Animal Life Unlikely Around a Third of Stars in the Galaxy, Study Says
A new arXiv study finds that late‑type M‑stars, which host many detectable Earth‑sized planets, are unlikely to nurture complex animal life. Their red‑shifted spectra provide less than one percent of the photosynthetically active radiation needed for oxygenic photosynthesis, dramatically slowing oxygen buildup. Simulations suggest the Great Oxidation Event would require tens of billions of years and the Cambrian Explosion would need over two hundred billion years—far beyond planetary lifespans. Consequently, ecosystems would be dominated by non‑oxygenic microbes, precluding animal evolution.
2026 Will Clarify Europe’s New Priorities for Space
2026 will be a pivotal year for Europe’s space agenda, as launch providers, national programs, and ESA unveil their next steps. Private firms such as Isar Aerospace and PLD Space are vying for the European Launcher Challenge while Ariane 64 and...
Study Offers Possible Solution to a Gravitational Wave Mystery
Scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder propose that smaller supermassive black holes grow faster during galaxy mergers, a process called preferential accretion. By adjusting merger simulations to give the secondary black hole about 10% extra mass, their model raises...
Ariane
.@esa graphic says #Ariane6 performed its first 5 missions faster than other heavy-lift vehicle that entered the market in past 20 years. After 4 launches in 2025, @ArianeGroup @Arianespace @CNES plan 8 Ariane 6 missions in 2026, starting with @Amazonleo....
Vulcan to Open 2026 with National Security Launch
United Launch Alliance will kick off 2026 with Vulcan Centaur's VC4S launch of USSF‑87 on Feb 2 from Cape Canaveral, deploying two GSSAP‑7 and GSSAP‑8 satellites for space situational awareness. This marks Vulcan’s fourth flight and second national‑security mission, testing...
Comet 24P/Schaumasse Makes Its Closest Approach to the Sun Today: But Will You Be Able to See It?
Comet 24P/Schaumasse will reach perihelion on Jan 8, 2026, passing 109.7 million miles from the Sun. At that point its apparent magnitude is roughly +10.8, far too faint for naked‑eye viewing. Observers will need a telescope of at least a 6‑inch aperture and should...
Mysterious Star That Vanished For 130 Years Has Been Found
In 1892 Edward Emerson Barnard reported a bright, seventh‑magnitude star near Venus that seemingly vanished on a second look, sparking over a century of speculation. Recent amateur astronomers Tim Hunter and Roger Ceragioli revisited the region with a vintage eyepiece...
The ‘Space Tax’ on Your Self-Driving Car
Autonomous vehicles depend on GNSS for centimeter‑level positioning, yet ionospheric turbulence intermittently blanks satellite signals, especially over Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. To safeguard navigation, manufacturers add expensive inertial sensors, extra cameras and high‑power processors, inflating vehicle prices—a phenomenon...
Astrophysicists Map How Many Ghost Particles All the Milky Way's Stars Send Towards Earth
Astrophysicists at the University of Copenhagen have released the first detailed model estimating how many neutrinos—often called ghost particles—are emitted by every star in the Milky Way and how many reach Earth. By integrating advanced stellar evolution calculations with ESA's...
Repeating Fast Radio Burst Shows Diverse Activity and Hints at Magnetar Origin
Indian astronomers using the upgraded GMRT observed the repeating fast radio burst FRB 20201124A across 300‑1460 MHz, recording 146 bursts primarily in the 550‑950 MHz band. The dataset includes sub‑second burst pairs as close as 17 ms and shows activity persisting at lower frequencies...
Space Telescopes Capture Breathtaking Galactic Hug | Space Photo of the Day for Jan. 8, 2026
NASA’s James Webb and Chandra observatories have released a striking composite image of the interacting galaxies IC 2163 and NGC 2207, located about 120 million light‑years away in Canis Major. The infrared view from Webb highlights dust lanes and active star‑forming regions, while Chandra’s X‑ray...
Op-Ed: Golden Dome Will Stand or Fall on Its Sensors. Here’s How to Make Them Endure
The op‑ed warns that the U.S. Golden Dome missile‑defense concept hinges on a robust sensor network. Emerging threats—hypersonic glide vehicles, drone swarms, sophisticated decoys, and cyber‑spoofed signals—target the sensor layer as its weakest link. The authors argue that only a...
