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SpaceX has quietly swooped in to buy a venerable parachute vendor on the verge of bankruptcy, The Information reports, in a rare acquisition by the launch provider as it gears up to play a pivotal role in NASA’s return to the Moon.

The company, Pioneer Aerospace, designs and manufactures parachutes for reusable spacecraft returning to Earth, including SpaceX’s own Dragon capsule used by NASA to ferry astronauts and supplies to and from the International Space Station.

According to a Florida bankruptcy filing by Pioneer’s parent company, SpaceX bought Pioneer for a bargain-basement $2.2 million, approved by a judge on November 22. The move wasn’t reported until this week.

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The network’s total capacity will surpass 500 Gbps by 2025.

While China is already marching ahead with its internet infrastructure, the country has announced the completion of its first high-orbit satellite communication network, which aims to provide fast and reliable internet service within its territory and to several countries along its Belt and Road initiative.

The network, which consists of three high-throughput satellites named ChinaSat 16, 19, and 26, is expected to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink, a low-orbit satellite system developed by the American aerospace company, according to a Beijing-based communications expert.

500 Gbps speeds by 2025

According to the state news agency Xinhua, the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, which owns the satellite operator, said the network would offer internet service for various sectors, such as aviation, navigation, emergency, and energy.

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NASA’s maiden mission to explore Saturn’s moon, Titan, has progressed to the next phase of development.

If everything goes as planned, the launch of this car-sized nuclear-powered drone will take place in 2028.

The Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, will move to the final stages of design and development of the Dragonfly drone with NASA’s preliminary design approval.

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UK MoD enhances combat training with ChatGPT in SimStriker robots, enabling dynamic soldier-target conversations for realistic scenarios.

SimStriker: A breakthrough in close combat training

SimStriker, developed by 4GD in 2020, has already been used at the SmartFacility in Colchester, UK, where it currently serves the British Army’s 16th Air Assault Brigade. The facility logged over 1,200 hours of training in 2022, engaging various users, including the Ministry of Defence police and civilian participants.

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The world’s biggest experimental nuclear fusion reactor in operation was inaugurated in Japan on Friday, a technology in its infancy but billed by some as the answer to humanity’s future energy needs.

Fusion differs from fission, the technique currently used in nuclear power plants, by fusing two atomic nuclei instead of splitting one.

The goal of the JT-60SA reactor is to investigate the feasibility of fusion as a safe, large-scale and carbon-free source of net energy—with more energy generated than is put into producing it.

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