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Saudi Arabia Launches ‘Shams,’ 1st Arab Satellite to Monitor Space Weather from Distant Orbit

The satellite represents a milestone in Saudi innovation (Saudi Space Agency)
The satellite represents a milestone in Saudi innovation (Saudi Space Agency)
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Saudi Arabia Launches ‘Shams,’ 1st Arab Satellite to Monitor Space Weather from Distant Orbit

The satellite represents a milestone in Saudi innovation (Saudi Space Agency)
The satellite represents a milestone in Saudi innovation (Saudi Space Agency)

The Saudi Space Agency announced the successful launch of its new satellite, Shams, and established contact with it as part of the Artemis II mission, marking the Kingdom’s emergence as both the leading Arab partner in the program and the first to deploy a dedicated national mission to study space weather.

The satellite represents a milestone in Saudi innovation. Developed domestically by Saudi engineers, Shams has evolved from a national ambition into a scientific platform designed to monitor solar activity and radiation and their effects on Earth, with implications for safeguarding global communications and navigation systems.

The Artemis program, led by NASA in partnership with dozens of countries, aims to return humans to lunar orbit for the first time in more than 50 years, paving the way for future missions to Mars. Saudi Arabia joined the Artemis Accords in 2022 alongside more than 60 nations to help establish a framework for space exploration and strengthen its role in the sector.

The Artemis II mission will carry four astronauts on the first crewed flight to orbit the Moon aboard the Orion spacecraft, launched by the Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket ever operated. Shams is included as one of the mission’s scientific payloads.

The satellite will operate in a highly elliptical orbit (HEO), ranging from approximately 500 km to 70,000 km above Earth. This trajectory enables broad monitoring of solar and radiation activity, advancing space weather research and supporting critical applications.

Space laboratory to tackle radiation and solar activity challenges

Shams is designed to study space weather through four scientific areas: space radiation, solar X-rays, Earth’s magnetic field and high-energy solar particles. It will also collect data to support the development of protection technologies for future human spaceflight and improve understanding of solar particle behavior and magnetic fields.

The mission is expected to enhance the reliability and sustainability of key sectors such as communications, aviation and navigation by providing data that improves operational readiness and strengthens the security of critical infrastructure.

The Saudi Space Agency said the project aims to boost scientific research, develop future solutions and support a knowledge-based economy through the localization of advanced technologies, in line with Saudi Vision 2030. It also seeks to reinforce Saudi Arabia’s global standing in the space sector and empower national talent in space science and technology.

Data from Shams is expected to improve early warning systems for solar storms that can disrupt internet services, telecommunications and navigation signals. The findings could also help protect power grids and energy infrastructure from severe solar activity that can cause outages or damage.

By improving monitoring of radiation and solar winds, the mission may contribute to safer air travel and future crewed missions to the Moon and Mars, while opening new avenues in medicine, energy and science.

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Varieties

Jurassic Art: Fossils Transformed Into Artwork at Amsterdam Museum

Typical Amsterdam houses sit next to a canal in Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 19, 2026. (Reuters)
Typical Amsterdam houses sit next to a canal in Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 19, 2026. (Reuters)
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Jurassic Art: Fossils Transformed Into Artwork at Amsterdam Museum

Typical Amsterdam houses sit next to a canal in Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 19, 2026. (Reuters)
Typical Amsterdam houses sit next to a canal in Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 19, 2026. (Reuters)

Hanging by a thin metal strap, a 67-million-year-old triceratops skull twirls above a coral sculpture, the centerpiece of a new exhibition aiming to make art out of prehistoric fossils.

The "Relics" show at Amsterdam's Art Zoo will display nine works by creative duo Jaap Sinke and Ferry van Tongeren that combine science and art.

The aim was to highlight the aesthetic side of the fossils, usually presented in an educational way in natural history museums, van Tongeren told AFP.

The artists tried to give the fossils "a more monumental form" with "more stature," the 59-year-old told AFP in an interview.

The exhibition also features the bones of a basilosaurus, which roamed the seas up to 40 million years ago, but arranged as a sculpture rather than a traditional skeleton reconstruction.

Natural history museums have a valuable scientific and educational value "but lack a captivating element," said van Tongeren. "And that was the starting point for everything we did."

The artists worked with Zoic, an Italian palaeontology company that processes fossils and reconstructs dinosaur skeletons.

Creating the exhibits required "an extraordinary combination of knowledge and different processes," Iacopo Briano, 42, curator of the exhibition and palaeontology expert at Zoic, told AFP.

First comes the "puzzle" of unearthing and reconstructing the bones from a fossil discovery.

Then the fragile bones need to be transported so the artists could start their own work -- a 10-year process in the case of this exhibit.

This prehistoric show, whose oldest exhibit is a dinosaur vertebra about 150 million years old, opens to the public on Friday and runs until November 2026.

