Long-Period Jupiter-Like Exoplanet Discovered with TESS
Astronomers using NASA's TESS have confirmed a new exoplanet, TOI-6692 b, that rivals Jupiter in size but orbits its Sun‑like star every 130 days on a highly eccentric path. The planet was first flagged by citizen scientists as a single‑transit event and later validated through ground‑based photometry and radial‑velocity measurements. With a mass of 0.62 Jupiter masses and a radius of 1.04 Jupiter radii, it joins a tiny cohort of long‑period warm Jupiters with both mass and radius known. The team also detected a possible outer companion via a long‑term radial‑velocity trend.
Artemis Crew Preps for Moon Launch Amid Fuel Checks
Moon rocket about to get fuelled. nasa is making the decision if the Florida weather is warm enough and the systems are GO to start pumping liquid hydrogen & oxygen into Artemis. Expect leaks and problems, but if all gets...
NASA Countdown Begins for Artemis II Tanking Approval
Meanwhile, waiting for official word from NASA about whether it was a "go" for Artemis II tanking. The clock is counting down on NASA's website... https://t.co/5OqAxjZZ1n
Close Encounter: Earth Orbiting Leftovers
On December 25 2025 a defunct French Earth‑observation satellite, SPOT 3, came within roughly 20 meters of a fragment from the Soviet Cosmos 1275, which exploded in 1996. The near‑miss occurred at about 845 km altitude, roughly 525 km above Earth’s surface. Both objects have been orbiting...
Artemis II Team Polls Live on Tanking Decision
Artemis II Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson and the Mission Management Team will conduct a poll at 10:45 am ET this morning (in about 5 minutes) to decide whether to proceed with tanking for the Wet Dress Rehearsal. https://t.co/c6C2rRQQ2I
NASA Advances SLS Wet Dress Rehearsal Tanking Test
NASA teams are pressing on with the wet dress rehearsal tanking test for the Space Launch System rocket today. Here’s an update on what to expect from SFN Reporter @w_robinsonsmith. https://t.co/GJw5dgUZSP
Experiments Clear up Confusion over the Form of Solid Methane
Physicists led by Mengnan Wang at the University of Edinburgh used high‑pressure experiments combined with optical spectroscopy to map solid methane’s phase behavior up to 45 GPa and 1,100 K. Their work produced two distinct phase diagrams—one reflecting kinetic transformations and another...
Infrared Running of Gravity Offers a Field-Theoretic Route to Dark Matter Phenomena
A recent paper in Physics Letters B proposes that Newton’s constant may run in the infrared, altering gravity’s strength over galactic distances. The author derives a logarithmic correction to the gravitational potential, producing an effective 1/r force that naturally yields flat...
Amazon Seeks FCC Extension, Adds Falcon 9s; New Glenn Delayed
. @Amazonleo asks @FCC for 2-yr deadline extension, buys 10 more @SpaceX Falcon 9s & more @blueorigin New Glenn launches, says anomalies on prototypes launched in 2023 caused 9-month delay in full production ramp. https://t.co/IAYiZYBMkU https://t.co/q8A4DwCyJu
Mars Rover Drives with the Help of Anthropic AI
Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory used Anthropic's Claude AI to map a 450‑meter route for the Perseverance rover on Mars. By feeding Claude years of mission data, the system generated Rover Markup Language commands that covered 10‑meter segments and...
CesiumAstro to Scale Operations with $470 Million in Equity and Debt Financing
CesiumAstro announced a $470 million financing package on Feb. 2, comprising $270 million in equity and $200 million in debt. The round was led by Trousdale Ventures and included investors such as Toyota’s Woven Capital, Airbus Ventures, and the U.S. Export‑Import Bank. The capital...
Starlink and the Unravelling of Digital Sovereignty
In January 2026 Iran shut down landline and mobile networks to suppress protests, but smuggled Starlink terminals gave demonstrators a lifeline to stream video and coordinate actions. SpaceX responded by waiving fees for Iranian users, while Iranian security forces deployed military‑grade...
