A miniature lab has been launched into Earth orbit containing microbes designed to produce edible proteins in space.

UVA Engineering mechanical and aerospace students plan to hitch a ride on a NASA rocket this August. They want to see if they can be the first researchers to use low-cost, miniature spacecraft technology to acquire reentry data that could improve future full-scale hypersonic aircraft designs.

The molecules involved in a chemical process that is essential for cell function and the appearance of life on Earth (also known as the Krebs cycle¹) can form in interstellar ice.² This discovery has just expanded the inventory of prebiotic molecules³ that can form in space, and marks a new stage in research on signs of life in the Universe. CNRS scientists⁴ and their colleagues in Hawaii obtained these results by recreating interstellar ice in the laboratory, and by studying it under conditions as close to real as possible⁵ using an unprecedented combination of infrared spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques. The study will be published on 21 April in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Another race to space is on, but the competitors aren’t reaching for the moon. Instead, multiple national agencies and private companies across the world are aiming for the edge of Earth’s atmosphere. Launching satellites into this very low Earth orbit (VLEO) environment — the altitude between 60 and 280 miles above Earth — could solve spacecraft crowding in traditional orbits, according to Sven Bilén, Penn State professor of engineering design, of electrical engineering and of aerospace engineering. 

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) highlighted its latest advancements in defense technology at the Sea-Air-Space Conference and Exposition, held April 7-9, 2025, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center. As the premier maritime exposition in the United States, Sea-Air-Space provided an ideal platform for NRL to demonstrate its innovative contributions to national defense.