Varieties

Greenpeace Warns of Potential ‘Catastrophic’ Chernobyl Collapse

Representatives of Greenpeace and media stand in front of the sarcophagus covering the destroyed fourth reactor under the New Safe Confinement (NSC), at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on April 9, 2026. (AFP)
Representatives of Greenpeace and media stand in front of the sarcophagus covering the destroyed fourth reactor under the New Safe Confinement (NSC), at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on April 9, 2026. (AFP)
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Greenpeace Warns of Potential ‘Catastrophic’ Chernobyl Collapse

Representatives of Greenpeace and media stand in front of the sarcophagus covering the destroyed fourth reactor under the New Safe Confinement (NSC), at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on April 9, 2026. (AFP)
Representatives of Greenpeace and media stand in front of the sarcophagus covering the destroyed fourth reactor under the New Safe Confinement (NSC), at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on April 9, 2026. (AFP)

An uncontrolled collapse of the internal radiation shell at the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power station in Ukraine could increase the risk of radioactivity release in the environment, Greenpeace warned on Tuesday.

In 1986, while Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, a reactor at Chernobyl exploded, sending clouds of radiation across much of Europe and forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate.

The remnants of the plant are covered by an inner steel-and-concrete radiation shell -- known as the sarcophagus and built hastily after the disaster -- and a modern, high-tech outer shell, called the New Safe Confinement (NSC) structure.

Kyiv has accused Russia of repeatedly targeting the site since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, including of a strike last year that pierced the outer shell.

In a report released Tuesday, days before the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, Greenpeace warned that despite some repair works, the confinement function of the NSC "could not be fully restored".

"This increases the risk of radioactivity release in the environment, especially in the case of a collapse" of the internal shelter, Greenpeace said.

"That would be catastrophic because... there's four tons of dust, highly radioactive dust, fuel pellets, enormous amounts of radioactivity inside the sarcophagus," Shaun Burnie, a senior nuclear specialist for Greenpeace Ukraine, told AFP earlier this month.

"And because the New Safe Confinement cannot be repaired at the moment, it cannot function as it was designed, there's a possibility of radioactive releases," Burnie added.

Greenpeace said deconstruction of unstable elements of the internal shell was necessary to prevent their uncontrolled collapse.

But any works at the site were impeded by the war raging on as "there's missiles from the Russians still being fired across Chernobyl," Burnie said.

"Here we are 40 years on, and Russia is still conducting effectively a nuclear war against the people of Ukraine and Europe."

Plant director Sergiy Tarakanov said the situation around the site was "very dangerous".

"If a rocket will drop, not directly into the safe confinement, but just in 200 meters, it will create an external impact like an earthquake," increasing the risk of the inner shell collapsing.

"And what actually 1986 accident showed to us... that the radioactive particles, they do not recognize borders," Tarakanov added.

Last month, France said that the Chernobyl protective dome would require almost 500 million euros of repairs after the Russian strike in 2025.

Varieties

Prince Harry and Meghan Arrive in Australia to a Muted Welcome

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, arrive at the Australian National Veterans Arts Museum (Anvam) in Southbank, Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (Jonathan Brady/Pool Photo via AP)
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, arrive at the Australian National Veterans Arts Museum (Anvam) in Southbank, Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (Jonathan Brady/Pool Photo via AP)
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Prince Harry and Meghan Arrive in Australia to a Muted Welcome

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, arrive at the Australian National Veterans Arts Museum (Anvam) in Southbank, Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (Jonathan Brady/Pool Photo via AP)
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, arrive at the Australian National Veterans Arts Museum (Anvam) in Southbank, Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (Jonathan Brady/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prince Harry and wife Meghan landed in Australia on Tuesday for a four-day visit with engagements covering sport, mental health and veterans' affairs.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex began their trip at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, where they took part in an activity in the hospital's therapeutic garden spaces.

"It was a genuinely meaningful visit for our staff and for the young people receiving care," said Dr. Peter Steer, the hospital's CEO.

Harry, ‌wearing a navy ‌suit and white shirt, spoke to children and posed ‌for ⁠photographs with patients ⁠in the foyer of the hospital, calling one of the handmade signs welcoming the couple "beautiful".

Meghan, who wore a matching A$1,250 ($885) navy dress by Sydney-based designer Karen Gee, later helped serve food at a women's domestic violence shelter in the city.

The Sussexes stepped down as working members of the British royal family and moved to the US in 2020, citing a desire to be financially independent and ⁠to escape what they characterized as media intrusion into ‌their private lives.

They last visited Australia in ‌2018 while still working royals, announcing Meghan's first pregnancy hours after arriving in Sydney.

Their latest visit has captured public attention in Australia, where ‌Britain's King Charles is the head of state, though a sizeable minority supports becoming a republic. But there was little sign of the ecstatic reception that greeted them on the 2018 trip. Television networks aired footage that they said showed the couple arriving ‌in Melbourne on a commercial flight from Los Angeles, before being taken from the tarmac in a vehicle convoy.

The ⁠couple's travel is ⁠being privately funded, though local media reported some policing costs associated with the visit would be paid by Australian taxpayers, sparking a protest petition signed by more than 45,000 people.

The couple will travel to the capital, Canberra, on Wednesday to meet military veterans, attend a mental health summit in Melbourne on Thursday and round off the joint leg of their trip with sailing and rugby events in Sydney on Friday.

In contrast to their previous visit, the Sussexes will also undertake commercial activities while in Australia, with Meghan remaining in the country to host a wellness retreat at a luxury beachside hotel in Sydney over the weekend.

Tickets for the event, which includes yoga, manifestation and sound healing, start at A$2,699 ($1,912) per person.