New research reveals the Tasmanian tiger had a unique skull structure, suggesting it likely never threatened livestock as previously believed.
Sierra Space announced it has secured contracts with undisclosed national security and commercial customers to fly payloads aboard Dream Chaser on the spaceplane's inaugural mission, which also carries civil payloads via NASA's Cargo Resupply Services programme. CEO Dan Jablonsky said the company is 'establishing a new operational model in which the same platform serves national security, civil, and commercial customers on a single mission'. Sierra Space describes Dream Chaser as the only commercial reusable, runway-capable spaceplane, and said it is still finalising the manifest with defence, civil and commercial payloads. The customers, contract values and launch date are not disclosed in the release.
Mazama Energy announced a superhot rock drilling performance milestone that the company says signals a turning point for the economics of engineered geothermal systems.
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation issued the state's first fusion-specific byproduct material license to Type One Energy for its commercial fusion project, making Tennessee the first US state to license a commercial fusion machine under a new regulatory framework.
NASA selected Blue Origin on 1 September 2026 to develop its Mars Telecommunications Network, a firm-fixed-price contract with a maximum potential value of approximately $700 million to deliver a high-performance Mars telecommunications orbiter no later than 31 December 2028. Blue Origin will design, develop, integrate, launch and operate the network, which NASA expects to be operational at Mars by 2030.
The Information reported on the night of 26 August 2026, citing a person familiar with the matter, that Nvidia has agreed to acquire Hugging Face, the leading hub for open-source AI models and datasets, for about $12.9bn. Reuters, CNBC, Bloomberg, TechCrunch and Business Insider all carried the story on 27 August. The reported deal would place Nvidia in control of the dominant open-model distribution platform, alongside its existing 2023 partnership with Hugging Face on generative AI supercomputing. Nvidia has not announced the transaction, has issued no press release, and had filed no 8-K disclosing it as of 2 September 2026.
Florida Today reported that the first phase of Relativity Space's expansion in Brevard County, Florida - previously known by the code name Project Forge - involves a total capital investment of $565 million and is projected to create 590 new jobs at average salaries of $86,000. The expansion covers a new Terran R factory plus expanded test and launch infrastructure at Cape Canaveral, where Relativity Space plans to launch Terran R from Launch Complex 16. The report follows an earlier agreement struck with Space Florida, reported by SpaceNews in July 2026, to expand Terran R production in the state.
SoftBank Group is in negotiations to acquire a MAJORITY stake in OpenAI-backed humanoid developer 1X Technologies, in a deal that would value the company at roughly $6 billion. First reported by The Information on 26 Aug and independently carried by Reuters on 27 Aug. Two things make it material beyond the headline number. First, it would be a change of control of a roster company, not a growth round. Second, $6bn is a step DOWN from 1X's last share sale and well below the ~$10bn valuation it was reported to be seeking on a ~$1bn raise — while still far above the $820m it commanded in January 2025. The deal extends SoftBank's robotics push, following its agreement to acquire ABB's robotics unit. NOT consummated: this is a reported negotiation and may not close.
Iridium filed its definitive merger proxy (DEFM14A) and Rocket Lab filed the related 424B3 prospectus on 26 August 2026, finalising terms of the merger agreement signed 28 June 2026. Each Iridium share converts into $27.00 in cash plus Rocket Lab stock at an exchange ratio collared between 0.2400 shares (if Rocket Lab trades at or above $112.50) and 0.4000 shares (at or below $67.50); Rocket Lab has a committed $3.6 billion 364-day senior secured bridge facility. A virtual special meeting of Iridium stockholders is scheduled for 24 September 2026 at 8:30am ET, after which Iridium would become an indirect wholly owned Rocket Lab subsidiary.
Pacific Fusion broke ground on a $1 billion Research & Manufacturing Campus at Mesa del Sol in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which will house its Demonstration System — designed to reach net facility gain by 2030 and to produce high-yield fusion bursts exceeding 100 megajoules, making it the only high-yield fusion facility under construction in the United States. The same day, the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration and Pacific Fusion announced a Memorandum of Understanding Regarding Collaboration on High Yield Fusion, High-Energy-Density Science and Related Technical Areas, signed by NNSA Administrator Brandon Williams and Pacific Fusion co-founder and CTO Keith LeChien. NNSA stressed the MOU is a framework only: specific projects and funding commitments require separate agreements. Federal, state and local leaders attended alongside investors including board member Eric Schmidt, and the company positioned the build explicitly against Chinese fusion investment.