After an impressive IPO, SpaceX shares are beginning to face the same challenges Tesla once did.

In the first weeks after its listing, SpaceX stock climbed to $225, significantly exceeding the IPO price of $135. Since then, however, the shares have fallen below $110. This has served as the first signal to investors that cutting-edge technology and Elon Musk’s name alone may not be enough to sustain such a high valuation over the long term.

The parallels with Tesla are striking. After going public in 2010, Tesla stock also experienced a sharp post-IPO decline before rebounding a year later as investors embraced a compelling growth narrative. The launch of the Model S helped convince the market that the company’s business could scale successfully. The big question now is whether SpaceX can follow a similar path.

The company has several arguments in its favor. The Starship program is gradually approaching commercial operation, with the recent 13th test flight marking the most successful in the program’s history. The vehicle completed its main tasks, successfully restarted its engine in space, and executed the softest landing to date. Even more notably, the spacecraft maintained the integrity of its hull so well that it remained afloat for several days after splashdown, prompting SpaceX to organize a dedicated recovery mission. Rather than highlighting technical shortcomings, the episode underscored the program’s growing maturity.

Starship is expected to become a key driver of the company’s long-term growth. The rocket will significantly reduce the cost of launching cargo into orbit while accelerating the deployment of the Starlink satellite constellation, which is already SpaceX’s largest source of revenue. The sooner the company can switch to regular commercial operations, the more convincing its long-term financial outlook will become.

However, investors remain primarily concerned about the company’s financial fundamentals. Aside from Starlink, many of SpaceX’s business lines are still unprofitable. Revenue growth has also begun to fall short of what investors expect from a company valued at roughly $1.4 trillion, while large-scale investments in AI continue to weigh on expenses. Intensifying competition across both the space industry and related business sectors is adding further pressure.

The situation is also complicated by SpaceX’s close relationship with Tesla. Recently, the market was stirred by reports that — to facilitate a potential merger between the two companies — Tesla might have to divest its largest Chinese manufacturing facility in Shanghai. Elon Musk quickly dismissed the claims, calling them completely fictional. Nevertheless, the very existence of such speculation shows that investors continue to view SpaceX and Tesla as elements of a single ecosystem. Meanwhile, the Shanghai factory remains one of Tesla’s key assets; the facility can produce more than 950,000 vehicles annually, supplies several international markets at once, and sources over 95% of its components locally.

As a result, SpaceX’s first year as a public company is likely to become a test of investor confidence. The market has already priced in much of the company’s long-term potential. The next phase will depend on tangible financial results and evidence that its capital-intensive projects can evolve into sustainable profit generators. If the Starship program continues to successfully move toward commercial operation and Starlink maintains its strong growth trajectory, the current weakness in the stock could ultimately resemble Tesla’s post-IPO experience. Until then, however, investors are likely to focus less on ambitious promises and more on how quickly technological breakthroughs translate into measurable financial performance.

A late invoice from an Italian customer can create an awkward tension for a UK supplier. The sales team wants to preserve a valuable relationship.

Finance wants a date it can put into the cash forecast. Management wants to know whether the delay is administrative, commercial or a sign of deeper payment risk.

Those priorities do not have to conflict. The practical response is to run two clocks at once.

The customer-resolution clock tracks what the buyer needs to approve and release payment. The internal-escalation clock sets the point at which the supplier must make a deliberate decision, even if the customer continues to offer reassurance.

This approach matters because payment timing in Italy can be longer than UK suppliers expect. The UK Government’s current Italy market guidance warns that business-to-business payments can take several weeks and, in some sectors, months. Atradius reported in its 2026 Italy survey that settlement of overdue invoices takes longer than the Western European benchmark and that customer cash-flow stress is a leading reason for delay.

Those are market signals, not conclusions about a particular customer. The file still has to tell you what is happening in this case.

Start both clocks with a verified invoice

Before chasing, confirm that the invoice could be processed. Check the exact contracting entity, billing address, tax details, currency, bank information, purchase-order reference and agreed payment terms. For goods, connect the commercial invoice to the order, shipping documents, delivery record and any acceptance evidence. For services, preserve the signed scope, milestones, timesheets or approval messages.

UK export guidance stresses that commercial-invoice information should match the related transaction and banking documents. A mismatch can create a real processing delay. Correcting it quickly is better than escalating a preventable error.

