Ramon.Space makes headlines with a multi-million-dollar satellite computer deal, another Starship test launch approaches, Venus shows signs of tectonic activity, and new findings suggest the universe’s end may come sooner than expected. This week in space.

Computers Worth Tens of Millions of Dollars

Israeli space-tech company Ramon.Space will supply digital computers for the OneWeb satellite communication network operated by the European company Eutelsat, in a contract estimated at $70 million. OneWeb runs a low Earth orbit satellite network that provides internet services similar to SpaceX’s Starlink network. With more than 540 satellites currently in operation, it is the largest communication satellite network apart from SpaceX’s.

“In the first phase of the contract, which is expected to last about three years, we will supply computing systems for the next 70 satellites in this constellation,” said Avi Shabtai, CEO of Ramon Space, in an interview with the Davidson Institute. “These computing systems enable digital data processing and enhance satellite performance. They are also upgradeable during the satellite’s operational life, strengthening the company’s business model.”

Ramon.Space is currently in the process of delivering the first batch of computers to Eutelsat, with the initial satellites incorporating Israeli-built systems expected to launch by the end of next year. The company has not disclosed the location of its manufacturing operations. About two years ago, Ramon Space signed a cooperation agreement with the large Taiwanese tech manufacturer Ingrasys. “The fact that an Israeli company supplies these systems to a leading European firm speaks to our capabilities and standing in the space computing market,” Shabtai emphasized.

Ramon.Space, which employs around 80 people, develops computers and computing systems for the space industry. “Currently, we focus on two markets: communication satellites and sensing and imaging satellites,” said Shabtai. “Our computers are primarily designed for communication technologies and data processing, and more recently, increasingly for data storage. Many space missions generate vast amounts of data that can’t be transmitted to Earth in real time, so we provide solutions for storing data in space.”

The company currently operates two facilities in Israel, in Yokneam and Hod Hasharon, along with new centers in the United States and United Kingdom, opened last year. “We’re also involved in several other projects, and just this week, we signed a new agreement that will be announced soon,” added Shabtai.

Each computer is expected to generate about $1 million in revenue for the company. Ramon.Space computers | Source: Ramon.Space

 

The Return Of Starship

SpaceX is expected to conduct the ninth test flight of the Starship system this week — the giant spacecraft designed, among other things, to carry humans to Mars. Despite more than two years of testing, Starship has yet to enter orbit or complete a full revolution around Earth.  The last two test flights, conducted in January and March of this year, ended in a similar fashion: the launch rocket, Super Heavy, successfully returned to the ground and was caught by specially designed arms on the launch tower. However, the spacecraft itself exploded minutes into the flight during both the seventh and eighth tests.

Last week, the company completed a long duration static fire test of the spacecraft, firing all six engines on the ground for about a minute. This marked the third ground test for this particular vehicle, which is slated to fly in the upcoming ninth mission. Although the flight profile has not been officially published, the company is likely to attempt what it failed to accomplish in the previous two flights: a ballistic trajectory without completing an orbit, with the spacecraft reentering Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.  There, it is expected to perform a controlled reentry and a sea landing, simulating a soft vertical touchdown on land. The mission may also feature additional experimental components. These could include firing the spacecraft’s engines in space, transferring fuel between internal tanks as a precursor to orbital refueling, or deploying dummy satellites in space. A notable first in this test will be the reuse of a Super Heavy booster. The booster assigned to this mission is the same one used in the seventh test flight, which, as noted, was successfully recovered by the launch tower.

As of now, no official launch date has been announced, partly because SpaceX has not yet received the necessary approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA must first review and approve the company’s failure report from the eighth test, along with corrective measures taken to prevent the failure from recurring. However, based on air and maritime navigation alerts issued near SpaceX’s South Texas launch site, it appears that the company is aiming for a launch on May 21, Wednesday. SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk announced in a tweet that he will present the company’s updated Mars mission plans ahead of the test flight. The announcement follows news of a significant NASA budget cut in 2026 by the U.S. administration, alongside increased investment in planning and developing manned Mars missions. As the only company actively developing the necessary capabilities — and with Musk’s strong influence in Washington — SpaceX is widely expected to take the lead in these missions.

