Space news

Scientists say the seasonal crop fires are burning later in the day than in previous years.

At the end of November, NASA’s next great telescope — the Nancy Grace Roman Space… The post Roman telescope construction complete, moving into final testing ahead of 2027 launch appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the rest of 2025, December 14-31, and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session […]

The Starlink 6-99 mission will be SpaceX’s 125th orbital launch from Launch Complex 39A to date. Liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is scheduled during a launch window that opens at 8:11 a.m. EST (1311 UTC) on Dec. 15.

The Starlink 6-82 represents SpaceX’s 580th launch of a Falcon 9 rocket to date. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled for 9:47 p.m. EST (0247 UTC).

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket successfully launched a technology demonstration satellite for JAXA Dec. 13 as the company reshuffles its launch manifest. The post Rocket Lab launches JAXA tech demo satellite appeared first on SpaceNews.

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Dec 14, 2025 Modern large language models are treated as something radically new: vast statistical machines trained on almost everything humans have written, and able to regenerate knowledge on demand. Yet in structural terms, humanity has worked with something similar for millennia.

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Dec 14, 2025 China launched a Kuaizhou 11 carrier rocket on Saturday morning to deploy a privately developed experimental cargo ship and a satellite into space. The rocket blasted off at 9:08 am at the Jiuquan Space Launch Center in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and soon placed the DEAR 5 ship and the Xiwang 5B satellite into their preset orbital position, according to China Aerospace Science an

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 14, 2025 A Carnegie-led team using NASAs James Webb Space Telescope has obtained the strongest evidence so far for an atmosphere around a rocky exoplanet, detecting a substantial gaseous envelope around the ultra-hot super-Earth TOI-561 b. The observations, reported in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, indicate that this ancient world is shrouded by a thick atmosphere above a global magma ocean. T

London, UK (SPX) Dec 14, 2025 Astronomers using new X ray data have found evidence that the structure of matter around supermassive black holes has changed over billions of years, challenging a quasar relationship that has been treated as a fundamental law for nearly 50 years. Quasars, identified in the 1960s, rank among the brightest known cosmic sources and are powered by supermassive black holes that draw in surroun

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Dec 14, 2025 Astronomers have directly imaged a giant exoplanet orbiting a pair of stars, in a configuration reminiscent of the fictional Tatooine system but with the closest-known directly imaged planet to its twin suns in a binary system. The planet orbits a spectroscopic binary in the Scorpius-Centaurus association and was found buried in data taken nearly a decade ago with the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI)

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 14, 2025 NASA's Center for Geospace Storms, or CGS, has released the Multiscale Atmosphere-Geospace Environment model, or MAGE, a supercomputer-based system that uses NASA mission data to show how different regions of geospace react to solar disturbances. The MAGE model links several existing predictive tools for Earth's magnetosphere, ring current, and upper atmosphere into a single framework, giv

Torrance, CA (SPX) Dec 14, 2025 K2 Space has closed a 250 million dollar Series C funding round that values the company at 3 billion dollars as it prepares to field a new generation of large high power satellites designed for the heavy lift launch era. The round follows 500 million dollars in signed contracts with commercial operators and U.S. government customers and is led by Redpoint, with participation from accounts advise

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Dec 14, 2025 Jarosite, a sulfate mineral widely detected on Mars, records interaction between acidic, oxidizing waters and the planet's surface rocks, but the halogen chemistry of those fluids has been difficult to reconstruct. New experimental work examines how bromine and chlorine enter jarosite under Mars-like conditions, using them as tracers of fluid evolution and environmental conditions. Researc

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Dec 14, 2025 Researchers from China, Canada, and Japan have established a quantitative method to read the impact histories recorded in enstatite chondrites using micro X ray diffraction measurements. Enstatite chondrites are rare meteorites that formed in highly reducing conditions close to the young Sun and are chemically similar to the material that built Earth, making them key samples for reconstructing e

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Dec 12, 2025 NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team has released detailed plans for a major survey that will reveal our home galaxy, the Milky Way, in unprecedented detail. In one month of observations spread across two years, the survey will unveil tens of billions of stars and explore previously uncharted structures. "The Galactic Plane Survey will revolutionize our understanding of the Milky

