Space news

Two heads are better than one in the latest images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, which reveal new detail in a mysterious, little-studied nebula surrounding a dying star.  Nebula PMR 1 is a cloud of gas and dust that bears an uncanny resemblance to a brain in a transparent skull, inspiring its nickname, the […]

A recent SpaceNews opinion article argued that it is time to “take astronomy off Earth.” The suggestion is straightforward: If satellite constellations and commercial space activity threaten ground-based astronomy, perhaps astronomers should simply move their work into space. As current, incoming and past presidents of the American Astronomical Society, we feel impelled to respond. As […] The post The future of astronomy is both on Earth and in space appeared first on SpaceNews.

The Starlink 17-26 mission will also be the 540th launch of a previously flown Falcon booster. Liftoff from pad 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base is scheduled for 6:17:49 a.m. PST (9:17:49 a.m. EST / 1417:49 UTC).

As the number of satellites in orbit grows, one emerging challenge is the difficulty some satellite operators have contacting counterparts to avoid potential collisions. The post In space traffic coordination, the biggest challenge may be coordination appeared first on SpaceNews.

Europe’s investment arm is lending Luxembourg-based OQ Technology 25 million euros ($30 million) to expand its direct-to-device constellation, bolstering the continent’s push to compete with U.S.-led efforts to connect smartphones from space. The post OQ Technology secures $30 million from Europe for satellite-to-smartphone expansion appeared first on SpaceNews.

European satellite operator Eutelsat has announced that it will raise €1.5 billion to refinance existing debt and add cash to the company’s balance sheet. In June 2025, Eutelsat reported net debt of just over €2.6 billion, up €82.2 million year-on-year, with a net debt-to-EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation) ratio of 3.88×. At […] The post Eutelsat to Raise €1.5 Billion to Refinance its Debt appeared first on European Spaceflight.

London, UK (SPX) Feb 20, 2026 AAC Clyde Space has started building two additional maritime data satellites, Sedna-3 and Sedna-4, to expand capacity in its established space-based maritime data services. The company has placed orders for key components and assigned the build to its U.S. subsidiary AAC SpaceQuest, aiming to support continuity of service and improve performance as its fleet renews

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 20, 2026 More than a century after Pavlov trained dogs to link a bell with food, neuroscientists at the University of California, San Francisco report that the brain may rely more on the timing of rewards than on sheer repetition when forming associative memories of cues and outcomes. Their work suggests that what matters for learning is how far apart cue-reward experiences are spaced in time, rather tha

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 20, 2026 Infleqtion, a provider of neutral atom based quantum computing and sensing systems, has completed its business combination with Churchill Capital Corp X and is now listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol INFQ. The company describes itself as well capitalized, reporting more than 550 million dollars in gross proceeds from the transaction, including nearly all of the cash hel

Singapore (SDX) Feb 25, 2026 Small satellites have become attractive for space missions because they offer low cost and flexibility, but their growth has been limited by the lack of compact, efficient propulsion systems that work well in the vacuum of space. In orbit, spacecraft can only change their motion through reaction force, and traditional chemical rockets produce thrust by burning fuel to generate high temperature g

New York (SDX) Feb 25, 2026 In Earth history, a few episodes stand out for their extreme cold, when geologic evidence indicates that ice covered the planet from pole to pole during so-called Snowball Earth events. These episodes represent some of the coldest conditions the planet has ever experienced, with the entire surface essentially below the freezing point of water. Scientists link the onset and end of these global gl

New York (SDX) Feb 23, 2026 AST SpaceMobile has secured a prime contract worth about 30 million dollars with the United States Space Development Agency for the Europa Track 2 Commercial Solutions program under the Hybrid Acquisition for proliferated Low Earth Orbit, or HALO, initiative. The agreement calls for AST SpaceMobile to use its BlueBird low Earth orbit satellite constellation to demonstrate resilient, low la

London (SDX) Feb 25, 2026 New observations of Jupiter's largest moon, Ganymede, reveal that its auroras share detailed structural similarities with auroras on Earth, suggesting that the physical processes that generate these lights may be universal across different types of celestial bodies. A team from the Laboratory of Atmospheric and Planetary Physics (LPAP) at the University of Liege has used NASA's Juno spacec

London (SDX) Feb 25, 2026 That the universe is expanding has been known for almost a century, but its exact rate of expansion remains one of cosmology's most hotly debated questions. A team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Ludwig Maximilians University (LMU) and the Max Planck Institutes for Astrophysics (MPA) and for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) has now imaged and modelled an exceptionally rare supernova

From the ESA Blogs.

With launch planned for later this year, testing is well underway to ensure the MetOp Second Generation-B1 weather satellite is ready for its life in orbit around Earth. These checks include verifying that its spectacular four-panel, 11-metre-long, solar wing will deploy correctly.

From the ESA Blogs.

