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Friday, December 12, 2025
TopicSpacecraft

Topic: Spacecraft

A 1972 Soviet-era spacecraft never reached Venus. Stuck in space for 50 yrs, it’s now crashing back down

ScientiFix, our weekly feature, offers you a summary of the top global science stories of the week, with links to their sources.

Texas-based firm achieves first moon landing in more than half a century with private spacecraft

The six-legged robot lander, dubbed Odysseus, touched down at about 6:23 pm EST (2323 GMT), the company and NASA commentators said.

Japan working on 1st ever biodegradable satellite, made of magnolia wood

Kyoto University engineers plan to launch the tiny wooden satellite, LignoSat, to reduce space pollution. It is expected to fly this yr and operate in space for at least 6 months.

Aditya-L1 gets ‘send off’ from Earth’s orbit after ISRO performs key manouevre

Aditya-L1 is the first Indian space-based observatory to study the Sun from a halo orbit around first Sun-Earth Lagrangian point (L1), located roughly 1.5 million km from earth.

Chandrayaan-3 shows more than just ISRO’s excellence. It’s the STEM catalyst India needed

Having millions of young Indians enthusiastically engaging with science and technology is a huge return on investment on a mission like Chandrayaan-3. It will create several ripple effects.

Chinese spacecraft carrying lunar samples takes off from moon

China's Chang'e-5 probe, comprising an orbiter, a lander, an ascender, and a returner, was launched on 24 November. Its lander arrived on the north of the Mons Rumker on 1 December.

China sends off Chang’e-4 for historic mission to the far side of the moon

Expected to land in January, Chang’e-4 will be the world’s first spacecraft to land on the side of the moon that faces away from Earth.

ISRO to assemble 27 satellites in 3 years with the help of 3 new vendors

In a bid to increase capacity building activities, Spacecraft Assembly Integration and Testing by ISRO is a big cut.

On Camera

IndiGo cancellations made TV news do the unexpected — question the Modi government

Republic TV was the harshest of them all: “The (civil aviation) minister has done a bad job,” said prime time anchor Arnab Goswami.

IndiGo’s profits dipped, most airlines sunk into losses last fiscal even as flier numbers soared

Despite growing passenger volume, 11 out of 14 carriers reported losses in 2023-24. IndiGo recorded profit of Rs 8,167 crore, which reduced to Rs 7.253 crore in 2024-25.

US clears $686-mn package to breathe fresh life into Pakistani F-16s

Of the total package, $649 million will be utilised for additional hardware, software, and support services, and the remaining for Major Defence Equipment (MDE).

Asim Munir & Pakistan’s Failed Marshal Doctrine

None of Pakistan’s PMs has lasted 5 years. That the current PM has given Asim Munir 5 years shows that of all military dictatorships history has seen, Pakistan’s is most creative.