Space news

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot has completed a third and likely final test of EuroSuit, a European intravehicular activity (IVA) spacesuit prototype, aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The suit was developed under a CNES contract by a French consortium led by Spartan Space, which also includes the sporting goods retailer Decathlon. In a 20 July […] The post ESA Astronaut Completes Third Test of EuroSuit Prototype Aboard ISS appeared first on European Spaceflight.

AE Industrial private-equity firm takes 60% stake as L3Harris retains a noncontrolling interest The post Rocketdyne reemerges as standalone space company appeared first on SpaceNews.

The European Space Agency (ESA) and The Pokémon Company International (TPCi) are teaming up to celebrate World Space Week from 4–10 October 2026. This unique, limited-time collaboration brings together two worlds united by curiosity, exploration and imagination.

APOD Science APOD APOD: August 4, 2026 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss   APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Curious Cometary Knots […]

SAN FRANCISCO – Spanish startup Kreios Space announced plans Aug. 4 to conduct the first very low Earth orbit (VLEO) demonstration of its air-breathing electric propulsion (ABEP) in a Kongsberg […] The post Kreios Space to fly VLEO demonstration in NanoAvionics bus appeared first on SpaceNews.

Wildland fires in early August 2026 pushed air quality to unhealthy levels, destroyed hundreds of structures, and triggered mandatory evacuations in Spokane.

With a Falcon 9 upper stage set to hit the moon this week, SpaceX says it is working with NASA on ways to prevent similar collisions in the future. The post NASA, SpaceX studying how to prevent future upper stage lunar collisions appeared first on SpaceNews.

NASA and SpaceX are getting ready to launch Crew-13 to the International Space Station in September. For the first time, if an emergency occurs on the launch pad and the […]

The first full week of August is shaping up to be another busy period for… The post Launch Preview: Starlink, AST SpaceMobile, and Chinese missions fill launch manifest appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

Spacewalk preparations and health research awaited the Expedition 75 crew aboard the International Space Station at the beginning of August. The next crew to visit the orbital outpost, SpaceX Crew-13, introduced themselves today during a news conference from Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Every spring in Palestine, Texas, the wide-open fields around NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility fill with students and faculty from across Louisiana. They arrive carrying sensors, laptops, and carefully engineered payloads they have spent months preparing.  The goal is to send their experiments to the edge of space and return with meaningful data, while reflecting […]

Twice each day, tides ebb and flow through a maze of sandy channels, mudflats, and mangrove forests that flank the 88 islands and islets of Guinea-Bissau’s Bijagós Archipelago (Arquipélago dos Bijagós in Portuguese). Seen from above in this image from Nov. 28, 2025, the process leads to stark changes to the landscape: around low tide, intertidal mudflats and sandflats […]

EchoStar’s Hughes geostationary satellite broadband business has filed for bankruptcy in the United States after years of mounting competition from SpaceX’s Starlink constellation. The post Hughes files for bankruptcy after GEO business loses ground to Starlink appeared first on SpaceNews.

The expanse of glacial ice on Canada’s Baffin Island lost its snow cover quickly and early in summer 2026, revealing a network of melt features.

SpaceX’s colossal Starship launch vehicle lifted off July 24th from the company’s launch facility in South Texas on its thirteenth integrated flight test.

The approval allows the startup to transmit stronger signals in spectrum adjacent to GPS frequencies The post Xona secures spectrum approval for 250-satellite navigation network appeared first on SpaceNews.

ArianeGroup has decided against dissolving MaiaSpace after the company posted a €37.5 million loss for 2025, pushing its shareholders’ equity below zero. According to the company’s 2025 annual accounts, filed on 22 July 2026, MaiaSpace ended the year with €114.2 million in cash. Despite that seemingly healthy cash position, its shareholders’ equity fell from a […] The post MaiaSpace Losses Required ArianeGroup to Decide on Company’s Future appeared first on European Spaceflight.

A Louisiana launch site would offer several significant advantages.

NASA delivered the NavCube3-mini payload on July 13 to Intuitive Machines for integration into Altus-1, the company’s first lunar relay satellite, marking an important milestone in the development of future lunar communications and navigation services. The lunar relays are designed to enable communications and navigation for astronauts and rovers operating at the agency’s future Moon Base. About half the size of a shoebox and weighing just 3.5 pounds, NavCube3-mini is a compact but powerful navigation […]

From serving in the U.S. Army to helping prepare astronauts to explore the lunar surface, Ike Theriot built a path to NASA through discipline and determination.  Theriot serves as the Flight Operations Surface Testing lead in the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Operations Branch within the EVA, Robotics, and Crew Operations Division at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. He integrates flight operations testing needs […]

From June 11 through July 19, NASA’s free interactive exhibit at FIFA Fan Festival™ brought space exploration to soccer fans in East Downtown Houston.   More than 500,000 visitors explored the exhibit during the tournament, learning how the agency’s missions, research, and technology benefit life on Earth.   The exhibit introduced a global audience to the Artemis program, Moon Base, the International Space Station, […]

Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space will build a replacement military communications satellite for Spain as they, along with Leonardo, continue efforts on a space joint venture. The post Airbus and Thales win order for SpainSat replacement appeared first on SpaceNews.

What does it take to send gourmet food to the International Space Station? Follow ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot's bonus menu from a French kitchen to orbit, where chefs, engineers and food specialists work together to transform traditional recipes into meals that are safe for spaceflight, while preserving the flavours, memories and moments of sharing that make them special.

