Space news

The Artemis II crew continued a variety of tests of the Orion capsule today as they began preparations for splashdown in the Pacific Ocean in less than two days. They […]

Improving the accuracy of space situational awareness data and using tighter thresholds for potential conjunctions can help retire most satellite collision risk in LEO, a new study concludes. The post Improved thresholds and SSA accuracy can reduce most satellite collision risk appeared first on SpaceNews.

NASA, Northrop Grumman, and SpaceX now are targeting no earlier than 7:41 a.m. EDT Saturday, April 11, for the next Cygnus XL and Falcon 9 launch opportunity to resupply the International Space Station. Teams adjusted the Friday, April 10, launch opportunity due to forecasted inclement weather at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Twin control rooms at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, are actively supporting real-time mission operations in lunar orbit as part of the agency’s Artemis II mission, helping ensure astronaut safety and mission success as the crew prepares to return to Earth Friday, April 10. The LUCA (Lunar Utilization Control Area) and LESA […]

A Critical Infrastructure Under Strain Space has quietly become the infrastructure beneath modern life. From financial transactions synchronised by satellite timing to military operations reliant on secure communications, the global […] The post Space Sovereignty Is No Longer Optional appeared first on SpaceNews.

The Moon, seen here backlit by the Sun during a solar eclipse on April 6, 2026, is photographed by one of the cameras on the Orion spacecraft’s solar array wings. During lunar flyby, the Artemis II astronauts observed a solar eclipse that only they could see due to their unique position. See more photos from […]

Join us in Washington, D.C., for the next event in our orbital data centers series The post April 30: Opportunities for On-Orbit Computing appeared first on SpaceNews.

"One of the questions is what the initial orbit will be for Artemis III."

When Congress passed a fiscal year 2026 “minibus” appropriations bill in January, much of the space community breathed a sigh of relief. Congress had rejected the steep cuts proposed by the Trump administration, including a nearly 25% reduction in the agency’s overall budget and nearly 50% to science. The agency ended up with funding close […] The post Preparing for the next NASA budget battle appeared first on SpaceNews.

A flurry of commercial innovation has left the U.S. government with no shortage of sensors and AI-driven insights to monitor the increasingly packed and contested space environment. The challenge is […] The post Tracking the next SDA challenge appeared first on SpaceNews.

LeoLabs ‘Delta’ moves beyond collision warnings to identify potential adversarial activity The post LeoLabs debuts space monitoring tool for military users appeared first on SpaceNews.

We applaud the lunar base vision laid out by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on March 24. Placing this stake in the lunar regolith is long overdue. What is missing from the mission architecture, however, is a vision for long-term economic development on the moon. It will be a profound missed opportunity if NASA does not […] The post A lunar base or a lunar economy? appeared first on SpaceNews.

SpaceX’s Pad 2 at Starbase is continuing to refine its preparations for the return of… The post SpaceX continues refinements at Starbase Pad 2 ahead of Booster 19 return appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

NASA signaled last summer it planned to accelerate efforts to replace the aging International Space Station. Nearly nine months later, that push appears to have slowed.In a directive signed at the end of July, the agency’s acting administrator, Sean Duffy sought changes to the Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destinations, or CLD, program, aimed at speeding […] The post Industry navigates NASA’s start-and-stop approach to commercial space stations appeared first on SpaceNews.

As Artemis 2 begins its return to Earth, scientists are just starting to review the images and observations taken by the crew as they flew around the moon. The post Artemis 2 science gets underway as Orion begins its return trip appeared first on SpaceNews.

The contract was awarded by the Space Development Agency for 2027 demonstrations The post Capella Space wins $49 million contract for military communications satellite demo appeared first on SpaceNews.

Secure World Foundation report highlights growing reliance on orbiting systems and spread of interference technologies The post Space security moves to forefront as threats to satellites spread appeared first on SpaceNews.

Bulgarian satellite maker EnduroSat and British defense tech startup Shield Space aim to deploy a cubesat next year capable of maneuvering near other satellites for inspection, ahead of plans to develop a mothership that could house dozens of them for on-demand missions. The post Inspection cubesat demo planned as first step toward orbital defense mothership appeared first on SpaceNews.

Astroscale has completed the critical design review for two cubesats slated to launch next year to help the British military monitor space weather and track objects in LEO. The post Astroscale passes key design milestone for UK military space-tracking cubesats appeared first on SpaceNews.

Spanish launch services provider PLD Space has secured a €30 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB), a month after closing a €180 million Series C funding round. The company is currently preparing for the inaugural flight of its MIURA 5 rocket, scheduled for later this year. PLD Space made the announcement on 7 […] The post PLD Space Secures €30 Million European Investment Bank Loan appeared first on European Spaceflight.

A massive, old caldera and more recently formed craters shape the landscape in the eastern Sierra Nevada.

Leo is a prominent sight for stargazers in April. Its famous sickle, punctuated by the bright star Regulus, draws many a beginning stargazer’s eyes, inviting deeper looks into some of Leo’s celestial delights, including a great double star and a famous galactic trio. Leo’s distinctive forward sickle, or “reverse question mark,” is easy to spot […]

The Artemis II crew is on their way back to Earth after swinging around the Moon yesterday. Stunning images of both the Moon and the Earth have been downlinked already […]

Four Expedition 74 astronauts had a ship-to-ship call with the four Artemis II astronauts on Tuesday after they flew around the Moon in a historic first for NASA and its international partners. The International Space Station residents also continued their ongoing biomedical research, trained to capture a U.S. cargo craft, and installed a small experimental robotic arm.

