Elon Musk's SpaceX and its competitors are making reliable, and decently-fast satellite internet services a reality thanks to a growing armada of shimmering satellites orbiting overhead. Through its constellation of over 6,000, 500-pound satellites, SpaceX's Starlink internet service already reportedly provides broadband to around three million global users, some in remote locations underserved by traditional internet providers. But what happens when all those aging satellites no longer serve their purpose? A new report from environmentally-focused advocacy group PIRG warns the current approach to decommissioning old satellites, which usually involves having them burn to a crisp when re-entering the atmosphere, lacks meaningful rules and regulation. That absence of oversight, they say, could lead to an increase in dangerous space junk affecting Earth, especially as competing satellite internet companies rush to build out and launch tens of thousands of new satellites into orbit.

Once in orbit, MethaneSAT's software and spectrometers, which measure different wavelengths of light to detect methane, will pinpoint both concentrated locations for methane plumes as well as the broader areas where the gases diffuse and spread. It will also use Google's image detection algorithms to create the first comprehensive, global map of the oil and gas industry's infrastructure, like pump jacks and storage tanks, where leaks most commonly occur. "Once those maps are lined up, we expect people will be able to have a far better understanding of the types of machinery that contribute most to methane leaks," says Yael Maguire, who leads geo-sustainability efforts at Google. This tool could solve a significant stumbling block for methane researchers, according to Rob Jackson, professor of Earth system science at Stanford. There are millions of oil and gas operations around the world, and information about where many of these facilities are located is tightly guarded, and where available, expensive to access.

North Korea has said it will launch three more military spy satellites, build military drones and boost its nuclear arsenal in 2024, continuing a military modernisation programme that saw a record number of weapons tests this year. Pyongyang put a spy satellite into orbit in November at its third attempt and this month, again launched its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which is seen as having the range to deliver a nuclear warhead to anywhere in the United States. "The task of launching three additional reconnaissance satellites in 2024 was declared" as one of the key policy decisions for 2024 at the end of a five-day party meeting chaired by leader Kim Jong Un, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. Kim wrapped up the meeting on Saturday, lashing out at the US, which he blamed for making war inevitable. "Because of reckless moves by the enemies to invade us, it is a fait accompli that a war can break out at any time on the Korean Peninsula," Kim said, according to KCNA.

The results from the launch of the Kepler* space telescope and the K2 mission to search for planets outside of our solar system have been nothing short of astounding. From Kepler, 2,343 exoplanet candidates have been discovered while 2,343 have been actually confirmed. So far, 30 of those planets have the potential to be habitable. One of those exoplanets, Kepler-90i, is a toasty and rocky destination 2,545 light-years away that orbits its host star every 14.4 days. This planet was found using an early incarnation of artificial intelligence.

This week, NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) released the first images from its new weather satellite, GEOS-16. With more than 4,000 man-made satellites in orbit, one more might seem like a mundane news, but this particular satellite has significant implications for travel. Its presence is also a perfect example of the growing importance of connected intelligence as a technological necessity for virtually every industry. From a tech perspective, the new satellite is like upgrading from a black and white flip phone to the latest iPhone. The'Advanced Baseline Imager' - the main instrument in the new satellite - is capable of capturing at least 60 times more data per day than its predecessor, and that's not the only data the satellite is gathering.

When a satellite runs out of fuel or fails to deploy its solar panels, who you gonna call? There's currently no reliable way to physically repair things in orbit, which means a multimillion-dollar satellite can be rendered useless by a small glitch. But NASA has been eyeing a solution. This week, the space agency announced it's setting aside $127 million to fund a satellite that repairs and refuels others in orbit. The Restore-L satellite is being developed by a company called Space Systems Loral in Palo Alto, California.