Musk: Next Starship/Superheavy Test Launch in Mid-March
Elon Musk announced that SpaceX plans a Starship/Superheavy test launch in roughly six weeks, targeting mid‑March. The statement implies that engineers have fixed the tank‑rupture problems that plagued recent Superheavy tests and that a new version‑3 booster is ready. Launch‑pad repairs at Boca Chica are also nearing completion. The mission could be a sub‑orbital flight testing refueling, engine restarts and satellite deployment, or a full‑orbit flight needed to pave the way for the 2026 dual‑Starship refueling test.
Empowering NASA’s Earth Science Fleet
Jon Mikel Walton, former NASA Earth public‑engagement lead, urged Administrator Jared Isaacman on LinkedIn to fully fund and protect NASA’s Earth‑science fleet. The essay stresses the fleet’s unique ability to track climate, water, ice and ecosystem changes, delivering vital data...
From Stellar Engines to Dyson Bubbles, Alien Megastructures Could Hold Themselves Together Under the Right Conditions
New theoretical work by Colin McInnes at the University of Glasgow shows that both stellar engines and Dyson bubbles—hypothetical alien megastructures designed to harvest a star’s energy—can achieve passive gravitational stability under specific conditions. The study, published in Monthly Notices of...
NASA, Partners Advance LISA Prototype Hardware
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center completed tests on a second early‑version frequency reference system, a core component of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission. The hardware, built by BAE Systems, stabilizes the infrared lasers that must measure distances to...
1400 Quirky Objects Found in Hubble's Archive
Astronomers at ESA deployed an AI‑driven neural network called AnomalyMatch to comb through roughly 100 million Hubble Legacy Archive cutouts in just 2.5 days. The system flagged about 1,400 anomalous objects, of which more than 800 have never been recorded in the...
The “Stealth” Strategy Pays Off: UARX Space Emerges as Europe’s High-Reliability Powerhouse
UARX Space spent five years in stealth, delivering a full TRL 9 product line before announcing publicly. Its flagship OSSIE platform offers a modular, high‑performance in‑orbit validation bus, now partnered with Dawn Aerospace for a docking‑and‑refueling port slated for a 2026...
Watch NASA's Artemis 2 Moon Rocket on the Launch Pad with This 24-Hour Livestream
NASA has placed the Artemis 2 Space Launch System on Launch Complex‑39B and is streaming the rocket’s status 24/7 on YouTube. After a 12‑hour rollout on Jan 17, the vehicle will undergo a wet‑dress‑rehearsal fueling test on Feb 2, just days before the...
NASA Evaluation Lauds Quality of PlanetiQ Radio Occultation Data
An independent NASA evaluation has validated the quality of PlanetiQ’s GNSS radio occultation data, finding it comparable to benchmark missions like COSMIC‑2. The review highlighted PlanetiQ’s total electron content measurements as best‑in‑class, with high signal‑to‑noise and deep lower‑troposphere penetration. NASA...
Artemis II: Inside NASA’s New Ride to the Moon
In this episode, hosts Jacob Pinter and Padi Boyd take listeners inside NASA’s Artemis II mission, touring the Orion crew capsule with vehicle manager Branelle Rodriguez and exploring its life‑support, habitability, and waste‑management systems. They also sit down with Space Launch...
Jan. 27, 1967: The Apollo 1 Fire
On Jan. 27, 1967, a pre‑flight test of Apollo 1 ended in a catastrophic fire that killed astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. The Block 1 capsule used a pure‑oxygen atmosphere and contained flammable materials, causing the blaze to spread in seconds. The inward‑opening hatch...
The HWO Must Be Picometer Perfect To Observe Earth 2.0
NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) has advanced to Concept Maturity Level 3, entering the trade‑space phase that evaluates telescope architectures and technology gaps. The flagship mission aims to directly image at least 25 Earth‑like exoplanets, requiring picometer‑scale stability—about 1,000 times...
Are Mysterious 'Little Red Dots' Discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope Actually Nurseries for Direct-Collapse Black Holes?
Astronomers using JWST have identified enigmatic "Little Red Dots"—compact, red sources seen when the universe was under a billion years old—and propose they are nurseries for direct‑collapse black holes. Simulations by Elia Cenci’s team show that these heavy‑seed black holes...
Low Frequency Lasers Modeled to Greatly Boost Nuclear Fusion Rates
A new theoretical study shows that intense low‑frequency laser fields can dramatically increase nuclear fusion rates by reshaping the collision‑energy distribution of reacting nuclei. The model predicts that a 1.55 eV laser at 10²⁰ W cm⁻² boosts deuterium‑tritium fusion probability by three orders...
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...
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...
How Will the Artemis 2 Crew Pilot the Orion Spacecraft
Artemis 2 will be the first crewed flight of NASA's Orion spacecraft, which is built to operate both autonomously and under manual control. Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen explains that each astronaut will have a dedicated hand controller, allowing translation and rotation...
