Space news

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC), one of the largest space and defense contractors in the United… The post Northrop Grumman tests fast-developed SMART motor, looks ahead to future applications appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

NASA is at an inflection point. 2026 will now begin with a newly-confirmed Jared Isaacman as a NASA Administrator with the White House directive to beat China back to the moon with astronauts. On the science side, we hope that NASA will continue its in-depth exploration of the Earth, solar system and universe. While the […] The post Things to come: Important bellwethers for space exploration in 2026 appeared first on SpaceNews.

The Senate confirmed Jared Isaacman as NASA administrator Dec. 17, concluding arguably the most unusual effort to select a leader in the space agency’s history. The post Senate confirms Isaacman as NASA administrator appeared first on SpaceNews.

Exercise and physics research were the top scientific duties aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday advancing human health and industries both on the ground and in space. The Expedition 74 crew members also continued working on spacesuits and practiced an emergency drill.

After nearly five years on Mars, NASA’s Perseverance rover has traveled almost 25 miles (40 kilometers), and the mission team has been busy testing the rover’s durability and gathering new science findings on the way to a new region nicknamed “Lac de Charmes,” where it will be searching for rocks to sample in the coming […]

Denver-based Lux Aeterna announced plans Dec. 17 to land its debut reusable satellite at the Koonibba Test Range in South Australia, shortly after launching on a SpaceX rideshare mission in early 2027. The post Lux Aeterna to land first reusable satellite in Australia appeared first on SpaceNews.

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 name from […]

NASA is working with commercial partners to create high-performing, reliable propulsion systems that will help small spacecraft safely maneuver in orbit, reach intended destinations across the solar system, and accomplish mission operations.    Two new micropropulsion technologies are being tested in space onboard a CubeSat called DUPLEX (Dual Propulsion Experiment) that deployed into low Earth orbit […]

Atlas V has precisely delivered more than 100 operational satellites for Amazon Leo internet network 

NASA’s commercial partners are actively demonstrating next-generation satellite relay capabilities for spaceflight missions, marking a significant step toward retiring the agency’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) system and adopting commercial services. The demonstrations – ranging from real-time spacecraft tracking during launch to transmitting mission commands and scientific data – are part of NASA’s Communications […]

A key discovery from NASA’s Cassini mission in 2008 was that Saturn’s largest moon Titan may have a vast water ocean below its hydrocarbon-rich surface. But reanalysis of mission data suggests a more complicated picture: Titan’s interior is more likely composed of ice, with layers of slush and small pockets of warm water that form […]

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with NASA, has named the new Landsat Science Team that will support the world’s longest-running Earth observation mission for a planned 2026-2030 term.

The future of flight, space exploration, and science starts at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, where we have been advancing innovation for more than 100 years. Join us as we look back at NASA Langley’s achievements in 2025 that continued our storied legacy of pushing the boundaries of what is possible.  Langley Researchers […]

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Dec 17, 2025 An international collaboration of astronomers has used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to detect a supernova at an unprecedented distance in the early universe, tied to a long-duration gamma-ray burst. The team observed the explosive death of a massive star when the universe was about 730 million years old, placing the event deep in the era of reionisation. The discovery offers a direct vi

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Dec 17, 2025 The Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) in the Chilean Andes is one of the most powerful radio telescope facilities used to probe cold and distant regions of the universe. Researchers use it to study how stars, planets, galaxies and potential precursors of life form by measuring millimeter and submillimeter radiation from cold molecular clouds. These molecular clouds are interste

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 17, 2025 After nearly two decades in orbit around Mars, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has logged the 100,000th image of the planet's surface with its High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera. The milestone image, acquired on Oct. 7, shows mesas and sand dunes in Syrtis Major, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Jezero Crater, the landing site of NASA's Persevera

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 17, 2025 NASA's Carruthers Geocorona Observatory has captured its first images from space, providing ultraviolet views of Earth and the Moon and confirming that the spacecraft and its instruments are operating as intended. Taken on Nov. 17, months before the start of routine science observations, these first light images also preview the type of data the mission will collect on Earth's outer atmosphere.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 17, 2025 As Firefly Aerospace plans its next lunar delivery, a full-scale engineering model of its Blue Ghost Mission 2 system has completed vibration and acoustic testing at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Environmental Test Laboratory in Southern California. The same facilities that helped qualify NASA's Voyager spacecraft are now being used to verify that the tall commercial stack can handle the load

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 17, 2025 The construction industry, is long reliant on traditional methods, is undergoing a digital revolution. At the forefront of this shift is the integration of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in the critical domain of cost estimation.

