Posts by Ascendino Santos Souza

Rocket Lab's Neutron slips to 2026: 'Our aim is to make it to orbit on the first try'

Rocket Lab’s most ambitious move

The postponement of Rocket Lab’s Neutron rocket launch to 2026, while disappointing for many aerospace enthusiasts, is not uncommon in technological projects of this magnitude. Developing a large rocket that meets rigorous safety, efficiency, and performance standards requires time, adaptation, and a careful response to technical challenges that arise along the way. Neutron represents an ambitious step by Rocket Lab to expand its capacity to launch larger payloads and serve a wider range of customers, from communication satellites to scientific missions.

While this news is generating excitement among enthusiasts and investors, this delay demonstrates the company’s commitment to ensuring safety, effectiveness, and innovation in the project. Rocket Lab has established itself as a major player in the space launch market, and this additional time could mean significant improvements in the performance of Neutron, which promises to be a crucial vehicle for commercial and scientific missions in the near future.

This delay demonstrates the company’s commitment to not sacrificing quality and reliability for the sake of speed, which is fundamental to maintaining market confidence and ensuring the long-term success of space operations. Furthermore, the additional time can be used to incorporate technological advancements and conduct rigorous testing to minimize risks during launch. In a highly competitive sector, with players like SpaceX and Blue Origin vying for space and contracts, Rocket Lab is betting on the robustness and innovation of the Neutron to position itself as a major player in the global space launch market.

Finally, while the postponement may have some temporary impact on the schedules of clients and investors, it is a sensible decision that prioritizes safety and technical excellence, essential pillars for sustainable growth and the advancement of commercial space capabilities. Expectations for the Neutron’s debut in 2026 remain high, and this additional period should result in a more reliable rocket, better prepared to propel the future of increasingly complex and ambitious missions.

REFERENCE

Richard Speed. Rocket Lab’s Neutron slips to 2026: ‘Our aim is to make it to orbit on the first try’. https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/11/rocket_labs_neutron_slips_2026/

Scientists mull Solar Radiation Management – a potential climate-change stop-gap

Re: Fusion vs Fission

By Ascendino Santos Souza*

Nuclear fusion and nuclear fission are processes that release enormous amounts of energy, but they work in different ways and present their own challenges and benefits. Fission is already used commercially in nuclear power plants, while fusion is still in the experimental phase, but promises to be the energy source of the future.

Fission occurs when a heavy atomic nucleus (such as uranium-235 or plutonium-239) splits into smaller nuclei, releasing a large amount of energy and additional neutrons, which can start a chain reaction. Fusion occurs when two light nuclei, such as hydrogen, combine to form a heavier nucleus, releasing energy. This is the process that occurs in the Sun and stars. The main fuel used is deuterium and tritium, hydrogen isotopes.

Fission will continue to be used in the short term, with advances in safer reactors, such as new generation reactors and thorium reactors. Fusion is advancing, with projects such as ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) and innovative magnetic and inertial confinement reactors.

The goal is to make fusion a commercially viable energy source in the coming decades. Fusion represents the "Holy Grail" of clean energy, but until it is mastered, fission will continue to play an essential role in the global energy mix.

*Ascendino Santos Souza is a member of the Brazilian Antinuclear Articulation.

Boston Dynamics spends months training its Atlas robots to perform one minute of parkour almost perfectly

Re: Will Atlas robots be the future?

By completing a parkour obstacle course, two Atlas robots from Boston Dynamics, demonstrated the power these machines can play in the future.

These wonderful machines jump, walk, and climb over platforms, blocks, and wooden planks, showing us a frenzy of multiple actions.

The achievements of these machines are the hard work of engineers and scientists.

The movement from points A - B, from physical environment is not mere virtual theory, but practical theory.

Whether Atlas robots will be the future, nobody knows yet.

But the future may be just around the corner.

Reference

Katyanna Quach. Boston Dynamics spends months training its Atlas robots to perform one minute of parkour almost perfectly. https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/18/boston_dynamics_parkour/