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NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)-led Team CoStar is set to participate in the Subterranean Challenge finals that are scheduled to be held this week. The challenge involves a demonstration of multi-robot autonomy in a series of tests in extreme environments. According to NASA JPL, Team CoSTAR will be among the eight teams that will be competing in the finale. The teams will use dozens of robots to traverse through a series of complex underground scenarios. The eight teams and robots are from more than 30 institutions and will be competing for prize money of $2 million (roughly Rs. 14.7 crores)

The teams are competing in a former Kentucky limestone mine from September 21 to September 24 to participate in the challenge. The challenge is sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

In a statement shared by NASA JPL, the objective of the challenge was described as “developing autonomous robotic solutions for first responders in underground environments where GPS and direct communications are unavailable.”

The team from NASA JPL will comprise 60 members. This includes engineers from California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Luleå University of Technology, and other industry partners, the note said.

Specifying the scope of the team, the statement added, “The JPL-led Team CoSTAR (Collaborative SubTerranean Autonomous Robots) will demonstrate their collection of driving, walking, and flying robots that could one day be used to explore extreme terrains on the surface as well as inside the caves and lava tubes on other worlds without human assistance.”

Team CoSTAR, in particular, will be “developing AI and autonomy software solutions for physical robots that can navigate challenging and previously unseen environments.” 

In addition to this, the note added that the technologies developed for the challenge and those focussed on extreme-environment exploration on Earth also have direct applications in the realm of space exploration.

With regard to the challenge, the statement added that Team CoSTAR “relies on a diverse array of robots to fulfil the mission goals.” The robot scouts will be sent to first explore the environment, and then a “subset of robots” will be chosen to satisfy the overall mission goals.

Speaking about the Subterranean Challenge, Joel Burdick, a Caltech professor and JPL research scientist, said, “I am excited to see how our very diverse robot team will perform.” Burdick leads the Caltech campus section of Team CoSTAR.

As per the statement, the team of robots must operate autonomously or with limited radio contact with one human supervisor. The mission must be completed in one hour. The points will be assigned based on how many objects they can reach, identify, and locate.


This week on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast, we discuss iPhone 13, new iPad and iPad mini, and Apple Watch Series 7 — and what they mean to the Indian market. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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SpaceX Launches Two O3b mPOWER Satellites, Successfully Lands Falcon 9 Booster at Sea

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SpaceX Launches Two O3b mPOWER Satellites, Successfully Lands Falcon 9 Booster at Sea

The Falcon 9 launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida to MEO on July 22, at 5:12 p.m. EDT (2112 GMT) with two SES communication satellites — O3b mPOWER 9 and 10. About 8.5 minutes after launch, the rocket’s first stage returned to Earth, landing gently on the droneship “Just Read the Instructions” in the Atlantic Ocean. It was the sixth launch and landing for the booster and extended a run of spot-on recoveries and frequent orbital missions for SpaceX.

SpaceX Expands SES’s mPOWER Constellation with 89th Falcon Launch of 2025

According to a SpaceX mission update, the Falcon 9’s second stage will fire again to beat the satellites out into MEO — slowing down the satellites’ relative speed to Earth, tricks mission planners can use to reduce the moment magnitude before the ground impact. The launch was scrubbed by the abort itself but was aborted 11 seconds before the abort was actually supposed to happen. The abort was not immediately explained, and SpaceX did not immediately request help troubleshooting the issue. The satellites would bring the SES O3b mPOWER constellation up to 100 satellites, a constellation already taking shape with four launches with SpaceX in 2022 and 2024.

The spacecraft are all out of Boeing’s assembly line and weigh about 3,700 pounds each. Today’s successful launch means that SES has 10 satellites in orbit, of which 3 more are currently under construction for launch to orbit within the next 12 months. mPOWER provides a high-capacity internet service across the globe, especially in less connected parts, on-the-go assets, and industrial and large enterprise facilities.

SpaceX’s 89th Falcon launch of 2025 and a trio of Starship test hops are part of a new reliability and cadence standard. Also part of the deal is the company’s delivery of reusable launch capabilities for commercial and deep space missions.

The buildup of SES’s mPOWER fleet is a significant step toward a 13-satellite constellation and a validation of SpaceX’s role as a force in the commercial satellite and internet infrastructure business.

