SpaceDaily
Daily aggregated space news feed spanning space science, exploration updates, and commercial space industry press releases.
Geoscientists Use Satellite to Determine Not the Shape of Water, but How Water Shapes Land
Virginia Tech geoscientists have repurposed NASA’s Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite—originally designed to map water surface height—to study how water reshapes land. By applying SWOT data to fluvial geomorphology, the team demonstrated global-scale monitoring of river dynamics, sediment transport, waterfalls, shear stress, and dam failures. Their findings show the satellite can replace labor‑intensive airborne surveys and fieldwork, offering continuous, worldwide observations. The research, published in Geological Society of America Today, highlights SWOT’s untapped potential for earth‑surface science.
Stratoship Alliance Charts Staged Path for Smallsat Payloads
Stratoship has signed an MoU with Queensland firms Orbit2Orbit and Sunburnt Space Co to create a staged "lab‑to‑space" pathway for small‑satellite payloads. The framework links laboratory development, stratospheric testing, very low Earth orbit (VLEO) and full orbital missions, with Orbit2Orbit...
Starfighters Completes Key Wind Tunnel Campaign for STARLAUNCH 1 Air Launch Vehicle
Starfighters Space Inc has completed a dedicated wind‑tunnel campaign for its STARLAUNCH 1 air‑launched sub‑orbital rocket, confirming clean separation from its supersonic carrier aircraft at both subsonic (Mach 0.85) and supersonic (Mach 1.3) conditions. Ten test runs demonstrated forces and moments consistent with...
China Prepares Offshore Test Base for Reusable Liquid Rocket Launches
China is constructing its first offshore platform dedicated to testing, launching and recovering reusable liquid‑propellant rockets at Haiyang, Shandong. The artificial island, three kilometres from shore, targets early‑February 2026 trial operations, featuring a hydraulic erector and a 17‑metre‑deep flame trench....
Teledyne Detector Arrays Power NASAs BlackCAT CubeSat X-Ray Mission
Teledyne Technologies’ Space Imaging division has deployed its Speedster HyViSI hybrid visible silicon imager focal‑plane arrays on NASA’s BlackCAT CubeSat, which launched on Jan. 11, 2026 via a SpaceX Twilight rideshare. The 6U satellite, led by Pennsylvania State University, will use...
AST SpaceMobile Secures Role on MDA SHIELD Defense Architecture
AST SpaceMobile has been awarded a prime contract under the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s SHIELD IDIQ, positioning its low‑Earth‑orbit cellular broadband architecture within the nation’s missile‑defense modernization effort. The indefinite‑delivery, indefinite‑quantity contract allows AST to compete for research, development, prototyping...
Comtech Wins Multi-Million Dollar Follow-On Contract for Civil Space Components
Comtech Telecommunications secured a follow‑on contract exceeding $5 million to supply advanced electronic components for a U.S. civil‑space lunar exploration program. The award reinforces its long‑standing partnership with a major aerospace and defense prime contractor, delivering microelectronics and engineering services. Executives...
Perovskite Betavoltaic Cell Sets Record Efficiency Using Carbon 14 Source
A research team at DGIST has unveiled a perovskite‑based betavoltaic cell that reaches a record 10.79% energy‑conversion efficiency using carbon‑14 nanoparticles as the beta source. The device demonstrates stable power output for over 15 hours, a six‑fold gain versus the...
Keysight Joins Airbus UpNext SpaceRAN Project to Advance 5G Satellite NTN
Keysight Technologies has joined Airbus UpNext’s SpaceRAN demonstrator to test 5G non‑terrestrial network (NTN) capabilities on a low‑Earth‑orbit (LEO) satellite. The project uses software‑defined satellite payloads to evaluate how next‑generation satellite hardware can deliver 5G services from space. Keysight will...