VC10X - Engineering Liquidity in Deeptech - Brad Harrison, Founder, Scout Ventures
In this 45‑minute episode, West Point graduate and former Airborne Ranger Brad Harrison explains how Scout Ventures applies military‑grade SOPs and a 40‑revision investment process to back frontier deep‑tech startups at the nexus of national security and innovation. He details...
Space Force Set to Choose Contractors for Next-Gen GEO Spy Satellites
The U.S. Space Force is nearing contractor selections for the Geosynchronous Reconnaissance & Surveillance (RG‑XX) program, its first large‑scale commercial‑first satellite acquisition. RG‑XX will replace the bespoke Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program with a proliferated GEO constellation built from commercial...
Vega C to Launch Brazilian Satellite
Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) will launch the 700‑kilogram Amazonia‑1B Earth‑observation satellite on a Vega C rocket in 2027. The mission is being arranged through Texas‑based launch broker SpaceLaunch, which secured a contract worth about 188.2 million Brazilian reais (~$35.6 million)....
Northwood Space Secures $100M Funding and $49M Defense Deal
Northwood Space raises $100 million Series B, lands $49 million Space Force deal https://t.co/3tpiIouSVt https://t.co/bm0UUoDKA6
Northwood Closes $100M Series B
Northwood Space announced a $100 million Series B round led by a16z and Washington Harbour Partners, following a $30 million Series A less than a year earlier. The funding will accelerate production of its Portal phased‑array ground systems, now capable of building eight units...
Northwood Space Secures a $100M Series B and a $50M Space Force Contract
Northwood Space announced a $100 million Series B funding round led by Washington Harbour Partners and Andreessen Horowitz, following a $30 million Series A less than a year earlier. The startup also secured a $49.8 million contract with the U.S. Space Force to modernize the...
Northwood Space Raises $100 Million Series B, Lands $49 Million Space Force Deal
Northwood Space announced a $100 million Series B round led by Washington Harbour Partners and co‑led by a16z, following a $30 million Series A nine months earlier. The funding supports the rollout of its multi‑beam phased‑array ground station, Portal, which can handle eight to...
AI-Powered Video Processing Payload Moves Toward Flight on LizzieSat-4
Maris-Tech Ltd. and Sidus Space announced that Maris-Tech’s AI‑powered video processing payload will be integrated onto Sidus’s LizzieSat‑4 satellite, with a launch targeted for later this year. Joint hardware testing begins next week, marking a key integration milestone toward flight...
The Infrastructure Revolution Behind Data Centers in Space With Ramon.Space CEO Avi Shabtai
In this episode, Ramon.Space CEO Avi Shabtai explains the vision of a distributed‑architecture data center in space, where a mesh of satellites functions as individual compute and storage nodes. He outlines the technical foundations—edge‑computing hardware, onboard processing, and inter‑satellite networking—that...
Protecting Human Health
NASA researchers monitor the atmospheric movement of pollutants to help protect human health.
NASA's Spinoff 2026 Marks 50 Years of Innovation
NASA's annual Spinoff report -- Spinoff 2026 -- is out, celebrating its 50th anniversary. https://t.co/nXOeQdaTn7
Artemis II Wet Dress Rehearsal Slated for Jan 31
NASA says the Artemis II Wet Dress Rehearsal is now as early as Jan 31. https://t.co/bj6ypJWE9L
NASA Seeks Partners for Earth Science Extended Missions
NASA’s Earth Science Division announced a call for external partners to sustain extended missions such as the Orbiting Carbon Observatory‑2 (OCO‑2) and the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS). The agency seeks proposals that could assume part or all of...
China’s Xuntian Telescope Clears Major Systems Test Ahead of Planned 2027 Launch
China’s Xuntian space telescope has passed a comprehensive systems-level simulation, confirming that its optical, imaging and data subsystems work together under realistic orbital conditions. The test moves the program from component-only verification to integrated flight readiness, clearing the way for...
Ignis Mission Timelapses: Earth and Moon Views From the International Space Station
ESA astronaut Sławosz Uznański‑Wiśniewski recorded striking timelapse videos of Earth and the Moon from the International Space Station’s Cupola during his 20‑day stay on Axiom Mission 4, dubbed Ignis. Launched on 25 June 2025 aboard a SpaceX Dragon, the mission hosted 13 experiments...
Moon-Based Observations Capture Earth's 'Radiation Fingerprint'
A study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research demonstrates that lunar‑based observations can view Earth as a full disk, capturing its outgoing radiation with unprecedented continuity. By applying spherical harmonic analysis, researchers showed that roughly 90% of the observed...
Artemis II Crew Begins Quarantine, Awaiting Launch Timeline
Still no date for the WDR or launch, but Artemis II crew is getting ready. They entered quarantine on Friday in Houston. Pending outcome of the WDR or other operations considerations they can come out and reenter 14 days before...
Proposed New Mission Will Create Artificial Solar Eclipses in Space
The Moon‑enabled Sun Occultation Mission (Mesom) proposes using the Moon as a natural occulter to create artificial solar eclipses in space, enabling prolonged, high‑quality observations of the Sun’s inner corona. Current coronagraphs and rare terrestrial eclipses provide limited viewing time...
