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Star Catcher lands Space Florida support for satellite power beaming tests

TAMPA, Fla. — Star Catcher Industries, a startup designing spacecraft to beam solar energy to other satellites in low Earth orbit, has secured funding from Florida’s economic development agency to demonstrate the technology at a former Space Shuttle landing site.

Space Florida is providing a $2 million financial package for the one-year-old venture, Star Catcher CEO Andrew Rush told SpaceNews March 7, with most of the funds supporting tests this summer from Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility at the Cape — one of the longest runways in the world.

Rush said Star Catcher plans to use the facility to demonstrate its ability to beam hundreds of watts of energy to multiple simulated satellites simultaneously from more than a kilometer away, marking a critical proof point for the Jacksonville, Florida-based startup’s technology.

SNX10 functions as a modulator of piecemeal mitophagy and mitochondrial bioenergetics

Laura Trachsel-Moncho, Anne Simonsen and colleagues (Universitetet i Oslo (UiO)) identify the endosomal protein SNX10 as a modulator of piecemeal mitophagy of OXPHOS machinery components and mitochondrial homeostasis. They show that loss of SNX10 enhances mitochondrial protein degradation, reduces respiration, and increases ROS levels, leading to elevated cell death in vivo.

Trachsel-Moncho et al.

This article is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution 4.0 International, as described at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

New Photon Entanglement Breakthrough Could Miniaturize Quantum Computers

Quantum computing has long struggled with creating entangled photons efficiently, but a team of researchers has discovered a game-changing method using metasurfaces—flat, engineered structures that control light.

By leveraging these metasurfaces, they can generate and manipulate entangled photons more easily and compactly than ever before. This breakthrough could open the door to smaller, more powerful quantum computers and even pave the way for quantum networks that deliver entangled photons to multiple users.

Revolutionizing Quantum Information Processing.

Scientists Identify Key Protein Driving Alzheimer’s Brain Cell Death

Scientists have identified the 1N4R tau isoform as a key driver of Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder that primarily affects older adults, leading to memory loss, cognitive decline, and behavioral changes. It is the most common cause of dementia. The disease is characterized by the buildup of amyloid plaques and tau tangles in the brain, which disrupt cell function and communication. There is currently no cure, and treatments focus on managing symptoms and improving quality of life.

Full Throttle, Mach Diamonds: NASA’s X-59 Turns Up Power, Soars Through Engine Tests

NASA’s X-59 has cleared another hurdle with the successful completion of critical engine tests. The trials confirmed that its F414-GE-100 engine, adapted from the F-18 Super Hornet, performs as expected at full power. The aircraft’s design, including its unique top-mounted engine and elongated nose, aims to soften sonic booms to a mere “thump.” As NASA prepares for the first flight, additional tests will ensure the aircraft is ready for safe operation.

Forget Supersonic Jets. These Ultra-Fast Spaceplanes Could Soon Take You Around the World in 90 Minutes

After an initial focus on scientific research, including Sierra’s partnership with Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origins on developing a private space station, the Dream Chaser will be involved in commercial operations by hauling cargo and shuttling scientists and researchers to and from space stations.

Both Sierra Space and Radian also have space-tourism aspirations that go beyond much of what’s currently available, including 11-minute flights by Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin, and longer space-balloon flights by companies like Space Perspective and Zephalto that do not reach Low Earth Orbit. “Passengers will be able to go up and stay in orbit,” says Humphrey, whose company has the most developed passenger plans right now. “We can go around the planet in about 95 minutes, so a typical trip will probably be three laps.”

Visits to one or more of the six space stations currently under development lie ahead as well. “We’re calling it purposeful tourism,” says Angie Wise, Sierra’s chief safety officer and SVP of mission and quality assurance. “You’ll get the experience of going to space, but we’ll also put you to work helping with experiments.”