In a nearly two-hour State of the Union address Tuesday evening, President Trump briefly mentioned launching humans “into the stars” as part of a review of America’s history, but not […]

Satellite-based radar images show where a powerful earthquake in the Yukon, Canada, sent rock, snow, and ice spilling across the frozen landscapes of the St. Elias Mountains.

Reconciliation boost lifts 2026 totals, but sustainability questions loom for missile defense and Space Development Agency The post A banner year for military space funding— with an unclear path beyond appeared first on SpaceNews.

Written by Diana Hayes, Graduate student at York University, Toronto Earth planning date: Friday, Feb. 20, 2026 This has been a pretty routine week for Curiosity. As was mentioned last week, we’re now in the final phase of the boxwork exploration campaign. We’re currently making our way toward the eastern contact of the boxwork formation […]

On April 8, 2024, volunteers participating in NASA’s Eclipse Megamovie citizen science project all around the United States hurried to photograph the solar eclipse with the latest, greatest equipment, capturing groundbreaking images of the Sun’s corona.

Italian rocket builder Avio has announced that it will build its new US-based solid rocket motor manufacturing facility in Hurt, Virginia. Subject to approval by the Virginia General Assembly, the company will be eligible for a $100 million “special appropriation” to supplement the $500 million it plans to invest in the construction and operation of […] The post Avio to Build $500 Million Facility in Hurt, Virginia appeared first on European Spaceflight.

The Starlink 6-110 mission will be the 18th flight this years supporting SpaceX’s broadband internet constellation. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled for 6:04:10 p.m. EST (2304:10 UTC).

The Expedition 74 crew will finalize the packing of a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft as it nears its departure later this week. Science operations were still underway aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday as the orbital residents explored how living and working in weightlessness is affecting their bodies.

GPS IIIF features, including regional spot beams, will ‘change the calculus’ for adversaries The post Lockheed Martin presses case that GPS upgrade will counter jamming threats appeared first on SpaceNews.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope provided the first vertical view of Uranus’s ionosphere in this image released on Feb. 19, 2026, revealing auroras shaped by its tilted magnetic field. Getting a look at the structure of the region where the atmosphere interacts strongly with the planet’s magnetic field is giving us the most detailed portrait […]

Groundbreaking “camera-on-a-chip” technology that was originally developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for use in space missions is currently employed in billions of devices like cell phones that are used daily by people worldwide.

February 24, 2026 – Washington, DC – The Commercial Space Federation (CSF) is proud to announce the release of a new paper titled “Perfecting Public-Private Partnerships: The Future of Government […] The post The Commercial Space Federation Releases New White Paper “Perfecting Public-Private Partnerships” appeared first on SpaceNews.

Hegseth contrasts “builders” with Beltway primes as administration leans into procurement overhaul The post At Colorado space firms, Hegseth casts Pentagon bureaucracy as the enemy appeared first on SpaceNews.

LambdaVision, a company that has used microgravity experiments on the International Space Station to develop an artificial retina, has booked space on a planned commercial successor. The post LambdaVision books space on Starlab commercial space station appeared first on SpaceNews.

SAN FRANCISCO – Sophia Space raised $10 million in seed funding to accelerate development of space-based edge computers and orbital data centers. “The $10 million round is a validation that we are progressing from slideware to hardware,” Rob DeMillo, Sophia Space CEO and co-founder, told SpaceNews. “And it’s evidence that capital is shifting towards orbital-compute […] The post Sophia Space claims $10 million in seed round appeared first on SpaceNews.

Paris, France (AFP) Feb 20, 2026 TotalEnergies faces cutting back oil and gas production if NGOs prevail in a trial that began Thursday over accusations the French energy giant failed to properly consider environmental risks. The case, brought by several NGOs and the city of Paris, is based upon a 2017 law that imposed a "duty of vigilance" on large companies. The law seeks to counter companies offloading responsibility

New Delhi (AFP) Feb 20, 2026 Fledgling Indian artificial intelligence companies showcased homegrown technologies this week at a major summit in New Delhi, underpinning big dreams of becoming a global AI power. But analysts said the country was unlikely to have a "DeepSeek moment" - the sort of boom China had last year with a high-performance, low-cost chatbot - any time soon. Still, building custom AI tools could

From adding timestamps to banking transactions to mapping the best route to a destination, satellite navigation plays a significant role in daily life. At the same time, attempts to interfere with and fake navigation signals are increasing. For the last seven months, a new verification service for Galileo has mitigated the threat of spoofing in the Open Service by confirming that the satellite navigation data used for positioning originated in the Galileo system.

Telespazio Ibérica, the Spanish subsidiary of the Italian space technology company Telespazio, has been awarded a €20 million contract to develop an Earth observation constellation for the Canary Islands. In September 2025, the Tenerife Island Council, the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an autonomous community of Spain, announced that it had […] The post Telespazio Awarded €20 Million Contract for Canary Islands Constellation appeared first on European Spaceflight.

