integration with Mira, Impulse’s orbital transfer vehicle.
An initial in-space demonstration is expected to take place aboard Impulse’s GEO Express 1 mission next year, as part of the Caravan 1 mission.
For Impulse, the new propulsion system represents another step toward building what it characterizes as a complete in-space mobility architecture—extending beyond launch itself to support satellite servicing, orbital transfers, cargo transportation, and future operations throughout cislunar space and beyond.
With an ever-increasing level of commercial activity in Earth orbit, such technologies will help to propel spacecraft for much longer periods, enabling long-duration space missions that reduce overall costs and fuel requirements.
“Our strategy has always been to develop the mobility technologies needed to support all missions after launch,” Mueller said this week, adding that “electric propulsion is an essential component of that strategy.”
Additional details about the company’s novel propulsion designs can be found at Impulse Space’s website.
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached atmicah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.
DARPA officials said the successful flight of an aircraft category that is still in use for combat operations advances the state-of-the-art technological infrastructure needed to meet the challenges of a rapidly evolving aerial environment and will enable rapid, scalable combat AI pilot development across the broader U.S. military forces.
“These groundbreaking flight tests of VENOM-modified F-16s advance the infrastructure needed to develop trusted, autonomous air combat capabilities,” said Brig. Gen. James “Fangs” Valpiani, Ph.D., DARPA program manager.
AI-Controlled F-16 Test Flights Part of VENOM Program
According to a statement announcing the successful AI-controlled flights, the F-16 used in the tests was specifically converted to an AI testbed under the agency’s joint venture with the U.S. Air Force, the Viper Experimentation and Next-generation Operations Model (VENOM) program. The specific AI pilot installed in the F-16 is known as the VENOM Autonomy Kit, or VAK.
DARPA said VAK utilizes a “novel interface with the aircraft’s flight controls and mission systems.” This component allows an on-board human pilot to toggle between their traditional control systems and VAK “with the flip of a switch,” ensuring pilot safety during the testing phase where a human is still in the loop.
An F-16 Fighting Falcon modified for the Viper Experimentation and Next-gen Operations Model – Autonomy Flying Testbed (VENOM) program conducts flight operations during autonomous systems testing in June 2026 at Eglin Air Force Base. The VENOM F-16s serve as modified airborne test platforms equipped with specialized hardware, software, and instrumentation designed to enable artificial intelligence agents to pilot the aircraft while human pilots remain in the cockpit to monitor the AI agents and ensure flight and mission systems test objectives are met to rapidly evolve autonomous capabilities. Image Credit: U.S. Air Force | Samuel King Jr., 96th Test Wing
Valpiani said that the VENOM team installed the AI-controlled VAK interface, which successfully automated the F-16’s sensors and flight controls “without changing the jet’s core software.”
“This enables an efficient pipeline for developing dominant AI for aerial combat, allowing us to rapidly innovate for the warfighter,” the program manager explained.
Creating Dominant Autonomy Beyond Visual Range
When discussing the significance of the successful AI-controlled test flights, Valpiani once again highlighted the “emerging threat environment” in relation to aerial combat, including its increasing complexity.
“AI has tremendous potential to help humans manage this complexity in beyond-visual-range combat, but many hard questions remain concerning the performance and trustworthiness of combat AI in the extreme fog and friction of modern warfare,” explained the project leader, who was due to conclude his tenure as a DARPA program manager in the weeks after the announcement. “The AIR program aims to apply cutting-edge combat agents to operationally relevant scenarios to address these questions and field war-deterring, war-winning capabilities to our warfighters.”
Incoming program manager, Lt. Col. Patrick “Dice” Highland, Ph.D., highlighted the milestone’s role in “advancing our nation’s combat autonomy,” while also offering an eye toward the program’s future.
“We now have the opportunity to create dominant autonomy for beyond-visual-range, multi-ship combat,” Lt. Col Highland said. “These flights give us an early glimpse of how AI agents may begin actively transforming air warfare.”
Moving VAK’s Capabilities “Out of Simulation and Into the Sky”
Following the successful AI-piloted F-16 tests, the specially designed VENOM aircraft will join DARPA as it moves the entire venture under the umbrella of the agency’s Artificial Intelligence Reinforcements (AIR) program. According to the agency, this new program will use the aircraft in the VENOM fleet to “test multiple AI agents in live-flight scenarios.” If successful, DARPA said the program will “pave the way for human pilots to seamlessly command and orchestrate teams of autonomous, uncrewed aircraft.”
