A faint gravitational-wave signal spreading across the universe may contain clues about mysterious stars that existed more than 13 billion years ago, according to new research. Scientists from Colgate University have investigated whether some of the earliest supermassive black holes could be responsible for much of the extremely low-frequency gravitational-wave background detected today. Their findings […]
Some of the earliest massive galaxies in the universe may be hiding enormous numbers of small, faint stars, suggesting they contain much more mass than astronomers previously believed. Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), an international team led by researchers at Leiden University studied nine massive galaxies from the early universe. They discovered that […]
The first flight of the largest battery-electric aircraft to take to the skies lasted nearly half an hour while costing just $5 of electricity. That aviation feat comes at a time when jet fuel prices have skyrocketed because of the US war with Iran.
The test flight of Heart Aerospace’s X1 demonstrator aircraft took place at Plattsburgh International Airport in upstate New York on August 12. The X1 aircraft is comparable in size to a small regional airliner and can achieve a maximum takeoff weight exceeding 25,000 pounds with the help of four wing-mounted electric motors. The battery-electric propulsion system delivered more than one megawatt of power during the maiden flight.
All-electric aircraft can offer quieter and cleaner flight without the emissions that come from burning jet fuel. They may also prove more reliably cost-effective than conventional aircraft that come with jet fuel costs subject to geopolitical disruptions.
Astronomers have discovered an enormous stream of gas flowing toward a young system of three stars, potentially explaining why its planet-forming disks are strangely tilted. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), researchers observed a gas streamer stretching about one trillion miles, or 0.2 light-years, toward the young triple-star system GW Orionis. The findings, published […]
After nearly two decades of observations, astronomers have discovered that a distant blazar behaves in ways that leading theories struggle to explain. Instead of solving the mystery of these powerful cosmic objects, the unusually long study has raised new questions about what is happening around their supermassive black holes. Blazars are active galaxies with enormous […]
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.
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