A British-built solar powered drone with a 115ft wingspan that can stay in the air for over a year will be an alternative to low Earth orbit satellites, its developers claim. PHASA-35 is a cutting edge drone being developed by BAE systems at their facility in Warton, Lancashire that can fly about at 70,000ft above the surface for 20 months. It harnesses power from the Sun to stay airborne, charging a bank of small batteries during the day to keep it flying overnight, allowing for longer operations. The 150kg drone is able to carry a payload of up to 15kg including cameras, sensors and communications equipment to allow troops to talk to each other or provide internet access to rural locations during a natural disaster or emergency. BAE systems say it will be available by the middle of the decade and provide a'persistent and affordable alternative to satellite technology.'

When it comes to collecting visual data activity on Earth, there is no better vantage point than space. As a result, both government and corporate organizations are investing heavily in space-based sensor technology, which promises to provide an unprecedented quantity of actionable data to be stored, analyzed and leveraged for insight. Overhead space systems–the term used to describe the various satellite systems operating in Earth's orbit–serve as an important component for today's public and private sector's digital infrastructure. Sensor technology, and the satellites that carry them through orbit, have evolved substantially over the past few years. With artificial intelligence and machine learning applications improving at a rapid pace, overhead space systems can capture and deliver visual data far more effectively than ever before.

There is a large and growing environmental problem that is not on this Earth--it's trash orbiting our planet in space. Space debris is a not only an economic risk that can affect every day modern living, but also it is an existential risk that jeopardizes the ability for scientists to research weather and climate changes that impact all living things on Earth. In early February 2019, researchers from Stanford University's Space Rendezvous Laboratory (SLAB) announced a plan to crowdsource artificial intelligence (AI) to solve the massive problem of orbiting space debris. Simone D'Amico, founder and director of the Stanford's Space Rendezvous Lab, is partnering with the European Space Agency (ESA) to create an AI system that will provide navigational guidance to a space "tow truck" in order to identify, fix or remove defunct, orbiting satellites that are above the atmosphere, yet doomed to orbit due to the gravitational pull of the Earth. How can artificial intelligence solve the problem of space debris?