A crew of five astronauts started its return to Earth aboard a SpaceX capsule that undocked from the International Space Station on Friday at 2215 GMT and will splash down at 0333 GMT on Saturday, off the coast of California.

Their return will mark the end of the 10th crew rotation mission to the space station under NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which was created to succeed the Space Shuttle era by partnering with private industry. The astronauts were shown on live TV embracing and hugging their counterparts in zero gravity on the space station.

The NASA duo's Starliner had returned to Earth empty, without experiencing further major issues -- leaving them stuck for nine months after what was meant to have been a days-long roundtrip. 

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The World Robot Conference (WRC) opened in Beijing on Friday, with more than 100 cutting-edge robotics products making their debuts, nearly twice as many as last year. Running from Friday to Tuesday at the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, the 2025 edition of the conference is held under the theme "Making Robots Smarter, Making Embodied Agents More Intelligent".

The 2025 WRC featuring forums, exhibitions, competitions and networking events, with about 200 leading robotics companies from around the world presenting over 1,500 exhibits.

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OpenAI on Thursday released GPT-5, its new flagship artificial intelligence (AI) model set to power the next generation of ChatGPT chatbot. OpenAI described GPT-5 as its most intelligent and fastest model to date, with significant improvements in coding, writing and executing complex tasks.

ChatGPT now reaches over 700 million users per week. GPT-5 is available for free to all users, while paid subscribers enjoy higher usage limits and access to GPT-5 Pro, according to OpenAI.

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A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule docked at the International Space Station.

The four-astronaut team is part of the 11th research expedition to the orbiting laboratory under NASA's Commercial Crew Program, created to succeed the Space Shuttle era by partnering with private industry. The crew will stay for about six months to conduct experiments that will help prepare for missions to the moon and other destinations.

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The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) has announced that China's Chang'e-6 mission team has been honored with the 2025 IAF World Space Award (Team category). As the IAF's highest honor, traditionally described as the "Oscar in space," the award is presented to individuals and teams whose outstanding contributions have made a lasting global impact on space science, technology, law, medicine or management.

This year's IAF World Space Award will be presented during the opening ceremony of 76th International Astronautical Congress, taking place from September 29 to October 3 in Sydney, Australia.

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A formidable new radar satellite jointly developed by the United States and India was launched which is designed to track subtle changes in Earth's land and ice surfaces and help predict both natural and human-caused hazards.

Dubbed NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), the pickup truck-sized spacecraft blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India's southeastern coast, riding an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) rocket.

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At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference's opening ceremony in Shanghai, Chinese Premier Li Qiang warned against nations or companies gatekeeping AI technology.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang has proposed establishing an organization to foster global cooperation on artificial intelligence, calling on countries to coordinate on the development and security of the fast-evolving technology.

Speaking at the annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, Li called AI a new engine for growth, adding that governance is fragmented and emphasizing the need for more coordination between countries to form a globally recognized framework for AI.

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A Russian rocket put an Iranian communications satellite into space on Friday. Weighing 110 kilograms, the satellite was designed and manufactured by Iranian engineers and the latest achievement for an aerospace programme. The launch was announced shortly before nuclear talks between Iran and Britain, France and Germany opened in Istanbul.

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A Chinese tech startup on Tuesday delivered a tonneclass electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, marking a breakthrough in the application of large eVTOLs.
Developed by the Shanghai-based company AutoFlight, the V2000CG CarryAll boasts a maximum takeoff weight of two tonnes.
Following the acquisition of the type certificate and production certificate last year, along with the airworthiness certificate acquired on Monday, the unmanned aircraft will be operated by a Guangzhou-based low-altitude transport business.
The all-electric V2000CG CarryAll has a payload capacity of up to 400 kilogrammes with a maximum cruising speed of 200 kilometres per hour and a range of 200 kilometres. It features vertical takeoff and landing capabilities and a fixed-wing cruising design, enabling
its applications in low-altitude logistics, emergency response and other fields. — Xinhua

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The Integral-E, France's first 100% electric aircraft, designed by Aura Aero, is carrying out a test flight at Cugnaux, southwestern France. Supported by European funding from carbon credits, the two-seater is part of a strategy to decarbonize French aviation. Chief engineer at Integral-E said “European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the European certification body are jointly working to define all the rules applicable to this new technology for the certification of this new electric propulsion chain”.

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