You're listening to Tech Beat, your daily look at the stories shaping our world.
Europe's space ambitions are getting a serious budget behind them. The European Space Agency's director general Josef Aschbacher has unveiled a ten billion euro plan to reach orbit independently of NASA. The move comes as the broader space industry, currently valued at six hundred billion euros, is projected to grow by ten percent annually.
Closer to earth, a quieter revolution is taking shape on farmland across the continent. Agrivoltaics, the practice of combining solar panels with active crop production on the same land, is gaining attention as a potential answer to the growing tension between renewable energy development and food security. Supporters say it could protect crops and supplement farmer income, though critics argue it sidesteps deeper structural problems in agriculture.
And shifting from fields to the skies over the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is vowing a decisive response after Houthi rebels struck Riyadh's international airport, killing a dozen people and wounding more than three hundred. It marks the deadliest such strike on the kingdom in a decade, and regional observers are watching closely for what comes next.
Keep surfing. Tech Beat out.
