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Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has started the final preparation for one of its most highly anticipated global collaborations after a prolonged wait. The joint mission with the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, or NISAR, is scheduled to take off in June 2025. The ambitious Earth observation satellite will have one of the largest and most advanced radar imaging systems ever to have been launched into space. When in operation, NISAR will offer a new window of the Earth’s surface, with critical information about Earth’s changing systems, natural hazards, and environmental change. When in operation, NISAR will offer a new window of the Earth’s surface, with critical information about Earth’s changing systems, natural hazards, and environmental change.

Technical Challenges and Assembly Progress

According to the news from NASA’s own NISER blog, the launch was initially planned for 2024. It was continuously postponed because of technical problems, such as concerns over the satellite’s 12-meter radar antenna reflector overheating. To enhance its reflective coating and manage temperature issues at deployment, the part was returned to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in 2024.

The satellite was completely constructed at ISRO’s Bengaluru headquarters by October 2024 after thorough retesting. In a multi-leg mission, NASA’s C-130 plane delivered essential gear to India, where it was completed by January 2025. ISRO is presently making pre-launch arrangements at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, to which the spacecraft has already been shifted. During a recent meeting with Science Minister Jitendra Singh, ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan proposed a 2025 launch window.

Mission Capabilities and Strategic Importance

The second phase of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark II was dispatched to Sriharikota on April 26, 2025, and that marked the start of advanced launch campaign activities. Nisar will use dual-band radar (L-band and S-band) to scan the Earth’s surface every 12 days, detecting sub-centimeter changes in landforms, ice sheets, and ecosystems.. Its detailed data will support disaster management, climate studies, and infrastructure oversight.

The mission signifies a strengthening of Indo-US space relations and establishes ISRO as a crucial participant in worldwide Earth science efforts. If achieved, Nisar’s datasets might revolutionize comprehension of crustal deformations, glacier behavior, and variations in the carbon cycle.
Now that the GSLV is at SDSC and payload integration is in progress, ISRO is prepared to launch one of the most awaited space missions of 2025, subject to final agency approvals.

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New Study Challenges Signs of Life on Exoplanet K2-18b

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May 3, 2025

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New Study Challenges Signs of Life on Exoplanet K2-18b

Expectations were high at the start of this month when a group of University of Cambridge astronomers reported they had found the “strongest evidence yet” of life on an exoplanet called K2-18b. Their assertions sprang from the detection of dimethyl sulphide (DMS), a gas linked to biological activity in the atmosphere of Earth. Conducted using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the finding suggested that the planet may be a watery, habitable world. But a detailed examination of the facts now begs grave doubt about the veracity of their bold assertions.

Skepticism Grows Over K2-18b Life Claims Amid New Analysis and Calls for More Data

As per a  study posted on April 22, Jake Taylor of the University of Oxford applied a neutral statistical test that detected no clear molecular signatures in the JWST data, just a flat line. The studies suggest the signal is either noisy or too weak to provide strong conclusions. The first Cambridge-led study revealed a three-sigma DMS detection much below the five-sigma threshold usually required to prove major scientific discoveries. Critics also questioned the absence of supporting compounds like ethane and claimed the models employed may have exaggerated DMS levels.

Astrobiologists Eddie Schwieterman and Michaela Musilova note that current evidence doesn’t meet strict criteria for proving life; thus, there is a need for multiple independent teams to analyse the same dataset.

Further complicating matters, new research indicates K2-18b may orbit too close to its star to retain liquid water, possibly excluding it from the habitable zone. Adding to the scepticism, DMS was recently detected on a cold comet, suggesting that such molecules can exist without life. Lead author of the original research, Madhusudhan, has supported the findings but discounted Taylor’s test as too simple and “irrelevant” for their assertions.

Most scientists agree that confirmation or denial of DMS existence in K2-18b’s atmosphere depends on additional solid, peer-reviewed research. The argument is still in progress, an ongoing narrative illustrating how science develops not by certainty but by questioning and correction.