Create a one-page status with the invoice number, amount, due date, customer entity, responsible contacts and latest verified explanation. That page becomes the control record for both clocks.

Use the customer-resolution clock to find the blocker

The first conversation should seek a specific operational answer. Has the invoice been received? Is it registered in the customer’s system? Has the relevant manager approved it? Is any part disputed? Has payment been scheduled?

Ask who owns each next step and by what date it will happen. If the customer says the invoice is in process, request the scheduled payment date and reference. If documents are missing, provide them and ask the customer to confirm that the file is complete. If a dispute is raised, ask for the disputed item, amount and supporting reason in writing.

Avoid treating every delay as a cultural difference. Italian companies, like companies anywhere, have different approval structures, financial positions and payment practices. A named owner and dated action are more useful than a broad assumption about the market.

Use the internal-escalation clock to protect options

The second clock belongs to the supplier. It should not reset every time someone promises to “check with accounts.” Set an internal review date based on the amount, evidence, customer importance, length of delay and exposure from continuing to trade.

At that review, choose among four states.

Resolve: there is a specific administrative blocker with an owner and near-term completion date.

Negotiate: the customer accepts the debt but needs time. Require exact instalment amounts and dates, approval by the appropriate manager and written confirmation.

Investigate: the customer has raised a substantive dispute. Separate the disputed and undisputed amounts, assign the commercial owner and preserve the evidence.

Escalate: the claim is clear, the agreed date has passed and the customer has not provided a credible resolution path.

These states make the decision repeatable. They also allow sales and finance to discuss the same facts instead of arguing from different impressions.

Prepare the file before seeking outside help

If escalation becomes proportionate, assemble the contract, invoice, delivery evidence, statement of account, dispute history and communication chronology. Confirm the exact debtor entity and the current amount claimed. Note any part payment, credit or counterclaim.

Companies seeking to recover unpaid invoices from Italian customers can then give local counsel or a collection provider a coherent file. That improves the first assessment and reduces the risk of spending time on missing documents or the wrong entity.

For suppliers trading in several markets, understanding European debt recovery routes can also help management distinguish a repeatable cross-border process from the country-specific advice needed for each claim. The operating model can be standardised; the legal assessment should remain local.

Preserve goodwill through precision

Professional escalation is not the opposite of relationship management. A vague chase can create irritation because neither side knows what will happen next. A precise message identifies the invoice, current issue, agreed action and decision date.

The two-clock method gives the customer a fair opportunity to resolve the problem while protecting the supplier from open-ended delay. The resolution clock keeps the conversation practical. The escalation clock ensures that goodwill has a boundary.

For UK SMEs selling to Italy, that balance is the real discipline: remain constructive, verify every promise and keep the next decision on the calendar.

Author bio

Lars Holdgaard is the founder of Debitura and has 10+ years of experience across debt collection, accounts receivable, technology, and startups. Before Debitura, he co-founded and led product and technology work at startups and scaleups, building software for financial administration and receivables management. Lars studied at the IT University of Copenhagen and the Technical University of Denmark.

AUSTIN, Texas — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has recalled nearly 30,000 pounds of raw beef imported from Argentina after the products entered U.S. commerce without a required federal reinspection, the agency’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced.

The recall covers 29,628 pounds of raw beef products distributed to retailers and distributors in Texas and Florida by Corte Argentino USA LLC, a company based in Aventura, Florida. FSIS said the products originated with Frigorifico Gorina SAIC, a beef producer in Argentina, and were manufactured between May 15 and May 20. The affected items carry use-or-freeze-by dates ranging from Sept. 15 through Sept. 20.

The recalled beef includes several boneless cuts — top sirloin butt, eye round, topside cap off, flat and knuckle — packaged in cardboard boxes under the Frigorifico Gorina SAIC brand. Products subject to the recall bear the Argentine establishment number “EST. N° OF. 2025” and the shipping mark “26644-AA.”

FSIS said the issue was discovered during routine inspection activity, when officials determined the beef had bypassed a mandatory import reinspection step designed to verify that labeling, documentation and the physical condition of imported meat meet federal standards. Despite the nature of the violation, FSIS classified the recall as Class I, its highest-risk category, reserved for situations in which there is a reasonable probability that eating the product could cause serious health consequences or death. The agency’s recall notice did not identify a specific contaminant.