Normalization of Deviance
The Space Review highlights NASA’s Orion heat‑shield issue as a classic case of normalization of deviance, where repeated acceptance of performance shortfalls erodes safety standards. After a design change post‑EFT‑1, the shield failed to ablate on Artemis 1, prompting a costly...
Dragonship: China Builds a Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier While Satellites Watch
China is reportedly constructing its first nuclear‑powered aircraft carrier, dubbed the Type 004, at the Dalian shipyard. Satellite photos captured in 2025 show two large square sections consistent with reactor compartments, suggesting a shift from the conventionally powered Fujian and Shandong...
From Pacifism to Pragmatism: Japan's Evolving Space Security Policy
Japan has shifted from strict pacifism to a pragmatic space security stance, codified by the 2008 Basic Space Law. The law, prompted by North Korea’s 2006 missile launches and China’s 2007 anti‑satellite test, authorized non‑aggressive military space capabilities and centralized...
Bright Streak Lights Up New Zealand Sky: Was It A Meteor?
On 30 January 2026 a bright green fireball streaked across the night sky above Wellington, New Zealand, and was recorded by a webcam at the Heretaunga Boating Club. Eyewitness videos quickly spread on social media, prompting experts to debate whether the phenomenon was...
Transcelestial to Provide Satellite Laser Communication Terminals to Gilmour Space
Transcelestial has signed a strategic partnership with Australian launch‑vehicle maker Gilmour Space to integrate its optical‑laser communication terminal onto a Gilmour satellite launching on SpaceX’s Transporter‑18 rideshare later this year. The demonstration will test gigabit‑per‑second space‑to‑ground data links, a capability...
China's Reusable Spaceplane Likely to Return Soon
We haven't heard from the Chinese reusable space plane for a good while (last mission ended in September 2024). Probably time soon for it to stretch its wings again.
Singapore to Launch Its National Space Agency in April 2026
Singapore announced the creation of a National Space Agency (NSAS) that will begin operations on 1 April 2026. The agency will consolidate the duties of the Office of Space Technology & Industry and drive R&D, industry growth, and regulatory reform. Singapore’s space...
Case of Rocket Debris in Poland Under Scrutiny Once Again
On 19 February 2025 a Falcon 9 booster fragment re‑entered uncontrolled and landed on Polish soil, prompting a police seizure and a prosecutor’s decision to drop criminal charges. The European Space Agency has now issued a €200‑500 k tender to independently reconstruct the breakup,...
China’s Belt and Road Initiative Reaches Into Space
China has expanded its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) into space, integrating communication, navigation and remote‑sensing satellites to complement its terrestrial infrastructure. The Beidou navigation system and a growing fleet of communication satellites now provide internet, precise positioning and Earth‑observation...
Indian FY27 Budget Pushes Space Companies to Look at Defence Sector for Demand
India’s FY27 Union Budget omitted direct fiscal incentives for the space sector, prompting private firms to pivot toward the defence market, which saw a 15% allocation increase to ₹7.85 lakh crore. While sector‑specific demands such as GST rationalisation and a dedicated...
Don’t Watch the Artemis Moon Landing Until You’ve Read These Apollo Masterpieces
An expanding body of non‑fiction captures the Apollo program from multiple angles, blending astronaut memoirs, journalist investigations, and technical histories. The curated list of ten titles—ranging from Chaikin’s comprehensive *A Man on the Moon* to Shetterly’s *Hidden Figures* and Kranz’s...
NASA's SLS Wet Dress Rehearsal Begins Under Snow Moon
NASA's wet dress rehearsal countdown continues tonight as the 'Snow Moon' rises behind the Space Launch System rocket at pad 39B at @NASAKennedy. NASA will conduct a Go/No-Go poll ahead of fueling at about 10:40 a.m. EST (1540 UTC) on...
NASA Inventions That Revolutionized Everyday Life
NASA’s research has produced a suite of consumer‑grade technologies, from memory foam mattresses to GPS accuracy enhancements. The article lists ten spin‑offs that began as solutions for spaceflight safety, health, and efficiency, and are now embedded in everyday products. These...