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SpaceX Launches Falcon 9 Rocket With 28 Starlink Satellites Into Orbit From Florida



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SpaceX Launches Falcon 9 Rocket With 28 Starlink Satellites Into Orbit From Florida

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May 3, 2025

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SpaceX Launches Falcon 9 Rocket With 28 Starlink Satellites Into Orbit From Florida

SpaceX had sent another batch of Starlink satellites on their way on Thursday to assist in keeping up the quick expansion of its global broadband network. Rising from Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, a Falcon 9 rocket took to the skies at 9:51 p.m. EDT on May 1 (0151 GMT on May 2). This mission goes by the name Starlink 6-75, and it dispatched 28 satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO). This mission is an addition to the already growing constellation, which aims to provide high-speed internet across the world, except the polar regions, via user-pointed terminals.

SpaceX Adds 28 Starlink Satellites to Global Network

As per a Space.com report, the rocket’s nine Merlin engines shut down about two and a half minutes after liftoff, followed by stage separation. The first stage, booster B1080, performed a retrograde burn and safely landed eight minutes later on the Just Read the Instructions drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. The landing was the 18th successful flight for B1080 and its 12th for Starlink missions. The second stage continued toward its payload orbit to deploy its satellite payload.

The upper stage achieved its targeted orbit and released the 28 satellites one hour after liftoff. These satellites will drift into their “operational” slots over the next few days. Once in orbit, they will mesh with the existing Starlink megaconstellation of over 7,200 satellites, creating a near-global mesh that will allow constant connectivity for customers who can point their terminals at the satellite array.
It’s SpaceX’s 51st Starlink mission of the year and the company’s 34th Falcon 9 launch of 2025. And the two Starship test flights in 2025 by SpaceX only further affirm its edge on launch pace and commercial space infrastructure development. The steady pace is evidence of the company’s ambitions to dominate low Earth orbit communications.

SpaceX is inching ever closer to achieving its mission of providing high-speed internet to every corner of the planet, thanks to yet another successful launch that brought it closer to that goal and brought new commercial spaceflight and rocket reuse milestones within reach.

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Honor 400 Pro Arrives on Geekbench With Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, 12GB of RAM



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The Universe’s Brightest Lights Have Surprisingly Dark and Mysterious Origins

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May 3, 2025

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The Universe’s Brightest Lights Have Surprisingly Dark and Mysterious Origins

Some of the brightest lights in the universe shine from some of its darkest corners — so-called supermassive black holes. Invisible to the human eye, these high-energy powerhouses light up the cosmos with emissions that are detected by space telescopes. Thousands of such light sources have been discovered with NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, which has been observing since 2008. These aren’t just stars — they are active galactic nuclei (AGN) where large gravitational forces fling matter around black holes, creating intense radiation blasts all across the electromagnetic spectrum.

Blazars and AGN Jets Reveal How Black Holes Shape and Light Up the Universe

As per NASA’s observational data, black holes lurk at the centres of most galaxies and are hundreds of thousands to billions of times the mass of the sun. In AGN, gas and dust fall into an inward-spiralling disk. Second, the disks experience friction and magnetic forces that produce light from radio to gamma rays.

About one in ten AGN produce powerful jets of particles that move at nearly the speed of light, and it’s still a mystery to scientists how material so close to the event horizon is accelerated in the jets.
Interestingly, the type of AGN observed depends on its orientation relative to Earth.

Radio galaxies shoot their jets sideways, while blazars aim them nearly straight at us, making them appear especially bright in gamma rays. Fermi’s sky surveys show that more than half of the thousands of gamma-ray sources it has recorded are blazars, giving researchers vital clues about the energetic mechanics behind these cosmic light shows.

AGN are more than just bright; scientists are attracted to them for what they tell us about cosmic history. AGN existed in the early universe and were probably important in modulating galaxy evolution. Astrophysicists will use observations and analyses of the conditions directly around these black holes to learn more about the structure and history of the universe itself.

The paradox is acute: black holes are famous for eating up all the light and matter they can latch onto, but they lie behind some of the most luminous phenomena seen in space. Through missions like Fermi, scientists are adjusting the picture of the universe, in which some of its darkest origins can sparkle the most.

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