No illnesses or injuries have been confirmed in connection with the beef, according to FSIS. The agency said it is concerned that some of the recalled product may still be sitting in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers, and it urged anyone with the affected beef not to eat it. Consumers were advised to throw the products away or return them to the place of purchase. FSIS said it would post a list of retail locations that received the beef as that information becomes available; as of this week, it remained unclear exactly which stores sold the recalled products.

Corte Argentino directed questions about the recall to Eial Kaplun, the company’s general manager. In addition to Argentine-style cuts, the company also distributes American Angus and Australian Wagyu beef, according to its own materials.

The recall drew a sharp response from outgoing Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who said the lapse should not have happened. “Nearly 30,000 pounds of Argentine beef made it into American commerce without receiving the required federal import reinspection. That is unacceptable,” Miller said in a statement, adding that American consumers “should never have to wonder whether foreign meat slipped through the cracks.” Miller said Texas producers “meet rigorous standards” and called on USDA to determine how the beef bypassed inspection, closing with a message urging Texans to “buy American” and “buy Texas.”

The recall lands at a politically charged moment for the U.S. beef trade. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump moved to expand the amount of Argentine beef eligible to enter the United States at a lower tariff, adding 80,000 metric tons of Argentine lean beef to the import quota in a February proclamation as part of an effort with Argentine President Javier Milei to ease record-high domestic beef prices. That expansion has drawn opposition from segments of the U.S. cattle industry, which argues foreign imports undercut American producers who operate under stricter regulatory requirements. FSIS and industry observers have said the recall itself stems from an isolated import-processing failure and is not tied to the broader policy debate over expanded Argentine imports.

The recall also comes as the U.S. gradually reopens its border to Mexican feeder cattle following a monthslong halt prompted by concerns over New World screwworm, a livestock pest. That reopening is expected to add modestly to U.S. cattle supplies, though officials have said imports will initially remain limited.

FSIS noted that the current episode is not the first time an import reinspection failure has led to a recall. In June 2024, South American Meat Inc., doing business as 5Gogi LLC, recalled frozen raw beef that had also entered the country without the required reinspection, underscoring that the gap in oversight is not unique to Corte Argentino’s shipment.

The agency said it routinely conducts effectiveness checks to confirm that recalling companies have notified their distributors and retailers and that recalled products have been pulled from store shelves. FSIS has not yet detailed how the uninspected Corte Argentino shipment cleared its port of entry before reaching distributors in Texas and Florida.

Feliciano Serrano, MD, has built his career around specialized medicine, research, and a commitment to serving the Los Angeles community where he was raised

His path has included advanced training in nephrology and vascular interventions, NIH-supported kidney research, lecturing and research at Harvard Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and years of caring for patients in Southern California. Across each stage, Serrano has maintained a consistent philosophy: patient wellbeing should guide the decisions physicians make and the improvements they pursue.

“People’s health and wellbeing take priority or precedence always. Everything else comes second,” Serrano says. That perspective has influenced both his approach to patient care and his willingness to continue learning throughout his career.

How Los Angeles Shaped Feliciano Serrano’s Medical Career

Growing up in Los Angeles gave Serrano an early understanding of the different challenges families can face when seeking medical care. He credits his parents and family with teaching him the importance of helping those who are less fortunate, a lesson that later became central to his professional life.

Feliciano Serrano began his higher education at the University of Southern California, earning a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences. He later completed a master’s degree in Biological Technology and Genetics at California State University, Dominguez Hills before earning his medical degree from the Keck School of Medicine of USC. He then completed his Internal Medicine residency at White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles.

During his residency, Serrano remained focused on serving the community that had shaped him. At the same time, he began to recognize that treating patients with more complex illnesses would require additional expertise. That realization led him to specialize in kidney disease and eventually pursue advanced training in vascular interventions.

Advancing From Kidney Care to Medical Research

Serrano continued his training at the University of Vermont School of Medicine, where he completed a fellowship in nephrology and hypertension. He also received NIH-supported fellowship funding to study thrombosis in kidney disease, including research involving platelet dysfunction and the complications associated with renal disease.

His work eventually included research and lecturing at Harvard Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Serrano’s CV lists research involving platelet function, thrombosis, chronic renal failure, hypertension, and cardiovascular concerns, with work appearing in medical journals and at professional conferences. These experiences helped shape the way he approaches difficult medical questions.