The first flyby images of the Moon captured by NASA’s Artemis II astronauts during their historic test flight reveal some regions no human has seen, including a rare in-space solar eclipse. Released Tuesday, astronauts captured the images April 6 during the mission’s seven-hour flyby of the lunar far side, showing humanity’s return to the Moon’s […]

On April 6th, 2026, humans visited the Moon for the first time in 54 years. Artemis II has completed its lunar flyby, achieving the literal and figurative apex of the mission as four people beheld parts of the surface never seen with human eyes.

Hungary’s defense and space tech contractor 4iG also announced deals with L3Harris and Apex for defense systems and satellite manufacturing The post Hungary taps Northrop Grumman for first national geostationary communications satellite appeared first on SpaceNews.

The Artemis II crew captured this view of Earth setting on April 6, 2026, as they flew around the Moon. As the astronauts flew over the Moon’s far side, the crew photographed and described terrain features including impact craters, ancient lava flows, and surface cracks and ridges formed as the Moon slowly evolved over time. […]

Digital creators and social media users are invited to register to attend the rollout of the third SLS (Space Launch System) core stage as it is prepped to head from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Are you passionate about social media and communications? Do you love to create content for an […]

Media will have an opportunity at 9:45 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 8, to speak with NASA’s Artemis II crew members as they continue their journey toward Earth during their historic mission around the Moon. The 20-minute virtual news conference will take place with NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA […]

NASA, Northrop Grumman, and SpaceX now are targeting no earlier than 8:03 a.m. EDT Friday, April 10, for the next Cygnus XL and Falcon 9 launch opportunity to resupply the International Space Station. Teams adjusted the Wednesday, April 8, launch opportunity due to forecasted inclement weather at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The Moon, the Earth, and the Sun; oh what fun!

Newly anointed NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman made a $20 billion announcement on March 24, 2026. To the delight of space enthusiasts everywhere, Isaacman said NASA was cancelling its project to deploy a space station in lunar orbit and would reorient to building a $20 billion base on the surface of the moon. The new base, […] The post NASA’s new moon base project requires operational technology systems in space, but they are vulnerable. appeared first on SpaceNews.

WASHINGTON — Starfish Space has raised more than $100 million to scale up production of its satellite servicing spacecraft. Seattle-based Starfish announced April 7 it closed a Series B round led by Point72 Ventures, raising more than $100 million. Activate Capital and Shield Capital co-led the round, with major participation from Industrious Ventures and NightDragon. […] The post Starfish Space raises more than $100 million appeared first on SpaceNews.

Tell us about the innovators, collaborators and change-makers whose contributions have left a lasting mark on the sector The post Nominate space industry leaders for the 2026 SpaceNews Icon Awards appeared first on SpaceNews.

Vantor employees were gathered for a sales kickoff in January, when an executive announced that a WorldView Legion satellite passing overhead would snap a photo of the California venue. Later, a buzzer sounded to alert the audience that the 30-centimeter-resolution image was available on the Vantor Hub portal. It had been 13 minutes. The demonstration […] The post Earth observation operators push to deliver satellite images within minutes appeared first on SpaceNews.

On 6 April 2026, NASA’s Artemis II Mission, powered by ESA’s European Service Module (ESM), launched humans further than ever before. 

An international research team boarded ESA’s 86th parabolic flight campaign in May 2025 with ultralight graphene aerogels, then hit them with light during zero gravity phases to observe their reaction under space-like conditions.  

Lasers could one day steer solar sails and adjust a satellite’s position in outer space, thanks to graphene. An experiment on a gravity rollercoaster ride showed how this innovative material has the potential to revolutionise propulsion beyond Earth.

Last year, history was made as a navigation receiver on the Moon determined its position in real time using signals from approximately 410 000 km away. The receiver, called the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE), acquired signals from four navigation satellites orbiting Earth: two Galileo satellites and two GPS satellites.

ESA’s newest deep space antenna, DSA 4 (also called NNO-3), is now fully online – representing a powerful new addition that strengthens the Agency’s reach across the Solar System and boosts the capacity and resilience of its global Estrack network for communicating with spacecraft in deep space.

The Exploration Company has completed initial testing of the pressurised structure for its Nyx Structural Test Model (STM). The structure was manufactured by CNIM Systèmes Industriels in France and delivered to the company in mid-February. Founded in 2021, The Exploration Company is developing a modular space capsule called Nyx that will initially be used to […] The post The Exploration Company Completes Nyx Test Model Pressure Tests appeared first on European Spaceflight.

The state was unusually dry for much of 2025, but the intensity of the drought has ratcheted up since January 2026.

The four Artemis II astronauts set a new record today for the furthest any humans have traveled from Earth, swinging around the Moon and then heading back towards Earth. Their […]

Orion spacecraft Integrity, carrying astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, successfully… The post Artemis II breaks record, conducts lunar flyby appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

Four astronauts from the United States and Canada became the humans to travel the furthest from the Earth April 6 as they went around the moon on the Artemis 2 mission. The post Artemis 2 swings around the moon appeared first on SpaceNews.

Space Scout gets up close and personal with the Orion Crew Survival System suit at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The Expedition 74 crew continues preparing for the next U.S. cargo mission due to visit the International Space Station. The orbital residents also serviced spacesuits, configured scientific hardware, and studied how microgravity affects blood pressure at the beginning of the week.

As NASA’s Artemis II mission reaches its halfway point, the launch manifest on Earth continues… The post Launch Preview: Falcon 9 to loft Cygnus to ISS, Minotaur IV to launch from California appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

Four astronauts aboard NASA’s Artemis II test flight around the Moon made history at 12:56 p.m. CDT on Monday, traveling 248,655 miles from Earth, surpassing the record for human spaceflight’s farthest distance previously set by the Apollo 13 mission in 1970. At its farthest point, crew inside the Orion spacecraft will have traveled about 252,760 […]