Quantum Collapse Models Point to Subtle Limits in Timekeeping Accuracy
An international team examined the Diósi‑Penrose and Continuous Spontaneous Localization (CSL) quantum collapse models and demonstrated that, if these models are correct, time itself carries a tiny intrinsic uncertainty. This fuzziness imposes a fundamental, though extraordinarily small, limit on the...
ExLabs and ChibaTech Team up to Land Student CubeLanders on Asteroid Apophis
ExLabs has partnered with Japan’s Chiba Institute of Technology to send student‑designed CubeLanders to asteroid Apophis during its 2029 close approach. The ApophisExL mission, supported by NASA’s JPL, is billed as the world’s first commercial deep‑space rideshare, offering co‑manifested payload...
Lunar Impacts Limit Late Delivery of Earth Ocean Water
A new study using high‑precision triple‑oxygen‑isotope measurements on Apollo lunar regolith shows that only about 1% of the Moon’s soil is impactor‑derived material, limiting the amount of water late‑arriving meteorites could have delivered. Even assuming Earth received roughly twenty times...
Stratolaunch Secures Major Funding to Scale Hypersonic Flight Services
Stratolaunch announced a sizable capital raise that brings Elliott Investment Management on board alongside existing backer Cerberus Capital Management. The new funding will be used to boost production capacity of its reusable hypersonic aircraft and increase the cadence of test...
ExoAnalytic Tools to Power FireSat Wildfire Monitoring Constellation
ExoAnalytic Solutions has been chosen to develop containerized web applications that visualize the orbits and 1,500 km swath coverage of the Earth Fire Alliance’s FireSat wildfire‑monitoring constellation. The tools will provide both public‑facing and secure interfaces, enabling real‑time and predictive track...
Keck Backed Team Advances First Graviton Detector Concept
A team led by Igor Pikovski and Jack Harris, backed by the W. M. Keck Foundation, has moved graviton detection from theory to a concrete laboratory concept. Their approach merges recent gravitational‑wave observations with macroscopic quantum sensors, proposing that a gram‑scale superfluid‑helium resonator can...
Early Universe Dark Matter Born Red Hot Before Cooling
Researchers at the University of Minnesota and Université Paris‑Saclay propose that dark matter may have been born ultrarelativistic—essentially "red hot"—during the post‑inflationary reheating era, contrary to the long‑standing belief that it must be cold from birth. Their analysis shows that such...
Frozen Hydrogen Cyanide Crystals May Have Helped Spark Early Chemistry for Life
Researchers used atomistic simulations to show that frozen hydrogen cyanide (HCN) crystals generate intense electric fields on their facets, accelerating chemical reactions at cryogenic temperatures. The study identified surface pathways that convert HCN into its more reactive isomer, hydrogen isocyanide...
Slow Orbital Wobble Patterns Drive Ancient Greenhouse Climate Swings
A new study shows Earth’s axial precession can drive abrupt, millennial‑scale climate swings even without ice sheets. Using high‑resolution sediment cores from China’s Songliao Basin, researchers identified 4,000‑5,000‑year humid‑arid cycles during the Late Cretaceous, a greenhouse period with CO₂ around...
NASA Back for Seconds with New Food System Design Challenge
NASA has launched the Deep Space Food Challenge: Mars to Table, a global competition that asks innovators to design a self‑sustaining, Earth‑independent food system for long‑duration missions to the Moon and Mars. The contest, backed by a prize pool of up...
Spire Adds Hyperspectral Sounder and Myriota Payloads on SpaceX Twilight Launch
Spire Global launched nine satellites on SpaceX’s Twilight mission, featuring its first hyperspectral microwave sounder (HyMS) and eight Myriota IoT payloads. HyMS is designed to deliver high‑resolution temperature, humidity and precipitation profiles, especially in cloudy conditions, to improve numerical weather‑prediction...
The Quiet Transformation of GPS - What's Coming by 2026
GPS is undergoing a quiet transformation that prioritizes signal stability, continuous operation, and integration with ground infrastructure rather than headline‑grabbing accuracy gains. Engineers are redesigning the constellation to deliver consistent output during short disruptions and to function reliably in dense...