Serrano believes physicians should be willing to examine established practices when there is a responsible opportunity to improve patient care. “Do what is right always even if the status quo, political or popular belief says the contrary,” he says. For Serrano, that principle is closely tied to research, careful evaluation, and the willingness to keep learning rather than accepting that an existing method is necessarily the final one.

One experience in particular reinforced that belief. Serrano recalls receiving scrutiny after helping pioneer a different approach to dialysis at a time when the methodology was considered unconventional. He says the approach later became accepted as a standard method of care.

The experience strengthened his belief that meaningful changes in medicine can require perseverance, especially when physicians are working to improve established processes.

Building Expertise in Vascular and Interventional Care

Following his nephrology training, Serrano pursued an additional fellowship in Interventional Nephrology and Vascular Procedures through the University of Arizona College of Medicine and AKDHC. The program expanded his expertise into procedures involving veins and arteries and allowed him to build on his understanding of the relationship between kidney and vascular health.

His approach to this work places considerable emphasis on process. Rather than measuring success through outcomes alone, Serrano believes professionals should continually examine how those outcomes are achieved. “You measure success by perfecting the mechanism and not by simply assessing outcomes,” he says. “If you do things right and improve on these methods, eventually you will achieve favorable outcomes.”

That philosophy extends to his view of leadership. Serrano emphasizes collaboration with colleagues and community leaders, along with setting increasingly high standards for his own work. He views improvement as an ongoing responsibility rather than a milestone that is reached once.

A Continued Commitment to Los Angeles

After years of advanced training and research, Serrano brought that experience back to Southern California. In 2009, he became Medical Director of Serrano Kidney & Vascular Access Center, where his work has focused on providing nephrology and vascular care in Los Angeles.

For Feliciano Serrano, serving Los Angeles also carries personal meaning. He is fluent in English and Spanish, allowing him to communicate with patients and families across communities in a region he has known throughout his life. His commitment has extended beyond his regular clinical responsibilities as well. Serrano reports receiving two awards from the City of Los Angeles recognizing substantial pro bono medical services provided to underserved and homeless populations.

His career has taken him from Los Angeles to major research and medical institutions and back again, but the principles behind his work have remained remarkably consistent. Serrano credits empathy, compassion, perseverance, collaboration, and continual improvement as important influences on his approach.

As he puts it, “The goal of every day is to simply be better than yesterday.” That focus on steady improvement continues to connect his work as a physician, researcher, community member, and leader in specialized patient care.

Since ChatGPT’s launch in 2022, public uptake of AI chatbots has been staggering. Over 987 million people and half of US adults reportedly use the technology.

But the first wave of AI development is now over. Gone are the days when LLM’s alone dominated the AI discussion. AI’s new wave is being driven by startups you have not heard of and is increasingly diverse, ranging from agents and infrastructure to specialist professional services tools and robotics.

Rotem Farkash on why AI startups matter

Serial startup founder and AI expert Rotem Farkash sees startups as integral to the AI boom. He explained, “The Big AI players matter. Their infrastructure, research and technology got us to where we are now.”

Farkash continued, “But, the names you recognize such as Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI, cannot do everything. Newer and more nimble companies with fresh ideas are often where true innovation lies.”

Infrastructure powering the AI economy

As AI has boomed, companies have sprung up to develop the extensive infrastructure needed to service the next wave.

Founded in 2022, Together AI is one of these startups. Together AI is a full-stack AI platform which enables companies to train and run AI tasks on open models such as DeepSeek, MiniMax and Kimi at lower costs than closed systems.

By making leading models easier and cheaper to train and deploy, its platform gives customers the foundations to build new AI products and tools, helping drive wider adoption.

Founded in 2018, Crusoe’s rapid rise has demonstrated the growing need for infrastructure to power AI’s growing energy and compute needs.

The company looks for innovative energy sources, builds and manages hyperscale AI factories, and offers a scalable AI cloud platform. This helped Crusoe earn a place on Fast Company’s list of the most innovative companies of 2026.

Specialist AI tools are transforming professions

AI tools are already changing professions, and Anysphere Inc., founded in 2022 by four MIT graduates, is a leading example of a company that has done just that.

Anysphere made Cursor, an AI-driven code editor that can analyze a programmer’s actions and suggest the next few lines. Cursor also offers a chatbot that users can ask code-related questions. The tool has completely changed the day-to-day work of any programmer that uses it.