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Dec 16, 2025 A Kinetica 1 rocket has placed the Arab Satellite 813 into orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, marking a new phase of cooperation between the United Arab Emirates and China in space activities, according to the Shanghai Engineering Center for Microsatellites. The satellite, described as a multirole mission platform, was launched from the Gobi Desert site in northwestern China a

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 17, 2025 The Aerospace Corporation's DiskSat concept introduces a flat, disk-shaped small satellite bus designed to provide more power, surface area, and payload volume than a traditional CubeSat while keeping a standardized, containerized launch interface. A representative DiskSat demonstrator measures about 1 meter in diameter and roughly 2.5 centimeters thick, with an internal volume comparable to a 2

In this episode of Space Minds, host Mike Gruss moderates a timely panel discussion at the Spacepower conference on how commercial space capabilities are reshaping national security, civil space, and military decision-making. The post Speed, risk, and the future of national security space appeared first on SpaceNews.

Germany’s first national space security strategy was unveiled last month to much fanfare. And who’s surprised? It was long overdue, and puts into plain language a simple but vital truth: space is now a theatre of power. With Russia and China long having treated orbit as contested territory, and the United States preparing daily for […] The post What Germany got right (and wrong) in its first ever space strategy appeared first on SpaceNews.

Max Space, a startup developing expandable module technologies, plans to build a commercial space station that could launch on a single Falcon 9 rocket. The post Max Space unveils plans for commercial space station appeared first on SpaceNews.

It has been a busy year for the European Space Agency’s Proba-3 mission. The satellite duo has already created more than 50 artificial solar eclipses in orbit since the mission operations began less than a year ago. The resulting data confirm Proba-3's ability to provide the missing puzzle piece in our observations of the Sun's enigmatic atmosphere – the corona.

An Ariane 6 rocket placed two satellites for Europe’s Galileo navigation system into orbit Dec. 17. The post Ariane 6 launches Galileo navigation satellites appeared first on SpaceNews.

On 17 December, two new Galileo satellites lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana aboard an Ariane 6 rocket. This marked the 14th launch for Europe’s satellite navigation operational satellite programme, reinforcing Europe’s resilience and autonomy.

On 17 December, two Galileo satellites lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana aboard an Ariane 6 rocket. This marked the 14th launch for Europe’s Galileo constellation, reinforcing Europe’s satellite navigation capabilities, resilience and autonomy.

Luxembourg-based OQ Technology said Dec. 17 it has connected a commercial IoT chipset directly to one of its LEO satellites, using internally developed software based on 3GPP mobile standards. The post OQ Technology links commercial IoT chipset to LEO satellite appeared first on SpaceNews.

From the ESA Blogs.

On 17 December, two new Galileo satellites lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana aboard an Ariane 6 rocket. This marked the 14th launch for Europe’s satellite navigation operational satellite programme, reinforcing Europe’s resilience and autonomy.

Winds, waves, and ice near a remote town on the Chukchi Peninsula have sculpted a series of coastal inshore lagoons that resemble an icon of winter.

European Spaceflight has learned from the European Space Agency that a contract awarded to ArianeGroup in 2021 for the development of an Ariane 6 kick stage will be adapted to cover its evolution into an orbital transfer vehicle. ESA awarded ArianeGroup’s German subsidiary the €90 million contract in July 2021 to develop the ASTRIS kick […] The post ESA Member States Fund €100M Ariane 6 ASTRIS Kick Stage Evolution appeared first on European Spaceflight.

