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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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What to Know about the Artemis 2 Mission's Moon Flyby

03 April 2026: A partial views of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman from a window on the Orion spacecraft as it heads to the Moon. The picture was released on the third day of the first mission since 1972 to send people around the moon. Photo: Reid Wiseman/Nasa/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
03 April 2026: A partial views of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman from a window on the Orion spacecraft as it heads to the Moon. The picture was released on the third day of the first mission since 1972 to send people around the moon. Photo: Reid Wiseman/Nasa/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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What to Know about the Artemis 2 Mission's Moon Flyby

03 April 2026: A partial views of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman from a window on the Orion spacecraft as it heads to the Moon. The picture was released on the third day of the first mission since 1972 to send people around the moon. Photo: Reid Wiseman/Nasa/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
03 April 2026: A partial views of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman from a window on the Orion spacecraft as it heads to the Moon. The picture was released on the third day of the first mission since 1972 to send people around the moon. Photo: Reid Wiseman/Nasa/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

For the first time in more than half a century, astronauts will fly around the Moon on Monday, marking the high point of the Artemis 2's lunar mission.

Here's what you need to know about the event according to AFP:

- Live broadcast -

The flyby will last around seven hours, starting Monday around 2:45 p.m. eastern US time (1845 GMT) and ending around 9:20 p.m. (0120 GMT).

NASA will broadcast the flyby live on its website, as well as on YouTube, Amazon and Netflix, with commentary from both the astronauts aboard the mission and experts at the Mission Control center in Houston, Texas.

Given the lengthy distance -- further than any humans have ever traveled from Earth -- NASA has cautioned that the livestream video quality may be poor at times.

- Radio silence -

There will be a period of around 40 minutes during the flyby where all communication with Artemis 2 will be cut off as the astronauts pass behind the Moon.

"It'll be exciting, you know, in a slightly scary way, when they go behind the moon," Derek Buzasi, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Chicago, told AFP.

The academic recalled during the Apollo missions to the Moon, "we all held our breaths a little bit."

- History-making milestones -

The Artemis 2 mission represents several first, as it will be the first time a woman, Christina Koch, a Black person, Victor Glover, and a non-American, Jeremy Hansen, will reach the Moon.

Until now, only the Apollo-era astronauts, all of whom were white American men, reached the Moon, between 1968 and 1972.

Shortly before the start of the flyby, the Artemis 2 crew will also reach the furthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth.

The spacecraft is expected to surpass the Apollo 13 distance record by 4,102 miles (6,600 kilometers) and will reach a maximum distance from the planet of 252,757 miles (406,772 kilometers).

- Moon the size of a basketball -

Apollo flights flew some 70 miles (110 kilometers) above the lunar surface, but the Artemis 2 crew will be over 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers) away at their closest approach.

The spaceship will actually swing around the Moon without entering its orbit by following a carefully planned trajectory.

The distance from the Moon will allow astronauts on board to see the complete, circular surface of the Moon, including regions near both poles.

The Moon will appear to the astronauts "about the size of a basketball held at arm's length," Noah Petro, head of NASA's planetary geology lab, told AFP.

- Far side of the Moon -

The flyby will see the Artemis 2 crew pass behind the far side of the Moon, which is not visible to Earth.

The astronauts of the Apollo mission also flew behind the Moon, but they were too close to witness it in entirety.

The Artemis 2 crew will therefore be able to see regions of the Moon that had previously only been captured by robotic imagers.

The four astronauts have gone through years of training to observe and describe the geological formations they observe as accurately as possible.

NASA scientists hope the observations recorded by the crew will provide information about the composition of the Moon and its history, as well as the wider solar system by extension.

- Solar eclipse -

Toward the end of the flyby, the astronauts will experience a rare phenomenon: a solar eclipse.

For about 53 minutes, their spacecraft will perfectly align with the Moon and the Sun, causing the star to disappear from view.

The astronauts will then have the chance to study the solar corona, the outermost layer of the Sun's atmosphere, which will become visible as a sort of glowing halo.

They will also be on the lookout for possible flashes of light caused by meteorites crashing into the surface of the Moon.

- 'Earthrise' redux -

The Artemis 2 astronauts will also see the Earth disappear and reappear behind the Moon.

Their position will potentially allow them to recreate the famous "Earthrise" photograph from the Apollo 8 mission in 1968.

The iconic photograph taken by astronaut William Anders captured the bright blue Earth against the vast darkness of space, with the Moon's cratered surface in the foreground.