Interplanetary Science Needs a Commercial Backbone
Planetary science is shifting from costly, decade‑long government flagships to a commercial‑driven model that promises faster, cheaper missions. Rocket Lab’s ESCAPADE demonstrated that fixed‑price, university‑industry teams can deliver decadal‑class science in under four years. The article calls for regular funding...
Alaska Airlines Accelerates Starlink Wi-Fi Rollout
Alaska Airlines is accelerating the rollout of SpaceX’s Starlink in‑flight Wi‑Fi across its entire fleet, following successful testing on Embraer E175 aircraft. The airline plans to install the system on its E175, 737 and 787 jets through 2026, with full...
'Super Star' Being Shredded by Black Hole Releases as Much Energy as 400 Billion Suns
Astronomers observed a tidal disruption event dubbed “the Whippet,” where a super‑massive star was torn apart by a black hole, releasing energy comparable to 400 billion suns. The flare, first spotted by the Zwicky Transient Facility and confirmed with NASA’s Swift...
Rocket Lab Delays Constellation Until Neutron Proves Reusability
.@RocketLab: We'll wait for #Neutron rocket to provide its reusabiity case in ~ 3 yrs before we focus on investments in our ultimate goal: our own constellation. Current assumption: Building 4 Neutrons gets us 16 launches per year at the...
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...
ESA and Playmobil Launch Mars Mission Collection
The European Space Agency and Playmobil have unveiled the ESA Space Range, a four‑piece Mars‑mission toy collection released on 9 January across Europe, the United States and Mexico. Each set – the Mars Research Rocket, Exploration Rover, Space Glider and Astronaut...
Hubble Captures Stunning and Dramatic Blue Gas Outflow From Galaxy NGC 4388
Hubble’s newest multi‑wavelength images of the edge‑on spiral NGC 4388 reveal a vivid blue plume of ionized gas extending from the galaxy’s core. The outflow appears to be energized by radiation from the central supermassive black hole and shaped by ram‑pressure...
Public Ingenuity
NASA is looking for solvers who can recycle waste into usable products.
Canadian Commercial Astronauts: The Evolution of Private Spaceflight
Canada’s commercial astronaut program has progressed from Guy Laliberté’s 2009 tourist flight to Mark Pathy’s research‑focused Axiom Mission 1, Jesse Williams’ suborbital New Shepard experience, and the upcoming bio‑astronautics flight of Dr. Shawna Pandya. Each mission reflects a shift from pure tourism...
Starfighters Space Completes Supersonic Flight Test
Starfighters Space announced a successful supersonic flight test using its F‑104 platform under GE Aerospace’s ATLAS program, funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. The aircraft carried an advanced propulsion test vehicle three times at Kennedy Space Center, demonstrating solid‑fuel...
SpaceX Scrubs Midday Starlink Mission Launch From Cape Canaveral
SpaceX scrubbed the early‑afternoon Falcon 9 launch of the Starlink 6‑96 mission on Jan. 8, pushing the next attempt to Jan. 9. The delay was attributed to late arrival of the payload fairings containing 29 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites. The booster, tail‑number B1069,...
Zimmerman Op-Ed at PJ Media
Robert Zimmerman published an op‑ed on PJ Media urging President Trump and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman to remove the crew from the upcoming Artemis II mission. He cites the Orion capsule’s heat‑shield damage during its 2022 re‑entry as a clear safety...
DEX Logs Dust Signals In Space: ISRO
India's space agency ISRO announced that its Dust Experiment (DEX) instrument successfully logged orbital debris impacts from 1 January to 9 February 2024. The 140‑degree wide‑view detector, mounted on the PSLV‑C58 XPoSat mission, recorded a hit roughly every thousand seconds while skimming the...
NASA Weighs an Earlier End to the Crew-11 Mission After a ‘Medical Situation’ with an ISS Crew Member Postpones First...
NASA announced it is evaluating an early termination of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission after a medical situation involving an ISS crew member was reported. The issue prompted the postponement of the first scheduled spacewalk of 2026, originally set for Jan....
Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: The Current State of Knowledge and Uncertainty
The article outlines the evolving UAP (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena) landscape, noting the shift from UFO stigma to a scientific framework that includes air, space, and maritime domains. Government bodies such as the DoD’s AARO and NASA now collect standardized reports,...