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Astronomers Solve Betelgeuse’s 6-Year Dimming Mystery by Spotting Secret Companion Star

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Astronomers Solve Betelgeuse’s 6-Year Dimming Mystery by Spotting Secret Companion Star

For the first time, astronomers have directly imaged a long theorised companion star orbiting Betelgeuse, the red supergiant famed for its dramatic brightness shifts visible to the naked eye. This elusive companion is believed to be the cause behind Betelgeuse’s puzzling six-year dimming cycle, a mystery that has persisted for over a thousand years. The star system’s newfound configuration, which features Betelgeuse gradually nearing the end of its life and a tightly orbiting blue-white companion, could also foretell a cosmic cannibalisation event in the distant future.

Gemini Telescope Unveils Hidden Companion of Betelgeuse, Solving Ancient Stellar Mystery

As per NASA’s announcement, the detection was made possible through observations by the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii, using the ‘Alopeke instrument. Lead scientist Steve Howell of NASA Ames Research Centre credited the telescope’s high angular resolution and speckle imaging technique for the breakthrough. Past efforts with the Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory had failed to reveal the companion. But Gemini’s short-exposure imaging pierced through atmospheric distortions to resolve the faint partner star.

The team found that this companion is roughly 1.5 times the mass of the Sun and orbits just four astronomical units from Betelgeuse—about four times the distance from Earth to the Sun. This makes it the closest detected companion to a red supergiant ever observed, existing deep within Betelgeuse’s extended atmosphere. Scientists believe the companion hasn’t yet ignited hydrogen fusion, suggesting it remains in an early stellar stage.

While the two stars likely formed simultaneously, their evolutionary timelines differ drastically due to mass. Betelgeuse, 700 times the size of the Sun, has aged rapidly, while the smaller star remains youthful. This disparity also sets the stage for a grim outcome: gravitational forces may eventually pull the companion into Betelgeuse, a fate predicted to unfold within the next 10,000 years.

The detection not only resolves Betelgeuse’s mysterious heartbeat-like dimming but also provides astronomers with a new path to study stellar evolution in red supergiants. Another clear view of the companion is expected in November 2027, when it reaches maximum separation from Betelgeuse. The findings were published on July 21 across two papers in The Astrophysical Journal.

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Earth to Spin Faster on July 22 to Place It Among Shortest Days in History

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Earth to Spin Faster on July 22 to Place It Among Shortest Days in History

Scientists say Earth will spin slightly faster on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, making that day roughly 1.34 milliseconds shorter than the usual 24-hour period. This subtle acceleration, detected by atomic clocks and satellites, will make July 22 the second-shortest day in recorded history. (Only July 10, 2025 — 1.36 ms short — was shorter this year.) Experts note that since 2020, Earth has repeatedly set new short-day records, a trend now under close watch by global timekeeping authorities. While imperceptible in daily life, the phenomenon may ultimately require an unprecedented “negative” leap second to keep atomic time aligned with Earth’s spin.

Earth’s Unusual Acceleration

According to previous studies, Earth’s rotation is not perfectly constant. The July 22 rotation was measured at 1.34 milliseconds less than a normal day. Reports say that 2025 is witnessing some of the fastest spins on record – the quickest since continuous measurements began in 1973.

In fact, new data showed that earlier in 2025 the shortest day occurred on July 10 (about 1.36 ms shorter than 24 hours), with July 22 a “close runner-up” at 1.34 ms below normal. If current models hold, another brief day is expected on August 5 (roughly 1.25 ms short), leaving July 22 as the second-shortest of the year. Altogether, researchers describe this as a “puzzling trend” of Earth’s rotation speeding up in recent years.

Speed-Up reasons

Scientists attribute these fluctuations to a mix of celestial and geophysical factors. The Moon’s orbit is a prime factor: in early July it reached maximum declination, pulling off-center and briefly accelerating Earth’s spin. The same lunar alignment on July 22 is expected to repeat the effect. Normally, lunar tides act as a brake, gradually lengthening days, but on these shorter timescales the Moon’s position can instead speed up the rotation.

Other subtle influences also play a role. Climate-driven mass shifts – such as melting ice sheets and moving ocean water – change Earth’s moment of inertia and can tweak day length. Even large earthquakes or seasonal atmospheric changes can nudge Earth’s rotation by tiny microseconds.

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