Tiny Titanium Pillars Move Hydrogen-Powered Flight Closer to Reality
Researchers at the University of Birmingham and Loughborough University have used digital design and laser micromachining to create ultrathin titanium flow distributors for polymer electrolyte fuel cells. The optimized micropillar structures achieved a record peak power density of 1.62 W cm⁻², translating...
Major Solar Flare Strikes as Giant New Sunspot Erupts
An unprecedented sunspot, designated 4366, emerged over the weekend and rapidly expanded to nearly ten times Earth's diameter. The region unleashed a prolonged flare sequence—M7, X1, and M6—lasting over six hours, delivering intense extreme ultraviolet radiation that triggered a shortwave...
'Back to the Moon': Time Magazine Salutes Artemis 2 Astronauts in Special Commemorative Cover Issue
Time magazine released a special commemorative issue on Jan 30 featuring the Artemis 2 crew on its cover, marking the upcoming first crewed lunar mission in over five decades. The cover underscores NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the...
Bye-Bye Corporate Conglomerates. Hello Personal Conglomerates.
Elon Musk is reportedly exploring a merger of Tesla, SpaceX and xAI, creating a personal conglomerate that mirrors the historic rise of General Electric under Jack Welch. Musk's empire now spans automotive, aerospace, AI, neural interfaces, tunneling and social media,...
A 'Cosmic Clock' In Tiny Crystals Has Revealed the Rise and Fall of Australia's Ancient Landscapes
A novel geochronology technique uses cosmogenic krypton trapped in zircon crystals to date surface exposure for up to hundreds of millions of years. By analyzing zircon from buried Nullarbor Plain beach sands, researchers determined that erosion rates around 40 million years...
This Photo of Mars at Night Is Straight Up Haunting
Mars experiences night cycles of roughly 12 hours, with winter nights lengthening and temperatures plunging to –100 °F near the equator. NASA’s Curiosity rover, equipped with white and UV LEDs on its robotic arm, can illuminate the otherwise pitch‑black surface, allowing...
The Pelican Nebula Shines Near the Las Vegas Strip in Gorgeous Deep Space Photo
NASA network engineer and amateur astrophotographer Jason Livingston captured a vivid image of the Pelican Nebula, a stellar nursery in Cygnus, from his backyard in Henderson, Nevada, just nine miles from the Las Vegas Strip. Using a ZWO ASI533MC Pro camera...
Gladys West, GPS Pioneer and One of NASA's Famed 'Hidden Figures,' Dies at 95
Gladys West, the Black mathematician whose Earth‑shape models underpinned modern GPS, died at 95 from natural causes. Over a 42‑year tenure at the Naval Proving Ground, she programmed the IBM 7030 and developed algorithms that corrected gravitational, tidal and other distortions,...
First Deorbit-as-a-Service Contract Awarded to Starfish Space
The episode spotlights the U.S. Space Force SDA’s historic $52.5 million Deorbit‑as‑a‑Service contract awarded to Starfish Space, which will launch the Otter spacecraft to safely dispose of LEO satellites starting in 2027. It contrasts this with ESA’s $475 k award to Astroscale...
February 2026: What’s in the Sky This Month? Jupiter Continues to Dominate the Night; Mercury, Venus, and Saturn Are Visible
February 2026 offers a rich celestial lineup, with Mercury reaching its greatest eastern elongation on Feb 19 and Venus brightening the western twilight. Jupiter dominates the night after its recent opposition, providing multiple moon transits and shadow events throughout the month. Saturn...
NASA's Artemis II Mission Will Redefine What American Astronauts Look Like
NASA has postponed the Artemis II launch after a cold snap threatened the launch pad’s systems. The mission, scheduled to lift off from Kennedy Space Center’s Pad 39B, will be the first crewed flight of the Orion capsule and will circle the...
NASA Begins Countdown for SLS Tanking Test
NASA said the countdown for the SLS rocket tanking test began Jan. 31 at 8:13 pm ET (0113 UTC) at L-48 hours, 40 minutes. The window for the simulated T-0 opens at 9 pm ET on Feb. 2 (0200 UTC...