Current deputy program manager Terry Wilson, Ph.D., who will remain with the program, highlighted AIR’s longer-term goals of future joint force operations, including Collaborative Combat Aircraft programs. DARPA said that these efforts will focus on improving the speed and predictive ability of AI model development and “scale in-flight testing to multi-ship operations with increased complexity to unlock novel and robust AI-driven autonomy.”
“I share Gen. Valpiani’s deep appreciation for the incredible dedication of our DARPA and industry teammates, joint engineers, the System Program Office, Eglin’s test and maintenance crews, and the entire AIR and VENOM ecosystem which has made this milestone possible,” said Wilson. “I look forward to unleashing the VENOM platform and moving these capabilities out of simulation and into the sky.”
Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and has spent the last six years as Associate News Editor and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him at christopher@thedebrief.org
Europa, one of Jupiter’s largest moons, has fascinated scientists for decades because it may hide a vast ocean of liquid water beneath its thick icy surface. Since liquid water is one of the key ingredients needed for life, Europa is considered one of the most promising places in our solar system to search for signs […]
Indian space officials celebrated the debut flight of Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 rocket, India's first fully commercial satellite launcher, as a "grand success" Saturday after an on-target climb into a 280-mile-high orbit following liftoff from an island spaceport in the Bay of Bengal.
The Vikram-1 lifted off from India's primary spaceport on Sriharikota Island at 1:35 am EDT (06:35 UTC) Saturday, around midday at the launch base along India's southeast coast. The launch was delayed more than a half-hour to resolve a last-minute technical problem. The countdown resumed, culminating in the command to ignite Vikram-1's solid-fueled first stage booster to propel the rocket off the launch pad.
Vikram-1 is modest in size compared to India's larger workhorse rockets. Skyroot's rocket stands about 72 feet (22 meters) tall, with the capability to place payloads of up to 770 pounds (350 kilograms) into low-Earth orbit. This makes Vikram-1 somewhat larger than the Electron launch vehicle developed by Rocket Lab, the world's most successful dedicated small satellite launcher.
Indian space officials celebrated the debut flight of Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 rocket, India's first fully commercial satellite launcher, as a "grand success" Saturday after an on-target climb into a 280-mile-high orbit following liftoff from an island spaceport in the Bay of Bengal.
The Vikram-1 lifted off from India's primary spaceport on Sriharikota Island at 1:35 am EDT (06:35 UTC) Saturday, around midday at the launch base along India's southeast coast. The launch was delayed more than a half-hour to resolve a last-minute technical problem. The countdown resumed, culminating in the command to ignite Vikram-1's solid-fueled first stage booster to propel the rocket off the launch pad.
Vikram-1 is modest in size compared to India's larger workhorse rockets. Skyroot's rocket stands about 72 feet (22 meters) tall, with the capability to place payloads of up to 770 pounds (350 kilograms) into low-Earth orbit. This makes Vikram-1 somewhat larger than the Electron launch vehicle developed by Rocket Lab, the world's most successful dedicated small satellite launcher.
Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 rocket successfully lifted off on its inaugural flight July 18, becoming the first commercial Indian rocket to reach orbit.
An innovative new drone dubbed the “Phantom Twist” can seemingly disappear from view, in a major new robotics advancement offering a close-to-invisible aerial platform.
Its name describes the drone’s rapid spinning motion, which rotates 25 times per second—too fast for the human eye to resolve—thereby acting as a sort of cloak shielding it from visible detection.
The Northwestern University engineering team behind the Phantom Twist revealed their drone during a recent talk at the Sydney, Australia, Robotics: Science and Systems 2026 conference on July 16.
Stealth Drones
“Most efforts to hide drones focus on making them look like their surroundings,” said Northwestern’s Michael Rubenstein, who led the work. “Instead, we asked whether we could design the drone itself around the way humans perceive motion. This idea of low visibility through persistent motion is something few people have explored.”
The Phantom Twist drone’s unique rotation renders it almost invisible when in flight (Image Credit: Northwestern University)
Hiding drones is not a new idea. Other engineers have attempted a variety of techniques, including camouflage, transparent materials, and light-bending to obscure the presence of drones and robots. However, all of those focused on the material the drone’s exterior was constructed from, allowing it to blend into the background. The Northwestern team’s innovation was in how the object moves.