Describing his company’s own product, Anysphere President Oskar Schulz said, “It just makes a thing that you do every day better and faster.” Big tech has taken notice of Cursor, and in June 2026, SpaceX announced a formal agreement to buy the company for $60 billion worth of stock.

Another company revolutionizing its industry is Harvey, a law focused AI firm, which was founded in 2022 by Winston Weinberg, a former securities and antitrust litigator, and Gabriel Pereyra, a former research scientist at Google DeepMind and Meta.

Its AI solutions help to streamline workflows in areas including contract analysis, due diligence, compliance, and litigation to drive efficiency and value. Over 75% of AmLaw 100 firms employ Harvey, demonstrating that its tools are being adopted extensively by the legal industry.

AI video-generation startup Synthesia has also seen major uptake, and is employed by 70% of FTSE 100 companies.

Its AI avatars are particularly used for training, enablement, onboarding, and internal communication, and the company had a $4 billion valuation after a $200 million Series E raise in January 2026.

AI is entering physical world

Figure AI is the next frontier. Founded in 2022 by serial entrepreneur Brett Adcock, Figure AI develops AI-powered, bipedal humanoid robots, such as Figure 01, designed to perform physical tasks in environments like warehouses and homes.

When AI is not just on your computer or phone, but behaving almost like a human at work or in a house, the future will have truly arrived.

Wooju Ryu: AI is a “transformative force”

Prolific inventor Wooju Ryu said, “AI is not just a tool; it’s a transformative force that will redefine how we interact with the world and each other.”

None of the six companies named in this article existed when OpenAI was founded in 2015. Yet today, they are at the forefront of their niches within AI and are major players in a technological revolution that is changing the world.

From robotics to AI agents, to coding tools to AI-video generators, each company listed here is charting the path to an AI future.

Shares of sugar companies, including Balrampur Chini Mills, Dhampur Sugar, Dalmia Bharat, Shree Renuka, and EID Parry, rallied up to 4% as sugar prices have surged over the past month. According to Central government data, retail sugar prices rose from Rs 48.18 per kg on July 20 to Rs 55.70 per kg on August 20. Retail sugar prices are currently quoted at around Rs 70 per kg.

In today’s session, Balrampur Chini Mills gained over 2% to Rs 665 on the BSE, while Dhampur Sugar Mills gained 4% to Rs 178 per share. Uttam Sugar gained 3% to Rs 306 per share. Triveni Engineering shares rose 2% to Rs 288, while Eid Parry gained over 2% to Rs 815.

What’s behind the sharp rise?

1.) Festive period – India’s sugar demand usually surges from August to November as the country celebrates festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, Dussehra and Diwali, which leads to heightened demand for sweets, biscuits and other confectionery items.

Also read: Sugar production hit by Red Rot disease, El Nino; govt taking measures: Pralhad Joshi

Last ⁠month, the government ordered dealers to hold stocks for no more than 30 days, in a bid to bolster supplies. Yet, sugar prices have jumped 10% over the past one month to record high levels, and analysts expect them to remain high for at least the next three months. In this background, patchy rains and ⁠dry weather conditions have hit sugarcane crop output, which typically requires copious amounts of water for irrigation, further boosting prices.

2.) Supply worries – A key trigger is the worsening supply outlook in Brazil, the world’s largest sugar producer. The country has warned of a delay in the harvest amid adverse weather conditions. Adding to uncertainty, Brazil has suspended its bi-weekly harvest and production reports, leaving investors with limited visibility on the supply situation.
The shift towards ethanol is further intensifying concerns over a potential sugar supply crunch. In June, 58% of Brazil’s cane juice was diverted towards ethanol, given that it is likely to be more profitable than sugar. Brazil has also raised its mandatory ethanol blending target to 32% in July from 30% in June, significantly higher than the 25-27% mix seen just months earlier.Supply concerns are not limited to Brazil. Intense heatwaves and El Nino conditions across the EU and the UK have added to fears of tighter supplies, with sugar output from the region trimmed to 14.98 million tonnes. In Asia, Thailand, the world’s third-largest sugar producer, has cut its projected output by 15.6% to 9.5 million tonnes. India, the world’s second-largest sugar producer after Brazil, is also projecting lower sugar production. Authorities are physically verifying mill volumes to enforce strict hoarding limits.

Global deficit estimates are also pointing towards a tighter market. Green Pool has projected a global sugar deficit of 3.3 million tonnes, while StoneX has estimated the shortfall at 1.7 million tonnes. The International Sugar Organisation has forecast a deficit of 0.26 million tonnes.