SpaceX will attempt to recover from two previous test failures. A static fire test of Starship ahead of the planned launch this week. | Source: SpaceX

 

 

The Sleeping Goddess Stirs: Signs of Tectonic Life Beneath Venus’s Surface

While Mars is often seen as the primary target for future manned space missions, our other neighbor, Venus, actually bears a closer resemblance to Earth in terms of size and gravity. However, life on its surface would be far more challenging, since the conditions on Venus’s surface are far more extreme. The dense atmosphere exerts pressure equivalent to being 900 meters below sea level on Earth. Add to that scorching temperatures, toxic gases, acid rain, and volcanic activity, and life becomes unthinkably difficult. Now, new research suggests that Venus’s surface may be even less stable than previously believed.

Researchers from the United States and Switzerland reanalyzed data collected by NASA’s Magellan spacecraft, which mapped Venus’s surface about three decades ago. Their study focused on geological formations known as coronae — large, roughly circular or oval-shaped depressions that can span hundreds of kilometers in diameter. Once thought to be asteroid impact craters, these formations were later found to be a result of volcanic activity. Rising molten rock pushes against the outer crust, creating a dome-like surface bulge.  As the rock cools and sinks, the structure collapses — similar to a cake deflating after being taken out of the oven — forming a crater-shaped depression.

Although Venus’s crust is stable and lacks tectonic plates like those on Earth, the researchers hypothesized that tectonic activity still occurs beneath the surface. They propose that coronae form in regions where upwellings of molten rock push against the outer crust. To test this idea and better understand the subsurface dynamics of Venus, the team developed theoretical models to explain the formation of coronae.  They then compared these models with topographic data from 75 coronae mapped by the Magellan spacecraft, along with gravity data measured by the spacecraft that can reveal subsurface density variations. In over two-thirds of the coronae studied, gravity was found to be weaker at the center—likely indicating the presence of low-density molten material, consistent with their predictions. 

In their research paper, the scientists detail the tectonic processes behind coronae formation and highlight another key similarity between Venus and Earth: ongoing geological activity that continues to reshape the planet’s surface.


The ground never stops moving, even on our neighboring planet. An artist’s depiction of one of Venus’s coronae — a vast depression likely created by underground movement of molten rock | Illustration: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Peter Rubin

The Final Countdown of the Universe - In Reverse

When will our universe come to an end? No one has a clear answer to this question, but theoretical physicists occasionally put forward new hypotheses. In a study published last week, researchers from the Netherlands revised their own previous estimate, now predicting the universe will end in 10⁷⁸ years  (a 1 followed by 78 zeros) rather than 10¹¹⁰ years as previously calculated.

According to the researchers, the driving force behind the universe’s eventual demise is Hawking radiation—a theoretical phenomenon proposed by physicist Stephen Hawking in 1975.  While black holes are famously known for letting nothing escape their immense gravity, Hawking suggested a quantum mechanism by which they slowly lose mass. In classical physics, when a particle and its antiparticle meet, they annihilate each other, converting into energy. However, in quantum physics, the reverse is also possible: a particle-antiparticle pair can spontaneously emerge from empty space. If this occurs right at the event horizon—the boundary of a black hole—one particle may be pulled inward into the black hole while the other escapes. The particle that falls in has negative energy relative to the black hole, effectively reducing the black hole’s total energy or mass, which are equivalent in physical terms.

Heino Falcke and his colleagues at Radboud University in the Netherlands had previously based their estimate solely on black holes. Their new calculation also factors in the estimated mass loss of other celestial bodies of a vast mass, primarily neutron stars and white dwarfs. “So the ultimate end of the universe comes much sooner than expected, but fortunately it still takes a very long time,” Falcke said in a press release, which the university described as being delivered with a wink. The researchers even estimated how long it would take for a human to disappear via Hawking radiation: roughly 10⁹⁰ years— slightly longer than the average human lifespan, which is influenced by other factors.

It’s worth noting that while Hawking radiation is considered a fairly well-accepted theoretical idea, there is currently no direct observation confirming its existence. So far, there is no evidence of mass loss in black holes—or any other bodies—via this mechanism. To put the calculation into perspective, consider that the current age of the universe is estimated at about 13.8 billion years. Even if the calculation is correct, the predicted timescale is about six orders of magnitude longer than that—meaning it lies far in the future. This probably won’t affect us much: our Sun is expected to end its life in about five billion years as a red giant that will engulf many of the inner planets. If we manage to survive that, we would have trillions upon trillions of years to prepare for the challenges ahead.

White dwarfs may also lose mass through Hawking radiation—at least according to theoretical predictions. A white dwarf star, formed from the matter left after a supernova explosion | Illustration: Nazarii_Neshcherenskyi, Shutterstock