Space Station Logs Historic First ARISS Contact with Kenya

There was a historic first contact between Amateur Radio on the International Space Station and the African nation of Kenya.

The voice from space belonged to astronaut Sophie Adenot KJ5LTN, using the callsign OR4ISS. Back here on Earth, the voices were those of students at a school in Nairobi, Kenya, selected earlier this year to be the first in an African country to participate in Amateur Radio on the International Space Station. It was hosted by the Kenya Space Agency on the 5th August 2026 with the help of a telebridge via ON4SS in Belgium. 

The students posed 11 questions, ranging on a variety of topics. 

The event was a big moment, not just for the students but for Kenya's relatively young space agency, established in 2017 to advance that nation's agenda for using space technology to boost socioeconomic development.

UK's Leading Observatory Earmarked for Shutdown

The home of the UK's largest radio telescope is facing shutdown after its funding was pulled for a major project.

The Jodrell Bank Observatory, which gathers data about the galaxy from seven radio telescopes across England, has lost government funding for the project and faces closure. The network, known as e-Merlin, is earmarked for shutdown following an announcement by UK Research and Innovation that it was ending financial support for the research and that all scientific work at Jodrell will be halted on the 1st April 2028.

The observatory in Cheshire has also been home for seven decades to the massive 76-metre Lovell radio telescope. Jodrell Bank has been a foremost figure among astronomy centres worldwide and was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.