Saudi Space Agency Reveals DebriSolver Competition Winners
Saudi Space Agency Announces Winners of Global 'DebriSolver' Competition at Space Debris Conference https://t.co/7nShOVvrrl https://t.co/PfUOga8PFx
NASA Perseverance Rover Might Have Uncovered Proof Of Life On Mars
NASA's Perseverance rover drilled a mudstone core in Sapphire Canyon, Neretva Vallis, revealing the presence of Vivianite and Greigite—minerals on Earth commonly associated with microbial processes. The rover's SHERLOC and PIXL instruments identified these minerals, marking the closest detection of...
Artemis II Wet Dress Rehearsal Begins, Launch Window Tomorrow
Pick of the wk of course is the Artemis II Wet Dress Rehearsal. The approx 49-hour test is already underway. Simulated launch window opens 9:00 pm ET tmrw (Monday). What’s Happening in Space Policy February 1-7, 2026 https://t.co/K961bTAPgx
Varda’s W-5 Mission Lands in Australia
Varda Space Industries successfully completed its W‑5 mission, landing the capsule at Australia’s Koonibba Test Range on Jan. 29. The flight, launched on SpaceX’s Transporter‑15 rideshare in November, carried a U.S. Navy payload under the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Prometheus program...
Russia in Discussions with Malaysian Province About Potential Spaceport
Russia’s commercial space arm Glavcosmos is negotiating with Sabah, Malaysia, to build a new spaceport. Technical studies cite the province’s geography as ideal for low‑earth and sun‑synchronous launches, and the project could generate over 2,000 high‑income jobs. The move follows...
China Plans Deep Space L5 Probe
China’s space agency announced the Xihe‑2 deep‑space probe, slated for launch between 2028 and 2029, to station at the Sun‑Earth L5 Lagrange point. From this unique viewpoint the spacecraft will capture three‑dimensional solar data across new wavelengths, extending observation time...
Top 20 Most Hyped Chinese Commercial Space Companies
The Chinese commercial space sector has transformed from a state monopoly into a vibrant ecosystem of private firms, spurred by the 2014 Document 60 policy. Twenty leading companies now span launch services, satellite constellations, and specialized infrastructure, with pioneers like LandSpace...
NASA Needs To Leverage Its Cool Tech Better
NASA’s Perseverance rover completed the first drive on another planet that was planned entirely by artificial intelligence, showcasing a breakthrough in autonomous space navigation. The mission leveraged Anthropic’s Claude AI models in collaboration with JPL, aligning with the White House...
DSIT Says Gov’t Should “Provide Clarity” Regarding UK Launch
On 30 January the Department for Space, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) published a response to the House of Lords Engagement with Space Committee's 40‑point report on the UK space economy. The most debated item was Recommendation 13, which questioned the commercial...
Amazon Asks FCC for Time Extension for Launching Its Leo Constellation
Amazon has filed a request with the FCC to extend the July 30, 2026 deadline for deploying half of its Leo satellite internet constellation. The company currently operates 181 satellites, far short of the 1,616‑satellite interim milestone. Amazon blames launch‑vehicle...
Earth to MAVEN? Re-Contact Effort Underway with Mars Orbiter
NASA’s Deep Space Network is actively trying to re‑establish contact with the MAVEN orbiter after telemetry ceased on Dec. 4, 2025, with a brief tracking fragment received on Dec. 6 suggesting the spacecraft rotated unexpectedly and may have shifted orbit. The Goldstone...
New 3D Map of the Sun's Magnetic Interior Could Improve Predictions of Disruptive Solar Flares
Scientists have produced the first three‑dimensional map of the Sun’s interior magnetic field using data from multiple space‑based observatories. Published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the model reveals the hidden magnetic architecture that drives solar activity. The breakthrough promises more...
The Art of Invisibility: How Satellites Evade Detection in an Era of Total Surveillance
Stealth satellites blend advanced materials, geometry, and orbital tactics to shrink their optical, radar, and infrared signatures. Vantablack coatings and radar‑absorbent composites mute reflections, while faceted shapes and directional radiators steer heat away from Earth‑based sensors. Laser communication links and...