Read more: No ethanol link, decline in sugarcane production and stockpiling driving up sugar price: Experts

With production concerns mounting across major sugar-producing regions and global benchmark prices continuing to climb, the supply outlook has emerged as the key factor driving the sharp move in sugar prices.

Government’s bid to rescue the rise

The government has rejected a request from biscuit and bread makers seeking more time to liquidate the excess stock over the stock holding limit and mandated that the companies sell any excess stocks by August 31.

The limit, recently cut from 30 days, requires bulk sugar users to hold no more than 15 days of their normal requirement. At a meeting with the food secretary, some of the country’s largest companies warned that selling their stocks now and buying from the market later could push sugar prices sharply higher. They also raised concerns about meeting export orders if supplies tighten.

If this stock comes back to the market by August 31, it can substantially suppress sugar prices, said trade officials. The move follows allegations by the Indian Sugar & Bio-energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA) that bulk consumers had hoarded sugar. Consumers have rejected the charge.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

WASHINGTON — NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is scheduled to launch Aug. 30, carrying an instrument designed to directly photograph exoplanets roughly 1,000 times fainter than what has previously been technically possible, a leap researchers say could eventually bring scientists closer to imaging Earth-like worlds orbiting distant stars.

The telescope, developed over roughly a decade under NASA’s leadership, is set to lift off at 7:26 a.m. Eastern time. It is named after Nancy Grace Roman, widely regarded as the architect of NASA’s modern science program and a key figure in the success of the Hubble Space Telescope.

A destination beyond the moon’s orbit

Once launched, Roman will travel to the L2 Lagrange point, a location roughly 1.5 million kilometers, or about 930,000 miles, from Earth along the axis connecting the sun and Earth, positioned on the side facing away from the sun. At that point, the gravitational pulls of the sun and Earth effectively cancel each other out, allowing the telescope to orbit the sun without needing to expend fuel to maintain its position.

A mirror built on Hubble’s legacy

Roman’s primary mirror measures 2.4 meters, or about 7.9 feet, in diameter — a replica of the mirror used aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. The spacecraft carries two scientific instruments. The first, the Wide Field Instrument, has a detector area roughly 100 times larger than Hubble’s and is expected to image an area of the sky 50 times larger than Hubble covered over its entire three-decade mission, accomplishing that feat in just five years. Working alongside the already-orbiting Euclid space telescope, Roman will help scientists search for dark matter, a substance believed to be spread widely throughout the universe.

The Wide Field Instrument’s high resolution and sensitivity will also allow researchers to search broad sections of the sky for cooler, less luminous planets that have historically been far harder to detect than hot, bright gas giants. Scientists plan to use two indirect detection methods: the transit method, which looks for the slight dimming of a star’s light as a planet passes in front of it, expected to reveal roughly 100,000 new planets; and a technique based on gravitational microlensing, projected to uncover an additional 1,000 exoplanets.

Seeing planets directly for the first time

The telescope’s second instrument, the Coronagraph Instrument, or CGI, takes a fundamentally different approach: rather than detecting planets indirectly, it aims to directly image worlds that have already been discovered through other methods. Coronagraphs work by using specialized masks to block the overwhelming brightness of a host star, allowing much fainter objects nearby — such as an orbiting planet — to become visible. Because these distant systems are so far away, the planets typically appear only as tiny points of light next to their obscured host stars.

Previous ground-based coronagraphs have generally only been capable of imaging particularly bright gas giants orbiting far from their stars — planets hot enough to emit detectable infrared light. Roman’s CGI is designed to go further, targeting cooler, smaller planets, similar in nature to Jupiter, that primarily reflect their host star’s light rather than emit their own heat.

The scale of the challenge is significant. As seen from Earth, the planets Roman aims to image appear roughly a billion times fainter than their host stars — comparable to the brightness difference between Jupiter and the sun. The CGI is engineered to detect point sources of light about a thousand times fainter than instruments have previously managed.

Precision engineering from Germany

Achieving that level of sensitivity required extraordinarily precise alignment of the telescope’s internal optical components. The Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany, built specialized optomechanical hardware known as Precision Alignment Mechanisms, or PAMs, specifically for this purpose. The institute supplied six flight models permanently installed in the coronagraph, along with six additional engineering models used for ground testing, with support from German firm von Hoerner & Sulger in the construction process.