To our eyes, fan blades disappear because they are moving so fast that our eyes cannot track them. The “motion blur” created at these speeds allows the Phantom Twist to almost disappear, leaving only a faint apparition perceptible to the eye.
Nature Drones
While several military applications are immediately obvious, the team instead says their work could be useful in developing noninvasive wildlife and environmental monitoring. Loud drones can scare wildlife, disrupting them as they scatter, but by blending in, the Phantom Twist could capture a much more accurate picture of natural behaviors.
Their perception-based design eschews the traditional quadcopter design for a single propeller, with a body that spins in the opposite direction, creating the optical illusion that the drone essentially disappears.
As it spins, the Phantom Twist’s movements become virtually invisible to the human eye (Image Credit: Northwestern University)
“For a typical quadrotor drone, the propellers are spinning, but the robot is stationary,” Rubenstein said. “So, you still see its body. For our drone, the whole thing is rotating, so there are no stationary parts.”
Creating the Phantom Twist
Using AI and optimization algorithms, the Northwestern team began by generating 20,000 different arrangements of a drone’s propeller, motor, circuit board, and other necessary components. Eventually, the algorithm landed on the most promising configurations, after which the researchers simulated and superimposed them onto real-world backgrounds.
Another computer model mimicked human perception, allowing the engineers to assign a perception score for how visible each design would be to human eyes. An algorithm then optimized those designs by moving components to minimize the visibility score even further.
“The design process was fully automated,” Rubenstein said. “Then, when we were confident that a drone met all our criteria, we built it.”
A Revised Drone
The key feature of this design is that the individual components are at such varying heights and angles that they do not overlap as it spins, maximizing the motion-blur effect and creating the appearance of a faint cloud rather than a solid object.
“The human eye takes time to accumulate signals, roughly analogous to the exposure time of a camera,” said Alexander, an expert in computer vision. “When an object spins quickly, we perceive it as blurring out and losing distinct features. Because this new drone is almost entirely transparent, its few opaque components are visually averaged with the background for an overall appearance of a slight haze.”
Currently impeding the drone from being even more imperceptible to the eye are the wires and support rods that remain visible, as well as the engine noise it produces, which is readily discernible. Going forward, the team plans to continue improving Phantom Twist in future iterations to incorporate more transparent materials and reduce the noise it produces.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.
Barnard’s Star is one of the most famous stars in the night sky for astronomers because it is so close to Earth. Located just under six light-years away, it is the second-closest star system after Alpha Centauri. In 2025, scientists confirmed that four small planets orbit this nearby star. Now, a new study has revealed […]
NASA is taking another major step toward a permanent Moon base with four new commercial missions that will test technology, deliver science, and help prepare for humanity’s future beyond Earth. NASA has selected three commercial space companies to carry out four new lunar missions in late 2028 through the agency’s Moon Base Program. Astrobotic, Firefly [...]
Investment in satellite companies reached $8.1 billion in the first half of 2026, already surpassing every previous annual total tracked by early-stage investor Space Capital.
Welcome to Edition 9.01 of the Rocket Report! Back in January, I wrote about the 20 launches and landings we were most excited about in 2026. The list included things that were, at the time, officially scheduled to occur this year. I also gave my own view of the probability of each of these events actually happening before December 31. Halfway through the year, we can only count one of the events as completed, and that was NASA's Artemis II mission in April. Many are now scheduled for next year, proving again that delays are a constant in the space industry. A couple of them—such as the launch of NASA's Roman Space Telescope—do appear to be on track to happen soon.
As always, we welcome reader submissions. If you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets, as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.
Swift Boost Mission reaches orbit. A pioneering commercial mission to reboost the orbit of NASA's Swift astronomy satellite launched early Friday after attempts earlier in the week were thwarted by bad weather and a technical issue. The Link servicing satellite developed by Katalyst Space Technologies soared to orbit on the tip of a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket that dropped from the belly of a modified L-1011 jetliner over the remote Pacific Ocean. Mission managers called off two launch attempts Tuesday and Wednesday due to poor weather around the L-1011's staging base on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. On Thursday, "a launch vehicle issue temporarily prevented teams from deploying the rocket" after takeoff of the L-1011.
