Ray Blanco:

Firm Wins Space Force Funding to Provide an Orbital “Aircraft Carrier”

Space startup Gravitics has been awarded a $60 million contract by the U.S. Space Force to develop an "orbital carrier" that can deploy satellites from orbit.

As Ars Technica reports, such a spacecraft could give the military a much faster way to respond to threats to national security in orbit compared to sending a satellite on a rocket into space.

While many questions remain about what exactly this carrier could be capable of — unsurprising, considering the sensitive nature of the plans — it's yet another sign that the U.S. military is looking to beef up its presence in orbit, highlighting a brewing "space arms race."

Gravitics officials told Ars that the carrier will provide unpressurized space to house one or more satellites, which can be deployed at will in orbit. The goal is to isolate them from the hostile space environment, sparing their batteries and other sensitive electronics.

The carrier could also help hide the satellites from adversaries, like China's "Starlink Killers."

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Davis Wilson:

I Rode in a Self-Driving Waymo

Autonomous vehicles are no longer science fiction. The future is here, and I got to experience it firsthand in Austin, Texas, where Waymo’s self-driving cars have hit the streets through a seamless partnership with Uber.

The process started like any other Uber ride. I pulled up the app on my phone to the same familiar interface I’ve used countless times. Right on time, the Waymo pulled up – a pristine, all-electric Jaguar I-PACE with sensors and cameras sprouting from its roof like a high-tech crown.

I tapped “Unlock” in the Uber app and the doors clicked open. No driver, just a quiet hum and a faint new-car smell. The ride was, as I’d later call it, fantastically boring – in the best way. No sudden brakes, no close calls – just a smooth 15-minute ride, so seamless that I occasionally forgot it was driverless.

Currently, Waymo operates in San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin. Next week, autonomous rides will be available to riders in Atlanta and Miami, with Washington D.C. coming down the road. If you’re located in one of these cities, I highly recommend you take a ride yourself.

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Chris Campbell:

Made in China. Trained in America.

Unitree G1 or Tesla’s Optimus? Because buried in that choice is something bigger—who will win the robot wars: Beijing or Silicon Valley?

For starters, I’m comparing the G1 and Optimus because—believe it or not—they’re both aiming for the same ballpark price: $20,000.

The Unitree G1 weighs 77 pounds—about the size of a golden retriever on creatine. With 41 degrees of freedom, it can bend, twist, and kick better than most yoga instructors, but don’t let the showmanship fool you. It’s not autonomous.

Optimus, meanwhile, weighs in at 125 pounds. It’s got near-human hand dexterity, can lift up to 44 pounds, learns tasks by watching humans, runs all day on a single charge, and somehow knows how to charge itself without falling into a sink.

G1 is for the curious. The hackers. The hobbyists who want a robot to do parkour and maybe one day pour tea. It’s available now. It’s tinker-friendly. Optimus is for Elon’s factories. Quiet. Evolving. About to wake up. And, eventually, find a home in your house.

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