These mechanisms are responsible for keeping the coronagraph’s internal masks, filters and mirrors from tilting more than 40 milliarcseconds over an eight-hour observation period — a level of stability roughly equivalent to the angle at which a person standing in Los Angeles would appear if viewed from Heidelberg, Germany.

To ensure the hardware could withstand the demands of spaceflight, engineers built a dedicated “service-life” version of the PAM system and subjected it to more than 27,000 movements during testing — roughly double the stress a flight model is expected to endure. That level of scrutiny reflects a basic reality of the mission: once Roman launches, it cannot be physically repaired or serviced the way Hubble was during its multiple astronaut servicing missions.

Oliver Krause, head of the infrared astronomy research group at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, underscored the significance of the instrument’s capabilities. “The CGI aboard the Roman Space Telescope is the most sophisticated optical observation instrument,” Krause said.

Correcting distortions in real time

Even without atmospheric interference to contend with in space, Roman’s optical system still faces internal distortions that must be actively corrected. Engineers addressed this using adaptive optics technology, more commonly associated with ground-based observatories such as the Extremely Large Telescope, which adjusts one of its mirrors a thousand times per second to counteract atmospheric turbulence. Aboard Roman, a small, deformable mirror performs a similar real-time correction — a computationally demanding task given the limited processing power available on a satellite.

What comes next

Following launch, a team of scientists based in the United States, Japan and Europe will spend roughly 90 days gradually bringing the telescope online as it travels toward the L2 Lagrange point, continuously analyzing data transmitted back to Earth throughout the journey. The first scientific images from Roman are expected in early 2027, though some of the mission’s observation programs, including a planned survey of the Milky Way’s galactic plane in search of previously unknown planets and black holes, are expected to take years to complete.

Scientists involved in the project say the coronagraph’s success could pave the way for even more ambitious future instruments, including the proposed Habitable Worlds Observatory, envisioned with a mirror at least 6 meters, or roughly 20 feet, in diameter, aimed at eventually imaging Earth-sized planets around other stars.

The Cardiff based firm has acquired Andover venture Correct Contract Services

Cardiff headquartered building maintenance venture Cardo Group has completed its sixteenth acquisition.

It has acquired Correct Contract Services (CCS), strengthening its compliance and energy services capabilities.

The acquisition, the value of which has not been disclosed, is Cardo’s fourth this year following deals for R. Lewis & Co, EFS Systems and Trident Maintenance Services earlier this year.

Based in Andover and founded in 2007, CCS supports more than 50,000 properties with electrical, heating and retrofit services. The business now boasts a team off over 280 dedicated staff who work with local authorities and social housing landlords across the UK to help ensure homes are safe and energy efficient, delivering a wide range of services from electrical maintenance to large-scale retrofit upgrades.

CCS was founded by former gas engineers Danny Gladwyn and the late Trevor Dempsey. The acquisition further strengthens Cardo’s integrated service offering and supports its long-term growth strategy, combining national scale with local expertise to deliver quality services for customers and communities.

A specialist, multi-disciplinary team at Knights advised Cardo Group on the acquisition. The team was led by Cardiff-based corporate partner, Emma Borrington.

Liam Bevan, chief executive of Cardo Group, said:“CCS has built an excellent reputation for technical expertise, strong customer relationships and commitment to quality. We’re delighted to welcome the entire CCS team into the Cardo Group.

“Though this acquisition comes after his passing, the values and standards Trevor helped establish are exactly what made CCS the right fit for Cardo. It’s an important milestone as we expand our footprint across the south of England and continue to deliver safer and more energy-efficient homes for communities.

“We’re grateful to Emma and the Knights team for their hard work and collaborative approach throughout the transaction. Their ability to bring together the right specialists and work closely with our team helped support a smooth process and a successful outcome.”

Ms Borrington, Partner at Knights, added:“We were delighted to support Cardo Group on yet another acquisition as this exciting period of growth continues for them.

“Correct Contract Services and their strategic objectives are closely aligned with Cardo’s wider growth strategy, and their talented team adds further specialist capability to the Group’s customer proposition.

“It has been a pleasure to work with Liam, Alex and the Cardo team again on a transaction that reflects both strategic ambition and a strong, practical working relationship. We wish everyone at Cardo Group and CCS every success as they take this next step together.”