An innovative new approach to building safer, more efficient small unmanned aerial vehicles is taking a cue from nature.
Anticipating worsening turbulence due to environmental concerns in the coming years, engineers studying the unmatched hovering ability of kestrels hope to reverse engineer the secrets of their exceptional flight capabilities to help assemble better future drones.
Smaller drones, known as sUAVs, have a range of different applications that include delivery services, photography, and more. However, wind conditions can often cause turbulence that either grounds them temporarily or, when caught off guard, can lead to their destruction.
Now, a team of researchers has published their findings in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, which details an ongoing collaboration between RMIT University and the University of Bristol that seeks to overcome such issues by building drones that operate more like some of nature’s best flyers.
Specifically, the nankeen kestrel is an avian species whose amazing prowess while flying during adverse conditions still confounds researchers. To unravel the secrets of their flight, the researchers used motion capture technologies made possible in RMIT’s special Industrial Wind Tunnel facility, one of the largest such facilities anywhere on the Australian continent.
“Birds don’t rely on a single response to wind gusts,” according to RMIT researcher Matt Penn. “They constantly adjust their wings and tails to stay balanced, while the natural flexibility of their feathers and joints helps absorb sudden changes in airflow.”
“They can also sense disruptions very quickly, which allows them to respond almost instantly and maintain control,” added Penn, one of the team members who co-led the studies into how birds can cope with turbulence.
According to Penn and his colleagues, these birds possess a range of unique strategies that help them overcome the dangers of turbulence, which help them navigate under conditions that would cause most sUAVs to come tumbling from the sky.
To attempt to understand what makes kestrels such adept fliers, the team created a robotic replica to mimic some of their key flight movements and characteristics, which allowed the team to unravel some of the secrets to how these incredible birds perform.
“By creating a robot replica, we were able to measure how specific movements were contributing to steadiness in flight,” said Dr Mario Martinez Groves-Raines, a researcher now with the Royal Veterinary College in London, adding that precision measurements of kestrel flight that normally could not be achieved in nature were possible using the team’s robotic version.
“We uncovered several unique techniques behind the kestrel’s impressive stability,” Groves-Raines said. “Many of these techniques have the potential to improve [the] manoeuvrability of small aircraft, which encounter similar challenges to kestrels.”
“This research shows what’s possible when engineers look to nature for solutions,” added RMIT senior researcher Associate Professor Abdulghani Mohamed.
“Our findings open new pathways for designing aircraft that can better handle turbulence.”
Going forward, the researchers say they hope to apply their findings toward the construction of novel sUAVs, which can help future drones operate safely and more efficiently, much like their agile avian forebears.
Ultimately, similar engineering in the coming years may have applications that extend well beyond just drone flight, and could also help to ensure safe operations for much larger aircraft.
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached atmicah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.
Astronomers have discovered a strange and spectacular galaxy that looks like a giant bow and arrow stretching across space. The unusual object, named RAD-BAARG (Bow-And-Arrow Radio Galaxy), has an enormous arc-shaped structure that spans nearly 1.8 million light-years—about 18 times wider than our Milky Way galaxy. What makes this discovery even more special is that […]
Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) pioneer Archer Aviation has confirmed that it is on track to perform Team USA transport duty during the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, aboard its Midnight aircraft.
In an email to The Debrief, a company spokesperson said Archer was selected as the Official Air Taxi Provider of the LA28 Olympic Games and Team USA, marking a historic first in the quest for commercial eVTOL operations before the end of the decade.
“Through this exclusive partnership, the two will look to integrate Archer’s Midnight eVTOL aircraft across theLA28 Games in a variety of ways, such as transporting VIPs, fans, and stakeholders, while electrifying vertiport take-off-and-landing hubs for key venues and providing support for emergency services and security,” a company spokesperson explained.
Archer CEO Announces ‘Progress’ Including Upcoming Midnight eVTOL Test Flight in 8 US Cities
Archer Aviation founder and CEO Adam Goldstein recently shared more specific updates about the company’s road to the Olympics and eventually government approval, noting that “we made tremendous progress towards beginning operations in the US later this year, with record FAA certification progress and our most expansive flight testing to date.”