Remote Sensing Model Enables Early Detection of Vole Outbreaks in Spanish Farmlands
Researchers at Spain’s SERIDA have created a large‑scale remote‑sensing system that predicts fossorial water vole habitats and quantifies damage with 97% accuracy. The model integrates Sentinel‑2 satellite imagery and field data to produce a Predictive Habitat model and an Optimized...
Oman Signs Artemis Accords, Hosts Regional Space Summit
The Sultanate of Oman is the latest Artemis Accords signatory. Oman is hosting the Middle East Space Conference this week. https://t.co/vdZQAZ2n6w
Super-Earth Exoplanets May Have Built-In Magnetic Protection From Churning Magma — and That's Good News for Life
New research published in Nature Astronomy suggests that super‑Earth exoplanets with masses three to six times that of Earth can generate long‑lasting magnetic fields in a basal magma ocean layer between core and mantle, rather than in a metallic core....
CAS Space Prepares For China’s Crewed Spaceflight Operations
On 12 January CAS Space successfully completed its first Lihong‑1 suborbital flight, reaching an altitude of 120 km before parachuting back to the Jiuquan launch site. The mission collected critical data on re‑entry dynamics, deceleration and booster guidance, while carrying a microgravity...
Microgravity Rewires Microbial Metabolism, Limiting Space-Based Manufacturing Efficiency
Scientists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory completed the MELSP experiment on the ISS, showing that microgravity fundamentally rewires microbial metabolism and cuts melanin production efficiency. Engineered E. coli produced the same enzyme in space, but impaired substrate transport and...
NASA Welcomes Oman as Newest Artemis Accords Signatory
Oman signed the Artemis Accords on Jan. 26, 2026, becoming the 61st nation to endorse the framework for responsible space exploration. The ceremony in Muscat, attended by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and U.S. Ambassador Ana Escrogima, highlighted Oman’s commitment to...
Slovenia Signs Enterprise-Scale Agreement With Planet
Planet Labs has signed an enterprise‑scale contract with Slovenia’s Surveying and Mapping Authority (GURS) to deliver PlanetScope imagery and high‑resolution tasking services. The data will be used across state and municipal agencies for agriculture monitoring, urban planning, and disaster management....
Bill Nye Steps Down as CEO, Becomes Ambassador and Vice Chair
After 15 years heading The Planetary Society, Bill Nye "The Science Guy" is transitioning from CEO to a new role as Chief Ambassador as well as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors. Current COO Jennifer Vaughn will be...
Earth’s Lower Orbit Could Rapidly Collapse, Scientists Warn
Scientists warn that low Earth orbit (LEO) could collapse rapidly if a solar storm disables satellite navigation, triggering the Kessler syndrome cascade. Their pre‑print study introduces a "CRASH clock" metric, estimating only 5.5 days before a catastrophic chain reaction could...
Moon Spacewalks Far Harder than ISS, Astronauts Say
That *is* an excellent report abt the realities of spacewalking on the Moon, esp v the ISS, and Axiom's suits. Incl stmts by astronauts Kate Rubins (ret) and Mike Barratt to the Natl Academies recently (plus an interview w/Rubins). Snip:...
Canada-Korea MoU to Jointly Develop K‑LEO Military
Canada's @MDA_space and Korea's #Hanwha Systems Co sign MoU to explore collaborating on Korean govt K-LEO military constellation using MDA's Aurora software-defined satelite platform. https://t.co/6vSjdppt4v
NASA Technology Brings Golden Age of Exploration to Earth
NASA’s Spinoff 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of the agency’s technology‑transfer program, showcasing how space‑derived innovations are reshaping everyday life. The edition highlights two firms that use NASA‑inspired 3D‑printing to build lunar‑compatible habitats and affordable Earth housing, as well as...
A Good Sign: Artemis 2 Astronauts Now in Quarantine
NASA confirmed on Jan 23 that the Artemis 2 crew began their health‑stabilization program, effectively entering quarantine. The 14‑day isolation is a key checkpoint before the targeted evening launch on Feb 6, with the astronauts slated to return to Florida between Jan 31 and...
Astranis Adds Oman Customer to Summer GEO Launch Lineup
Astranis has signed a nine‑figure contract with Oman’s MB Group for a small geostationary broadband satellite slated for a summer launch. The deal, part of a $200 million investment, includes ground stations and connectivity infrastructure to support Oman’s diversification away from...
Pentagon Contracts Varda Space, Stratolaunch for Reusable Hypersonic Tests
Pentagon announced that it had awarded two contracts to @VardaSpace and @Stratolaunch as providers for Task Area 3 of the MACH-TB program, which focuses on reusable flight concepts for hypersonic missile tests. https://t.co/foLw2HUpR6
High-Resolution Map Shows Dark Matter's Gravity Pulled Normal Matter Into Galaxies
Using James Webb Space Telescope data, astronomers produced the highest‑resolution dark‑matter map to date, covering a sky region 2.5 times the size of the full Moon and cataloguing nearly 800,000 galaxies. The map, published in Nature Astronomy, visualizes dark‑matter density...