New York (SDX) Feb 23, 2026 Advances in supercomputing have enabled astronomers to resolve a long-standing problem in stellar evolution: how changes in the chemical composition at the centers of red giant stars connect to the altered chemistry seen at their surfaces as they age. Researchers at the University of Victoria's Astronomy Research Centre and the University of Minnesota report that stellar rotation provides

New York (SDX) Feb 23, 2026 New research by Southwest Research Institute and the National Science Foundation's National Center for Atmospheric Research has produced a new tool that could eventually extend space weather forecasts from hours to weeks. The approach aims to provide earlier warnings of solar activity that can disrupt GPS, power grids, satellites and astronaut operations. The work targets a longstanding he

Washington, United States (AFP) Feb 21, 2026 NASA chief Jared Isaacman on Saturday ruled out a March launch for Artemis 2, the first crewed flyby mission to the Moon in more than 50 years, citing technical issues. Workers detected a problem with helium flow to the massive SLS rocket that will "take the March launch window out of consideration," Issacman said in a post on X. "I understand people are disappointed by this development.

New York (SDX) Feb 23, 2026 As space agencies advance plans for human missions to the Moon and Mars, researchers are working to understand how the absence of gravity affects living cells over time. A team led by Newcastle University in the United Kingdom has now developed a rugged, low cost microscope platform that can monitor living cells in real time during zero gravity, and they are making the system openly available to

New York (SDX) Feb 23, 2026 Weather permitting, NASA plans to move the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for Artemis II off Launch Pad 39B at the agency Kennedy Space Center in Florida as soon as Tuesday, Feb 24. The integrated stack will travel back to the Vehicle Assembly Building so teams can investigate and correct an issue with helium flow to the rocket upper stage. Engineers began preparing for th

New York (SDX) Feb 23, 2026 Prometheus Energetics LLC has begun construction of a new solid rocket motor manufacturing campus in Bloomfield, Indiana, marking a key step in the companys plan to expand domestic energetics production capacity. The groundbreaking ceremony, hosted with the American Center for Manufacturing and Innovation, brought together senior government representatives, state and local officials, industry pa

Paris, France (AFP) Feb 19, 2026 When part of a SpaceX rocket re-entered Earth's atmosphere exactly a year ago, it created a spectacular fireball that streaked across Europe's skies, delighting stargazers and sending a team of scientists rushing towards their instruments. The German team managed to measure the pollution the rocket's upper stage emitted in our planet's difficult-to-study upper atmosphere - the first time th

New York (SDX) Feb 23, 2026 A plume of lithium pollution detected in the upper atmosphere in February 2025 has now been directly linked to the uncontrolled re-entry of a Falcon 9 rocket stage. Researchers report that this event provides the first direct measurement of upper-atmospheric contamination from disintegrating space hardware as it re-enters the atmosphere. Defunct satellites and spent rocket stages are gener

New York (SDX) Feb 23, 2026 NASA's Perseverance rover can now determine its exact position on Mars without relying on ground teams, using a new system called Mars Global Localization that compares navigation camera panoramas to orbital terrain maps. Running on a powerful processor originally dedicated to the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, the algorithm can pinpoint the rover's location to within about 25 centimeters in roughly

London (SDX) Feb 23, 2026 An international team using the Low Frequency Array has released the most detailed low frequency radio map of the sky so far, revealing 13.7 million cosmic radio sources and delivering an unprecedented census of actively growing supermassive black holes across the universe. The new LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey Data Release 3 also showcases a remarkable variety of systems powered by these black hol

New York (SDX) Feb 23, 2026 Astronomers have puzzled over why many icy worlds in the distant Kuiper Belt look like snowmen, with two round lobes joined together. New work from Michigan State University points to a surprisingly simple explanation: these so called contact binaries can form directly through gravitational collapse. Far beyond Neptune, the Kuiper Belt holds icy, largely untouched planetesimals that preser

London (SDX) Feb 23, 2026 A Northumbria University PhD student has led an international collaboration to construct the first three-dimensional view of Uranus upper atmosphere, showing how the planet's unusual magnetic field sculpts bright auroras thousands of kilometers above its clouds. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, operated by NASA with ESA and CSA, lead author Paola Tiranti and colleagues observed Uranus

Washington, United States (AFP) Feb 19, 2026 NASA on Thursday blamed what it called engineering vulnerabilities in Boeing's Starliner spacecraft along with internal agency mistakes in a sharply critical report assessing a botched mission that left two astronauts stranded in space. The US space agency labeled the 2024 test flight of the Starliner capsule a "Type A" mishap - the same classification as the deadly Challenger and Columbia

Winds blowing past the volcanic landmass near the Korean Peninsula created a trail of spiraling clouds, while murky water churned nearby.