APODScienceAPODAPOD: 2026 August 3 –…Today’s APODArchiveSubmissionsIndexSearchCalendarRSSEducationAboutDiscuss  APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Vaporizing Meteor Photobombs the Lacerta Nebula Explanation: What’s happening to this meteor? This bright meteor streak appeared and disappeared […]

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 August 3 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss   APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Vaporizing Meteor Photobombs […]

Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of August 2-8, 2026 and any insight we can offer about them. The Senate is in session this week. […]

The Air Force Research Laboratory increased by $11.7 million Blue Origin’s contract to study the use of space rockets for point-to-point deliveries The post U.S. Air Force expands Blue Origin rocket cargo contract  appeared first on SpaceNews.

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 August 2 – A Fire… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss   APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. A […]

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 August 2 – A Fire… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss   APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. A […]

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg has noted redesign work on the company’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is… The post Boeing’s Starliner set for potential 2026 cargo run to ISS appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

Two K2 satellites will host optical terminals intended to connect military systems in orbit The post Space Force awards K2 Space $22.9 million for orbital laser communications demonstration appeared first on SpaceNews.

HELSINKI — China sent a new pair of secretive satellites into a programmatically new orbit Wednesday, while also upgrading its on-orbit communications relay capabilities. A Long March 6A rocket lifted […] The post China launches secretive TJS-27 pair, orbits next-gen Tianlian relay sat appeared first on SpaceNews.

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 August 1 – Buck… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss   APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Buck Moon […]

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 August 1 – Buck… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss   APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Buck Moon […]

A solar eclipse, the Perseids, bright Venus after sunset, and a deep partial lunar eclipse highlight August’s skywatching. Skywatching Highlights Transcript A solar eclipse, one of the year’s best meteor showers, Venus at its brightest in the evening sky, and a lunar eclipse to close out the month. That’s “What’s Up” for August. On Aug. […]

While SpaceX has now flown two flights out of the newly designed Pad 2, crews… The post Starbase Pad 1 Retrofits Progress as Block 3 Flights Start appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

NASA will hold a news conference at 2:30 p.m. EDT, Friday, Aug. 14, live from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and media and digital creators are invited to attend in person. The announcement, held in the XLV Hangar at the Shuttle Landing Facility, will preview a new event at NASA Kennedy later this […]

Converting an engineering model of a Mars rover into an actual lunar rover could cost NASA more than $1 billion, an estimate strongly rejected by the agency’s administrator. The post Sending repurposed Mars rover to the moon could cost more than $1 billion appeared first on SpaceNews.

On Friday, July 31, 2026, NASA leadership and Virginia government officials opened NASA’s first major new wind tunnel in more than 40 years, the Flight Dynamics Research Facility at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The state-of-the-art facility will support research and technology development that will advance the agency’s aeronautics, exploration, and science goals, […]

Flammability test results for commercial-off-the-shelf webbings that meet NASA flammability requirements are reported for use in elevated oxygen environments anticipated for future lunar and Martian missions. Testing demonstrated that a webbing composed of 60% Kevlar®/40% polybenzimidazole (PBI) from Sturges Manufacturing Company, Inc., specifically the natural version, passed flammability testing per NASA-STD-6001B Test 1 using a […]

Flammability test results for commercial-off-the-shelf webbings that meet NASA flammability requirements are reported for use in elevated oxygen environments anticipated for future lunar and Martian missions. Testing demonstrated that a webbing composed of 60% Kevlar®/40% polybenzimidazole (PBI) from Sturges Manufacturing Company, Inc., specifically the natural version, passed flammability testing per NASA-STD-6001B Test 1 using a […]

NASA and its industry partners are preparing for next year’s Artemis III demonstration mission by completing new wind tunnel tests on SpaceX’s Super Heavy Version 3 rocket booster. The tests, conducted at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, focused on better understanding the extreme aerodynamic forces the rocket can experience during re-entry. The […]

The Starlink 17-52 mission is SpaceX’s 90th orbital launch of the year so far. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base is scheduled for 7:59 p.m. PDT (10:59 p.m. EDT / 0259 UTC).

NASA opened its newest wind tunnel, the Flight Dynamics Research Facility, Friday, providing a critical resource for the agency and its partners to test the safety and performance of future generations of aircraft, rockets, and space exploration vehicles. Located at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, the Flight Dynamics Research Facility will support advances […]

Expedition 75 ended July stepping up preparations for the first of three spacewalks planned for the month of August. The International Space Station residents also wrapped up the week configuring combustion research and Earth imagery hardware while continuing lab maintenance.

WARSAW, Poland — The Spanish government announced it will allocate between 1.6 billion and 2 billion euros ($1.8 to $2.3 billion) to develop a national military satellite communications constellation that […] The post Spain commits up to $2.3 billion for national military communications for IRIS² appeared first on SpaceNews.

Written by Abigail Fraeman, Deputy Project Scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology Earth planning date: Friday, July 24, 2026 Curiosity spent the week continuing to climb her way up through the layers of Mount Sharp, exploring the sedimentary rock strip chart of Martian history. The rover has reached a layer where the science […]

On July 27, technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida installed a memory card containing 1,350,144 names as part of a commemorative plaque on the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The names were submitted by people globally, including astronauts from Artemis II and Artemis III. The memory card will travel with the Roman observatory […]

The Space Force Association’s National Spacepower Center is building an unclassified environment for demonstrating threats to satellites and their consequences on Earth The post Inside the effort to show Congress what war in space looks like appeared first on SpaceNews.

Vendors will compete for orders to build satellites, sensors and systems for more realistic military space exercises The post Space Force picks 15 companies for $981 million training range contract appeared first on SpaceNews.