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Dec 14, 2025 Images captured by NASA's Parker Solar Probe as the spacecraft made its record-breaking closest approach to the Sun in December 2024 have now revealed new details about how solar magnetic fields responsible for space weather escape from the Sun - and how sometimes they don't. Like a toddler, our Sun occasionally has disruptive outbursts. But instead of throwing a fit, the Sun spews magneti

Orlando, FL (SPX) Dec 14, 2025 Mission Space will launch its second payload in orbit in partnership with Rogue Space, extending its commercial space weather measurement network. The companies announced the mission during the Spacepower Conference in Orlando. The first Mission Space payload, ZOHAR-I, launched in March 2025 and recently received the 2025 Global Tech Award for advances in high-cadence radiation monitoring

Cambridge, MA (SPX) Dec 14, 2025 Astronomers have assembled the first continuous, two-dimensional maps of the outer edge of the Sun's atmosphere, tracing the boundary where the solar wind escapes the Sun's magnetic control. By combining these global maps with close-up measurements, researchers at the Center for Astrophysicshysics | Harvard and Smithsonian report that this boundary expands and becomes more irregular and spiky as

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Dec 14, 2025 NASA engineers are continuing efforts to restore contact with the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) orbiter after the spacecraft fell silent during a routine pass behind Mars on December 6 2025. Before the loss of signal, telemetry from MAVEN indicated that the spacecraft and its subsystems were operating within expected parameters as it approached occultation by the planet. A

SpaceX’s chief financial officer has confirmed the company is considering an initial public offering as soon as next year to raise money for projects such as orbital data centers. The post SpaceX executive confirms interest in an IPO appeared first on SpaceNews.

The Starlink 15-12 mission will add another 27 broadband internet satellites to SpaceX’s megaconstellation in low Earth orbit. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base is set for Dec. 13, during a window that opens at 9:20 p.m. PST (12:20 a.m. EST / 0520 UTC on Sunday, Dec. 14).

The launch company owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos launched two successful missions in 2025, including landing its first booster on its landing barge.

SpaceX’s Roberts Road facility, the company’s primary hub for Starship operations on Florida’s Space Coast,… The post SpaceX Roberts Road a focal point for East Coast Starship preparations appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim will recap his recent mission aboard the International Space Station during a news conference at 3:30 p.m. EST Friday, Dec. 19, from the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Watch the news conference live on NASA’s YouTube channel. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of online platforms, including […]

Intuitive Machines will work with Telespazio on their planned lunar satellite networks to ensure interoperability and improve performance. The post Intuitive Machines and Telespazio to collaborate on lunar satellite networks appeared first on SpaceNews.

The Expedition 74 crew wrapped up the week exploring how the body balances itself in space and growing stem cells to improve health. Meanwhile, ongoing cargo operations and lab maintenance rounded out the schedule aboard the International Space Station.

Two icons of discovery, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and NASA’s Curiosity rover, have earned places in TIME’s “Best Inventions Hall of Fame,” which recognizes the 25 groundbreaking inventions of the past quarter century that have had the most global impact, since TIME began its annual Best Inventions list in 2000. The inventions are celebrated […]

Researchers from NASA’s Ames Research Center sound alarm about current and projected impacts to observatories, like the Hubble Space Telescope and others.

China is building towards a debut Long March 10 rocket launch in what will be a major test for the country’s crewed lunar landing plans. The post China plans 2026 debut of new rocket for crewed lunar and LEO missions appeared first on SpaceNews.

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured an uncommon sight – the death of a low-mass star – in this image of the Calabash Nebula released on Feb. 3, 2017. Here, we can see the star going through a rapid transformation from a red giant to a planetary nebula, during which it blows its outer layers of […]

The initiative aims to educate policy makers on space as a warfighting domain The post Space Force Association unveils virtual ‘National Spacepower Center’ for education and wargaming appeared first on SpaceNews.

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team has released detailed plans for a major survey that will reveal our home galaxy, the Milky Way, in unprecedented detail. In one month of observations spread across two years, the survey will unveil tens of billions of stars and explore previously uncharted structures. “The Galactic Plane Survey will […]

Week in images: 08-12 December 2025

From the ESA Blogs.

Step inside astronaut training with ESA astronaut Pablo Álvarez Fernández as he shares his training journey from Cologne in Germany to Houston in the US. Discover what it’s like to wear a 145 kg spacesuit underwater, train for emergencies like fires and ammonia leaks and prepare for the ultimate astronaut dream: a spacewalk. Plus, Pablo talks about life in Houston, teamwork under pressure and what’s next on his path to the stars. 