These Strategic ISRO Missions Are Set For 1Q 2026
India’s space agency ISRO will launch two strategic satellites in the first quarter of 2026. On 12 January, PSLV‑C62 will lift the DRDO‑built hyperspectral Earth‑observation satellite EOS‑N1 (Anvesha) alongside 18 small‑satellite co‑passengers. Later in Q1, GSLV‑F17 will place the GISAT‑2 (EOS‑05)...
NASA Highlights Artemis II at Houston Texans Space City Day
NASA Celebrates Artemis II During Houston Texans Space City Day https://t.co/ZFeOw9idga From left, NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins, Johnson Space Center employees Tessa Rundle and Daniel Kolodziejcyk wearing Orion Crew Survival System suits, and Johnso… https://t.co/gi7MzO0jPz
NASA Delays Spacewalk over Crew Member's Medical Issue
NASA is postponing tomorrow's spacewalk because of a "medical concern with a crew member that arose Wednesday afternoon." https://t.co/QQ83VS716l
X-Ray Spectra Could Help Reveal Dark Matter in Galaxy Clusters
A new XRISM study led by the University of Alabama in Huntsville team reports that high‑energy‑resolution X‑ray spectra can be used to search for decay signatures of dark matter in galaxy clusters. By combining three months of XRISM data, the...
Medical Issue Forces Cancellation of Tomorrow's NASA Spacewalk
Astronaut medical issue scrubs tomorrow’s planned spacewalk, per NASA, saying the “situation is stable” https://t.co/TxC2waFlGZ
Starship Flight 12 Update: Hardware and Flight Details
New Youtube video was posted - SpaceX Starship Flight 12 Update - Hardware Details, Flight Information, News https://t.co/GEV54h7IHy #teamspace
Astronomers Discover the Earliest, Hottest Galaxy Cluster in the Universe, and It Breaks All the Rules
Astronomers using ALMA have identified galaxy cluster SPT2349‑56, a compact assembly of more than 30 galaxies within a 500,000‑light‑year volume, existing just 1.4 billion years after the Big Bang. The cluster’s intracluster medium is measured at temperatures at least five times...
Private Funding Secures 3‑Meter Space Telescope at AAS247
At #AAS247, an announcement of the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Observatory System, including a large (3-m) space telescope, all privately funded. https://t.co/3bohkHo7oq
Solar Physicists Discover Long-Hidden Source of Gamma Rays Unleashed by Flares
Solar physicists at NJIT’s Center for Solar‑Terrestrial Research have identified a previously unknown, MeV‑peaked electron population in the solar corona that generates the long‑standing gamma‑ray signatures of major flares. By merging Fermi gamma‑ray data with high‑resolution microwave imaging from the...
Plasma Rings Around M Dwarf Stars Offer New Clues to Planetary Habitability
Researchers at Carnegie have identified a doughnut‑shaped plasma torus encircling a young, rapidly rotating M‑dwarf star. Spectroscopic movies reveal that large clumps of cool plasma, trapped by the star’s magnetic field, cause periodic dimming events, effectively creating a natural space‑weather...
Celebrating 25 Years of Orbital Science and Future Exploration
25 Years in Orbit: Science, Innovation, and the Future of Exploration https://t.co/ZBaSloAmg5 NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli retrieves media bags inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module for Emory University’s Project EAGLE inve… https://t.co/6wItarjGxK
Hubble's Median Reentry Projected for 2033, <10% Before 2029
One note from the STScI town hall at #AAS247 today: the median reentry date for Hubble, based on current modeling, is 2033; a <10% chance of reentry by 2029.
NASA Postpones Jan. 8 Spacewalk Due to 'Medical Concern' With an Astronaut
NASA postponed the Jan. 8 extravehicular activity on the International Space Station after a medical concern arose with an unnamed crew member. The EVA, slated for astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, would have prepared a power channel for the new...
Congress Rejects Proposals for Cutting NASA’s Budget for the Fiscal Year.
The episode reviews Congress's decision to reject the Trump administration's proposed deep cuts to NASA, instead approving a $24.4 billion budget for FY2026, and highlights recent industry milestones such as NASA awarding ARES Technical Services the Wallops Flight Facility launch‑range contract...
Stellant Systems to Be Acquired by TransDigm for $960M
Stellant Systems, a U.S. maker of radio‑frequency and microwave amplification products, agreed to be acquired by TransDigm Group for $960 million in cash. The definitive agreement was announced on Dec. 31 and is subject to regulatory clearance. Stellant will retain its name...