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Gray Whale that Swam 20 Miles Up Washington State River is Found Dead

This photo provided by Cascadia Research Collective shows a gray whale swimming in the Willapa River near Willapa Bay, Wash., Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (Cascadia Research Collective via AP)
This photo provided by Cascadia Research Collective shows a gray whale swimming in the Willapa River near Willapa Bay, Wash., Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (Cascadia Research Collective via AP)
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Gray Whale that Swam 20 Miles Up Washington State River is Found Dead

This photo provided by Cascadia Research Collective shows a gray whale swimming in the Willapa River near Willapa Bay, Wash., Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (Cascadia Research Collective via AP)
This photo provided by Cascadia Research Collective shows a gray whale swimming in the Willapa River near Willapa Bay, Wash., Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (Cascadia Research Collective via AP)

A juvenile gray whale that amazed Washington state residents after it swam 20 miles up a small river was found dead, and an official with a marine mammal research group suspects hunger may have driven the whale to new hunting grounds as the species' population declines.

The whale was discovered Saturday near Raymond, Washington, in the Willapa River, which feeds into the ocean at Willapa Bay. A number of gray whales are currently in the bay on their 5,000-mile (8,000-kilometer) spring migration from birthing grounds in Baja California, Mexico, north to feeding grounds in Alaska.

The larger issue that the population of gray whales in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean has faced since 2019 is reduced food availability in the northern Bering and Chukchi seas off Alaska’s coast, John Calambokidis, a research biologist with the Cascadia Research Collective, told The Associated Press on Sunday.

“Gray whales are facing a major crisis and the heart of it does seem to be feeding on their prey in the Arctic,” he said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries agency declared an unusual mortality event for eastern gray whales — meaning those in the eastern Pacific — from late 2018 to late 2023. It involved 690 gray whale strandings during that time, stretching from Alaska to Mexico.

NOAA Fisheries investigators concluded the preliminary cause was “localized ecosystem changes in the whales’ sub-Arctic and Arctic feeding areas that led to changes in food, malnutrition, decreased birth rates and increased mortality.”

Officials believed the population was rebounding, but the most recent count from 2025 instead showed a continuing decline. The federal agency estimated there were about 13,000 gray whales, the lowest count since the 1970s.

“A lot of these gray whales are looking very emaciated, very thin,” Calambokidis said.

Their migration north is typically the most challenging period for gray whales, the longest they’ve gone without eating, forcing the animals to use up their nutritional reserves.

“When that happens, you often see gray whales in a more desperate search for new areas to feed,” Calambokidis said. "That’s the most likely context for this whale.”

Researchers will attempt to examine the whale, possibly as soon as Monday.

It entered the north fork of the Willapa River on Wednesday, via a bay about 185 miles (298 kilometers) southwest of Seattle. Residents gathered on bridges along the river just to catch glimpses of the massive mammal and flooded social media with photos and video of it expelling air through its blowhole.

While the gray whale appeared thin, it was behaving normally and didn’t appear to have any injuries, the nonprofit Cascadia Research Collective said in a Facebook post.

The organization was giving the whale time and space to leave the river on its own, but when researchers attempted to find it Friday, the animal had traveled further upriver into waters that were unnavigable by boat, Calambokidis said.

Varieties

Chilean Zoo Stages Easter Egg Hunt with Treats for the Animals

A meerkat inspects a basket with Easter egg-themed treats in the Buinzoo in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
A meerkat inspects a basket with Easter egg-themed treats in the Buinzoo in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
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Chilean Zoo Stages Easter Egg Hunt with Treats for the Animals

A meerkat inspects a basket with Easter egg-themed treats in the Buinzoo in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
A meerkat inspects a basket with Easter egg-themed treats in the Buinzoo in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Step aside, children — this Easter egg hunt is for zoo animals only.

At the largest private zoo in Chile, several of its animal residents — meerkats, monkeys, lemurs and others — searched on Sunday for their food packaged as Easter egg-themed treats.

The “egg hunt” is an annual event at Bioparque Buinzoo in the country’s capital, Santiago, meant to both entertain visitors and stimulate natural food-hunting behavior in various species.

The Associated Press said that zookeepers placed small bags decorated like Easter eggs but packed with meat in the enclosures of small felines, such as caracals, who leapt up tree branches to get their snacks.

A meerkat had a basket with eggs placed in between some rocks in its enclosure. Monkeys and lemurs were treated to fruits hidden in brown paper bags decorated with bunny years.

Ignacio Idalsoaga, the zoo's director, said that “in nature, these animals spend much of their life looking for food” so the zoo wanted to recreate that behavior.

The treats and snacks were “not chocolate eggs,” he added reassuringly but foods the animals would eat in their natural habitat.

The annual even has been held for the past 16 years, Idalsoaga said. This year, sheep also had to forage for their food pellets inside a colorful sphere with holes in it.

“Our creative team has been very imaginative this year” Idalsoaga said.