Goldstein also highlighted the company’s recent winning applications to begin pre-certification test flights of Midnight in 8 US states later this year, including New York, Florida, and Texas. According to the CEO, those test flights are part of the eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP), “which was unlocked through the White House’s Executive Order in June last year.”
“Archer expects Midnight operations in American cities to begin this year as part of the White House’s eIPP and in preparation to serve as the Official Air Taxi Provider of the LA28 Olympic Games, in coordination with the DOT and FAA,” the CEO explained, adding that the two benchmarks “pave the way for Archer to showcase its air taxi technology in parallel with its continued work toward FAA Type Certification for Midnight.”
Six Independently Operating Engines Produce Over 1,500 Horsepower, Last 10,000 Flight Cycles
When asked about the technical aspects that have put Midnight on course to become the first commercial eVTOL air taxi provider in the U.S., the company spokesperson first noted that their aircraft are “designed and manufactured” domestically, which can shorten development timelines and improve quality control. This includes focusing the team’s research and development on what the company termed “differentiating technologies,” including the pioneering aircraft’s unique powertrain.
“Our world-class in-house team, coming with experience from Apple, Tesla, SpaceX and beyond, contribute to our efficient and certifiable electric propulsion design,” the company told The Debrief.
Archer’s Midnight eVTOL aircraft are designed and tested in the United States, reducing quality control issues and increasing design turnaround times. Image Credit: Archer Aviation.
Some of the differentiating technologies the team said set it apart from the competition include rapid charging, long-lasting battery packs “and the capability of >1500 horsepower.” They also note that Midnight’s high-performance battery cells, patented high-voltage architecture, and gearbox are designed to operate reliably for roughly 10,000 “flight cycles” before the vehicle’s battery pack needs replacement.
“We are optimized for electric flight,” the company told The Debrief.
Due to the potential risks in premiering a new vehicle platform, with Archer Aviation telling The Debrief that “eVTOL aircraft are the first new category of aviation in more than 60 years,” the company said Midnight is built as a ‘fly-by-wire’ system, reducing the number of mechanical components that can fail. The company also said that each of Midnight’s engines operates independently “allowing for high levels of redundancy and safety.”
Although the current version of the Midnight eVTOL aircraft is flown by a human pilot, the company told The Debrief that it is “continuing to build the technology stack” required for its longer-term goal of a fully autonomous eVTOL aircraft.
Company Anticipating Final FAA Approval “in the Near Future”
With the 2028 Summer Olympics just two years away, the company said it has transitioned out of a successful Phase 3 of the FAA’s 4-phase Type Certification process, an industry first, and has “already been advancing its work in Phase 4 for some time now.”
“This is where Midnight’s compliance with FAA airworthiness requirements will be demonstrated through formal testing and analysis,” the company told The Debrief.
In his address to shareholders, Goldstein said the company’s flight test program “continued to expand this quarter.” The CEO said this expansion includes piloted VTOL and CTOL flights across its expanded fleet of test aircraft “occurring nearly every day, often multiple times a day.”
Archer Aviation has recently taken over operations at Hawthorne Airport with goals of creating the airport of the future.
To expedite the testing phases leading up to the 2028 Olympics, the company recently took over operations of Hawthorne Airport in Los Angeles County. Goldstein said the move will help Archer develop the local airstrip “into the airport of the future.”
“Located near LAX and several major LA sports and entertainment venues, Hawthorne Airport is expected to anchor Archer’s planned LA air taxi operations while also serving as an innovation hub for next-generation aviation technologies,” the CEO explained.
When asked how soon the company expects to fulfill the FAA’s Phase 4 requirements and gain full certification, the spokesperson told The Debrief that Archer is in the final stages of the process, “and is anticipating approval in the near future.” However, the company also added that their focus is on building a safe, high-performance aircraft, and that once they can demonstrate the safety and versatility of Midnight, “it is the FAA’s job to certify it.”
Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.
The Bullet Cluster is one of the most famous objects in astronomy. For years, many scientists have considered it one of the strongest pieces of evidence for the existence of dark matter, the mysterious substance thought to make up most of the matter in the universe. However, a new study suggests there may be another […]
Millions of years ago, a massive star exploded somewhere far away in our galaxy. During this violent event, called a supernova, the dying star blasted huge amounts of matter into space. These materials included carbon, nitrogen and oxygen—the essential ingredients for life—as well as many other elements, some as heavy as iron. The explosion itself […]
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