The Falcon 9 rocket launching the Starlink 15-13 mission will fly on a south-easterly trajectory upon leaving pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Liftoff is for 7:22 a.m. PST (10:22 a.m. EST / 1522 UTC).

The STP-S30 mission will test flat, disk-shaped smallsat design for sustained operations in very low orbit The post Rocket Lab set to launch Space Force and NASA ‘DiskSat’ experiment  appeared first on SpaceNews.

Digantara Industries, an Indian space situational awareness company, has raised $50 million as it expands into the United States and pursues opportunities in missile defense. The post Digantara raises $50 million to expand from space surveillance to missile defense appeared first on SpaceNews.

The Starlink 6-99 mission represents SpaceX’s 125th launch to date from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Liftoff is scheduled during a window that opens at 7:19 a.m. EST (1219 UTC).

Stem cell research, a student robotics challenge, and spacesuit maintenance dominated the schedule aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday. The Expedition 74 crew also rounded out its shift with Earth observations and cargo transfers throughout the day.

Global launch activity is set to surge over the next week, with 13 missions scheduled… The post Launch Roundup: Ariane 6, Falcon 9, Atlas V, and Electron launches highlight busy week appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

Written by Michael Allen An international team of astronomers using NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) has identified the origin of X-rays in a supermassive black hole’s jet, answering a question that has been unresolved since the earliest days of X-ray astronomy. Their findings are described in a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, […]

NASA is now accepting concepts for a new research challenge. The Opportunities in Research, Business, Innovation, and Technology (ORBIT) challenge is a multi-phase innovation competition designed to empower university and college students to develop next-generation solutions that benefit life on Earth and deep-space exploration. With up to $380,000 in total prize funding, NASA’s ORBIT challenges […]

After 25 years of continuous human presence in space, the International Space Station remains a training and proving ground for deep space missions, enabling NASA to focus on Artemis missions to the Moon and Mars. The orbiting laboratory is also a living archive of human experience, culture, and connection.   Creating community With 290 visitors from […]

With a second Trump Administration at the helm in 2025, NASA marked significant progress toward the Artemis II test flight early next year, which is the first crewed mission around the Moon in more than 50 years, as well as built upon its momentum toward a human return to the lunar surface in preparation to […]

Volunteers participating in the Lake Observations by Citizen Scientists and Satellites (LOCSS) project have been collecting water level data in lakes since 2017. Now, the LOCSS team has used these data to examine the accuracy of water level measurements made from space.

The same historic facilities that some 50 years ago prepared NASA’s twin Voyager probes for their ongoing interstellar odyssey are helping to ready a towering commercial spacecraft for a journey to the Moon. Launches involve brutal shaking and astonishingly loud noises, and testing in these facilities mimics those conditions to help ensure mission hardware can […]

Clockwise from left, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui and NASA astronauts Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, and Mike Fincke pose for a playful portrait through a circular opening in a hatch thermal cover aboard the International Space Station on Sept. 18, 2025. The cover provides micrometeoroid and orbital debris protection while maintaining cleanliness […]

Ensuring Astronaut Safety Achieving safe exploration of space in vehicles that rely upon closed environmental systems to recycle air and water to sustain life and are operated in extremely remote locations is a major challenge. The Toxicology and Environmental Chemistry (TEC) group at Johnson Space Center (JSC) is made up of 2 interrelated groups: Toxicology […]

Enabling Successful Research A major aim of biomedical research at NASA is to acquire data to evaluate, understand, and assess the biomedical hazards of spaceflight and to develop effective countermeasures. Data Science (S&DS) personnel provide statistical support to groups within the NASA JSC Human Health and Performance Directorate and other NASA communities. They have expertise […]

Mesas and dunes stand out in the view snapped by HiRISE, one of the imagers aboard the agency’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. After nearly 20 years at the Red Planet, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has snapped its 100,000th image of the surface with its HiRISE camera. Short for High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, HiRISE is […]

The NASA CalVal team spent 2025 improving their calibration techniques, strengthening collaboration, and sharing their work with the remote sensing community. Looking ahead, they’re applying lessons learned to prepare for future Landsat missions.