JAXA Taps Ispace for Lunar Debris Mitigation and Disposal Study
Japan's space agency JAXA has commissioned commercial lunar specialist ispace to conduct a detailed study on mitigating space debris in lunar orbit and managing end‑of‑life disposal on the Moon. The project, titled “Analysis for Space Debris Mitigation in Lunar Orbit...
Spaceflight Study Links Astronaut Biology to Reversible Shifts in Epigenetic Age
A recent Buck Institute study analyzed blood from the four‑person Axiom 2 crew, revealing that a 10‑day spaceflight accelerated epigenetic age by roughly 1.9 years by day 7. Serial sampling showed the acceleration reversed after landing, with older astronauts returning to baseline and...
The Silent Partner - How Machine Learning Quietly Powers Modern Space Operations
Machine learning has moved from experimental labs to the core of space operations, enabling rapid analysis of massive satellite imagery, telemetry streams, and orbital traffic data. Supervised, unsupervised and reinforcement learning each address distinct needs—from automated Earth‑observation classification to anomaly...
GPS in 2026 - Hidden Shifts That Could Redefine Global Navigation
GPS is transitioning from a static, accuracy‑only service to an adaptive, reliability‑focused platform by 2026. Growing demand for uninterrupted positioning in dense urban and indoor spaces, plus the critical role of GPS timing in power grids and data centers, are...
New Orbital Mapping System Targets Earth Moon Libration Traffic
A research team at the National University of Defense Technology has introduced a six‑parameter orbital mapping system for objects near the Earth‑Moon collinear Lagrange points. By applying canonical transformations and center‑manifold theory to the circular restricted three‑body problem, the framework...
Blue Origin and Nimbus Validate Fuel Cells for Lunar Life Support
Blue Origin and Nimbus Power Systems have completed rigorous shock and vibration testing of Nimbus’s advanced, gravity‑independent fuel‑cell hardware, confirming it meets performance targets for NASA Artemis lunar missions. The fuel cells generate electricity, heat and potable water, while a...
Multiple Satellite Filings Demonstrate Transparency, Responsibility and Ambition: China Daily Editorial
China’s space regulator submitted ITU filings covering more than 200,000 satellites across 14 constellations, including two networks of over 90,000 satellites. The filings follow the ITU’s first‑come‑first‑served allocation rules and are required two to seven years before launch. China frames...
Fueling Research in Nuclear Thermal Propulsion
MIT graduate student Taylor Hampson is leading NASA‑sponsored research into nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP), a technology that heats hydrogen with nuclear energy to generate thrust. NTP promises double the specific impulse of conventional chemical rockets, potentially halving travel time to...
Nullspace Speeds Antenna and Radar Simulations with New EM Software Tools
Nullspace Inc. unveiled an upgraded electromagnetic simulation suite aimed at large‑scale antenna and radar projects, featuring AI‑assisted CAD cleanup and a Fast Adaptive Frequency Sweep engine. The new Nullspace Prep tool automates removal of non‑RF mechanical details, while Nullspace EM...
Bright Supernova Offers New View of Black Hole Birth
Astronomers observed supernova SN 2022esa, a type Ic‑CSM event, capturing the collapse of a massive Wolf‑Rayet star that formed a black hole. The team combined rapid Seimei and deep Subaru data to track its evolution, revealing a one‑month stable brightness plateau...
PH-1 Test Flight Advances Chinese Reusable Suborbital Spacecraft Plans
Chinese commercial aerospace firm CAS Space successfully flew its PH-1 suborbital vehicle, marking the first reusable test flight in the nation’s push toward low‑cost microgravity research and space tourism. The flight demonstrated autonomous navigation, thermal protection and a controlled splash‑down,...