The Oct. 23 announcement that Airbus, Thales and Leonardo will merge their satellite operations was a historic development for the European space industry. The plan aims to establish a new combined entity by 2027. Historically, the European space industry has been a competent but fragmented market in the form of national champions and competing initiatives. […] The post The European space industry’s big merger: lessons for emerging space nations appeared first on SpaceNews.

NASA has selected a heliophysics mission to move into the next phase of development amid broader concerns about the state of the field. The post NASA advances heliophysics mission into next phase appeared first on SpaceNews.

"That is the moment an IPO suddenly came into play."

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a glittering blue dwarf galaxy called Markarian 178 (Mrk 178). The galaxy, which is substantially smaller than our own Milky Way, lies 13 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear). Mrk 178 is one of more than 1,500 Markarian galaxies. These galaxies get their […]

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Dec 12, 2025 IHI-SAT2, a hyperspectral 6U CubeSat built by Kongsberg NanoAvionics for Japan's IHI Corporation, has reached orbit and established two-way communications shortly after deployment from a SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Transporter-15 rideshare mission launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on 28 November 2025. The mission is intended as a step toward IHI's planned Earth observation const

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 12, 2025 Antares has raised $96 million in Series B financing to support development and deployment of its compact nuclear microreactors for defense and space customers. The round, led by Shine Capital with participation from Alt Capital, Caffeinated, FiftyThree Stations, Industrious and other investors, includes $71 million in new equity and $25 million in debt earmarked for equipment purchases, factory

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Dec 12, 2025 GomSpace has signed a 1.2 million euro (13.2 MSEK) contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop a security-enhanced generation of its NanoCom product line under the SECUSAT program. The agreement supports the evolution of secure satellite communications capabilities for both institutional and commercial users. SECUSAT will upgrade GomSpace communication and onboard computer pro

Chicago IL (SPX) Dec 12, 2025 Quantum technology is accelerating out of the lab and into the real world, and a new article in Science argues that the field now stands at a turning point - one that is similar to the early computing age that preceded the rise of the transistor and modern computing. The article, authored by scientists from University of Chicago, Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technolo

London, UK (SPX) Dec 12, 2025 Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. has secured an order of about 10 million dollars for a customized Earth observation direct downlink solution to be delivered over the next 12 months. The contract was awarded to Gilat DataPath and broadens the role of Gilat Defense from satellite communications into Earth observation and geospatial intelligence. The system is based on a transportable direct do

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 12, 2025 Researchers at NASAs Glenn Research Center in Cleveland used the Glenn Icing Computational Environment (GlennICE) software to create three dimensional computational models of an advanced air mobility rotor to study propeller icing issues. The physical rotor model was installed and tested in the Icing Research Tunnel in 2023 as part of an icing evaluation study that also sought to validate the Gl

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 12, 2025 Sidus Space Inc has been selected as a subcontractor to MobLobSpace Inc under a NASA Small Business Innovation Research award to support a mission concept hosting a space-based 4D radar system on the LizzieSat satellite platform for space domain awareness. The six-month Phase I effort will concentrate on mission design and planning for integrating the radar payload with LizzieSat to delive

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Dec 12, 2025 Researchers from the School of Physics at the University of the Witwatersrand, working with collaborators at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, report that controlling the structure of photons in space and time allows quantum states to be tailored for use in communication, sensing and imaging. The team focuses on structured photons, where spatial, temporal or spectral properties are delibera

London, UK (SPX) Dec 12, 2025 Researchers at the University of Leicester are leading work to develop what they describe as the UKs first in space robotic welding capability, supported by new funding from the UK Space Agencys National Space Innovation Programme Call 2 for a project known as ISPARK, the Intelligent SPace Arc welding Robotic Kit. The ISPARK programme, valued at 560,000 pounds including 485,000 pounds from

Paris, France [December 12, 2025] – Novaspace’s 6th Ground Segment Market Prospects report projects a $106 Billion market and a fundamental shift in satellite infrastructure economics. NGSO constellations are reshaping […] The post $106B Ground Segment Market Enters Service‑Driven Era appeared first on SpaceNews.