Tag: Google
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NASA Runs Google’s Gemma AI in Orbit, Letting a Satellite Analyze Its Own Images
The experiment, called NAVI-Orbital, was conducted aboard Loft Orbital’s YAM-9 satellite and achieved its first successful in-orbit demonstration on April 16, 2026. According to the researchers, it represents the first reported demonstration of a vision-language model performing autonomous multimodal inference entirely aboard an orbiting spacecraft. Rather than simply capturing images and transmitting them to Earth…
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SpaceX Raises Record $75 Billion in Historic IPO, Reaches $1.77 Trillion Valuation
SpaceX has completed the largest initial public offering (IPO) in U.S. history, raising $75 billion and achieving a market valuation of approximately $1.77 trillion as the company prepares to begin trading on the Nasdaq. The offering was priced at $135 per share, with investors purchasing 555.56 million shares. The transaction surpasses the previous global IPO…
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Starcloud Raises $170 Million to Advance Orbital AI Data Center Plans
Starcloud Inc., a startup developing space-based artificial intelligence infrastructure, said it has raised $170 million in a new funding round that values the company at $1.1 billion, as interest grows in alternatives to terrestrial data centers. The funding was secured in two tranches, with Benchmark leading the first and co-leading the second alongside EQT Ventures.…
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Organizers confirm no teams will win Google Lunar X Prize
Artist’s concept of a privately-developed lunar lander designed by the Israeli team SpaceIL. Credit: SpaceIL None of the teams who have spent the last decade chasing a $20 million grand prize by placing a privately-funded lander on the moon will meet a deadline at the end of March to claim the award, the organizers of…
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Our solar system has met its match: AI helps scientists find a star’s eighth planet
We’re not alone. At least when it comes to solar systems with the same number of major planets as ours. NASA today announced details about the recent discovery of an eighth planet circling Kepler-90, a sunlike star that’s 2,545 light years from Earth. The planet, dubbed Kepler-90i, is a sizzling hot, rocky planet that orbits its…
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Google Maps unveils its latest destination: the International Space Station
Some spacesuits make their tour debut as Google Maps’ Street View takes users around the International Space Station. While space tourism is still a little ways away, Google is getting a head start by offering its own tours of the International Space Station — the latest destination on Google Maps’ Street View. To use it,…
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Google film ‘Dot of Light’ features pioneering female astronauts and dramatic views from space
Three female pioneers of space exploration are the subjects of a new short film from Google. And the experiences the women had and how they describe it all has led the tech giant to offer new Google Artworks Live Case designs for Pixel and Nexus smartphones. The 10-minute film, called “Dot of Light,” mixes historic footage…
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Google patent filing hints at how SpaceX’s satellite broadband network could work
The satellite coverage scheme described in a patent application envisions two sets of satellites orbiting in different inclinations at different altitudes. (PatentYogi via YouTube) When it comes to providing global broadband internet coverage, two satellite constellations in low Earth orbit are better than one. At least that’s the implication of a patent application filed by…
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Planet acquires rival satellite company from Google
One of Terra Bella’s SkySat satellites captured this image of downtown San Francisco on Dec. 27. Credit: Planet/Terra Bella San Francisco-based Planet, a company with a fleet of miniature satellites in orbit looking down on Earth, has acquired Terra Bella from Google to add high-resolution imaging to its business portfolio. The financial terms of the…
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Planet Labs says it’ll acquire Google’s satellite imaging subsidiary, Terra Bella
An artist’s conception shows Terra Bella’s SkySat satelltes in orbit. (Terra Bella Illustration) Planet Labs says it has struck a deal to acquire Google’s Terra Bella satellite imaging operation and its constellation of SkySat satellites, less than three years after Google bought the operation for $500 million. Financial terms for the acquisition weren’t announced. The deal…