Ancient Impact May Explain Moons Contrasting Sides
Scientists have long debated why the Moon’s near side is covered by dark volcanic maria while the far side remains a rugged highland. New research using Chang’e 6 far‑side samples reveals an enrichment of heavy potassium isotopes, a fingerprint of a...
Surrey Japan Team to Probe Short Lived Atomic Nuclei in Cosmic Element Quest
The University of Surrey and Kyushu University, together with RIKEN’s Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory, have secured a £215,100 Royal Society grant to study some of the most short‑lived, neutron‑rich and neutron‑deficient isotopes. Over the next three years the team will...
Momentus to Flight Test 3D Printed Fuel Tank on Vigoride 7
Momentus Inc. will flight‑test an additively manufactured metal fuel tank on its Vigoride‑7 Orbital Service Vehicle. The tank, printed with Velo3D’s metal 3D‑printing system, showcases internal geometries impossible with traditional machining. Momentus aims to use this technology to lower costs...
Chinese Astronauts Hone Extreme Cave Survival Skills
China’s Astronaut Center completed its first cave‑survival program, training 28 astronauts and trainees in Chongqing’s Wulong district over a near‑month. Participants lived six days underground, conducting mapping, environmental monitoring, and psychological drills in 8 °C, 99 % humidity conditions. The exercise emphasized...
Sierra Space Finishes First Plane of SDA Missile Tracking Satellite Structures
Sierra Space has delivered the first nine satellite structures—Plane 1—of the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 2 Tracking Layer, finishing three months ahead of schedule. The milestone was achieved using the company’s new Victory Works high‑rate manufacturing facility. The next phase moves to...
Rogue Planet Mass Pinned Down for the First Time
An international team led by Dong Subo has obtained the first precise mass measurement of a rogue planet, confirming it as a Saturn‑mass object (~0.2 Jupiter). The measurement leveraged simultaneous observations from Gaia, KMTNet, and OGLE, using microlens parallax to...
US Space Command APEX Summit Explores AI for Campaign Planning
The U.S. Space Command held its first AI‑enabled APEX summit in November 2025, gathering over 70 senior leaders to test artificial‑intelligence tools for the 2026 Coordinated Campaign Order. Participants used three different AI platforms across four strategic lenses, producing human‑curated,...
Satellites to Extend 5G and 6G Coverage Worldwide
Satellite communication is being woven into 5G and upcoming 6G networks to close coverage gaps in remote and underserved regions. 3GPP Release 17 formally recognizes non‑terrestrial networks, enabling direct satellite‑to‑device links and IoT services. Advances in LEO constellations, beamforming payloads, and...
Starfighters Space Positions for Rapid Hypersonic Era Missions
Starfighters Space Inc. is leveraging a fleet of seven F‑104 Starfighter jets to air‑launch payloads to 45,000 feet, offering sustained Mach 2 missions and rapid, on‑demand access for small‑sat and hypersonic testing customers. The company positions its $15,000 per kilogram price point...
Defence Backs Australian STARS System for Autonomous Space Threat Detection
Australia’s Defence Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator has awarded Space Machines Company a A$2.9 million contract to develop the Space Threat Analysis and Response System (STARS). The autonomous platform will ingest data from ground‑based and commercial sensors to predict close approaches, rendezvous...
Thin Ice May Have Protected Lake Water on Frozen Mars
Researchers at Rice University used a Mars‑adapted climate model to show that thin, seasonal ice could insulate ancient lakes, allowing liquid water to persist for decades despite sub‑freezing average temperatures. The study, published in AGU Advances, ran 64 simulations of...
ALMA Views Giant Dusty Disk in Gomezs Hamburger with Signs of Early Giant Planet Formation
Astronomers using ALMA have captured a nearly edge‑on view of Gomez’s Hamburger (GoHam), revealing distinct vertical layers of millimeter‑sized dust and multiple gas molecules. The disk stretches to almost 1,000 AU in radius, with gas extending several hundred AU above the...