Space news

The Starship second stage of SpaceX’s Integrated Flight Test-13 is back at Starbase, TX after surprisingly surviving splashdown in the Indian Ocean in July. To date, it is the only […]

This week features a relatively quiet launch manifest, with SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 comprising much… The post Launch Preview: Falcon 9, ZhuQue-2E to launch during quiet week appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

NASA engineer and astronaut Christina Koch will serve as the agency’s acting deputy chief engineer beginning on Sunday, Nov. 1, following the retirement of Katherine Van Hooser, who will conclude more than 35 years of distinguished service to the agency on Wednesday, Oct. 21. In her new role, Koch will help lead NASA’s engineering community, […]

Description This infographic illustrates the distances driven by various rovers on the surface of Earth’s Moon and Mars. Of the vehicles shown, the NASA Mars rovers Perseverance and Curiosity are still operational and moving across the surface; the figures shown for those two are distances driven as of Oct. 11, 2026. As of that date, […]

Description Members of NASA’s Perseverance Mars mission team gather in the Mars Yard at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California with a certificate from Guinness World Records marking the rover distance record on the Red Planet. Positioned in front of the team is OPTIMISM (Operational Perseverance Twin for Integration of Mechanisms and Instruments […]

Description Rover tracks and a rocky Martian landscape are shown in this image captured by one of the navigation cameras (navcams) aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover on Oct. 11, 2026, the 2,006th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. During that sol’s drive, spanning 299.6 feet (91.31 meters), the mission passed a major milestone: pushing Perseverance’s total […]

Three NASA-supported small spacecraft, along with many commercial payloads, are shown before being encapsulated in a SpaceX Falcon 9 ahead of launch on Oct. 1, 2026. The ASCENT Propulsion Dual Mode CubeSat, the Supernova Remnants and Proxies for ReIonization Testbed Experiment (SPRITE) CubeSat, and the Small Spacecraft Propulsion and Inspection Capability (SSPICY) mission will demonstrate […]

The seven-member Expedition 75 crew awaits the arrival of an uncrewed SpaceX Dragon that launched on Tuesday carrying new cargo for delivery on Thursday. When Dragon reached orbit the lab residents were midway through their day filled with biomedical research and advanced space innovations.

For more information, contact Joel W. Sills, Langley Research Center, joel.w.sills@nasa.gov Download the PDF version NASA’s Chemical Equilibrium with Applications (CEA) code is a foundational tool for propulsion system analysis. It provides equilibrium chemistry, rocket performance, shock, and detonation calculations used across NASA and the broader aerospace community. NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) Activity […]

The sunrise launch on Oct. 13 was the 35th SpaceX flight under the Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract with NASA.

Week in images: 12-16 October 2026

A commercial lander that will be at the forefront of NASA’s efforts to establish a Moon Base, humanity’s first lunar outpost, has passed a series of critical tests at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. The tests simulated the extreme temperatures and vacuum of space, as well as the intense shaking and ear-splitting […]

The Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission is set to launch into space on a H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center at 04:41 JST on 20 October 2026 (20:41 BST / 21:41 CEST on 19 October 2026). MMX will be the first mission to collect a sample from Mars’s moon Phobos and bring it back to Earth.

NASA’s SpaceX 35th commercial resupply mission lifted off at 6:33 a.m. EDT Tuesday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, carrying more than 6,300 pounds of supplies and hardware, bound for the International Space Station. Following its successful launch, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will […]

At 6:33 a.m. EDT, more than 6,300 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo launched to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft as part of the company’s 35th commercial resupply services mission for NASA.

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot has returned to Europe following her 237-day εpsilon mission aboard the International Space Station. A press conference with Sophie and Director of Human and Robotic Exploration Daniel Neuenschwander took place on 13 October 2026 at 11:00 CEST in Cologne, Germany.

NASA is streaming live coverage as it prepares for the launch of the 35th SpaceX commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station for the agency.

The Norwegian government has detailed plans to finance a second orbital launch pad at Andøya Spaceport, an initiative the country’s Minister of Trade and Industry first announced on 30 September. In its proposed state budget, published on 7 October, the government allocated NOK 323.3 million (€30 million) towards the project in 2027. NOK 223.5 million […] The post Norway Details Funding Allocation for Second Andøya Launch Pad appeared first on European Spaceflight.

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 October 13 –… 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. OriginalAnnotated Desert Stairway […]

If the thought of extraterrestrial objects crashing into Earth weren’t creepy enough, behold Australia’s Spider Crater.

Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled for 6:33 a.m. EDT (1033 UTC) on Tuesday, Oct. 13. The Cargo Dragon spacecraft will arrive at the space station following a two-day flight.

Liftoff off of the Starlink 15-25 mission from Space Launch Complex 4 East is scheduled for 5:28 p.m. PDT (8:28 p.m. EDT / 0028 UTC).

The International Space Station, fresh off a crew handover and the return of Crew-12 to… The post CRS-35 set to launch to ISS with final iROSA arrays, experiments, and other items appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

NASA experiments focused on human and plant health and drug-resistant organisms will travel to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s 35th Commercial Resupply Services mission for the agency from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, advancing research that benefits life on Earth and future exploration. This research supports astronaut health during long-duration missions through […]

After 237 days and over 3,700 orbits around Earth aboard the International Space Station, Sophie Adenot is back on Earth!

MDA Space, a global leader in communications satellites, Earth and space observation, space exploration and infrastructure, will utilize Jena-Optronik’s ASTRO HP star sensor on a LEO mission. This milestone underscores […] The post Jena-Optronik is proud to partner with MDA Space for its first ASTRO HP mission. appeared first on SpaceNews.

Before the Rosalind Franklin rover can explore Mars, it must first get off its lander.

Before Rosalind Franklin can explore Mars, it has to get off its lander.

Before Rosalind Franklin can explore Mars, it has to get off its lander.

From the ESA Blogs.

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) NovaMoon mission will improve positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services on the Moon. It will help rovers, landers and astronauts navigate on the Moon like cars, planes and pedestrians navigate on Earth. 

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 October 12 –… 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. Jupiter and the […]

The ice reached its third-lowest maximum extent since satellite observations began.

Teams using the James Webb Space Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope — both jointly… The post Webb and Hubble observe stellar nurseries, galaxies, and gravitational lensing in new images appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of October 11-17, 2026 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess, […]

Four months after Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded on the launch pad, the company… The post Blue Origin Advances LC-36 Rebuild for Year-End New Glenn Return to Flight appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 October 11 – Ice… 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. Ice Fishing […]

As part of the agency’s Inspiration Tour flyover, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman will pilot one of three F-5 fighter jets to kick off the New York Jets vs. Cleveland Browns game in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sunday, Oct. 11. NASA team members will engage with fans at the agency’s Experience Zone, located at the […]

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot has arrived back in Europe, landing in Cologne, Germany, following her return to Earth with Crew-12 after 237 days, nearly eight months, aboard the International Space Station for her εpsilon mission.

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 October 10… 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. Lunar Farside Explanation: Tidally […]

Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California carrying satellites for the Space Development Agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture constellation is scheduled for 12:39 a.m. PDT (3:39 EDT / 0739 UTC).

"We’ve made it clear that NASA will never give up its presence in low Earth orbit."

NASA is advancing American leadership in space by taking the next step toward a future where commercial space stations lead the way in low Earth orbit. On Friday, the agency released its final Request for Proposals inviting industry to submit plans for the next generation of commercial space stations. “In alignment with the President’s National […]

At 12:44 p.m. EDT, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL was released from the Canadarm2 robotic arm after it detached from the Earth-facing port of the International Space Station’s Unity module. At the time of release, the space station was flying about 260 miles above the Pacific Ocean.

NASA is testing heat shields that can keep astronauts safe as they return from missions to the Moon and Mars in an unusual way: by taking out the trash. When Northrop Grumman 24th cargo resupply mission for NASA undocked from the International Space Station, it carried a fleet of 12 small, experimental capsules designed to […]

NASA is streaming live coverage of Northrop Grumman’s Commercial Resupply Services-24 mission departure from the International Space Station.

Ship 42 for Flight 15 has headed back out to Massey’s for more cryo-proof testing… The post Ship 40 Returns Home as Ship 42 gets more Cryo Proof Testing appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

Galaxies warp and multiply as if in a house of mirrors in this image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope released on Sept. 29, 2026. The brilliant golden galaxies seen here are part of a galaxy cluster called MACS J0454.1-0300. The orange galaxies bunched together on one side of the image, however, are not actually […]

The Italian Space Agency (ASI) is exploring the development of a dedicated orbital platform capable of generating artificial gravity to support scientific research and technology development. ASI announced the initiative on 8 October and expects to open a consultation with the scientific and technological community later this month to gather research requirements, ideas and potential […] The post Italy Explores Building an Artificial Gravity Research Platform in Orbit appeared first on European Spaceflight.

Week in images: 05-09 October 2026