Japan MoD Awards Astroscale Contract to Develop Gripping Mechanism System
Japan’s Ministry of Defense has awarded Astroscale Japan a ¥1 billion (≈$6.4 million) contract to develop a gripping mechanism capable of securing national security satellites under diverse on‑orbit conditions. The agreement includes a ground‑based demonstration and aligns with the 2025 Space Domain Defense Guidelines, specifically the Mission Assurance pillar. This marks Astroscale’s second MoD contract, following a GEO prototype for space‑domain awareness. The company plans to leverage its on‑orbit servicing expertise to bolster Japan’s satellite protection capabilities.
Evergreen Marine Taps Inmarsat Maritime for NexusWave Connectivity Upgrade
Evergreen Marine has become the first Taiwanese container‑shipping operator to upgrade its fleet to Inmarsat Maritime’s NexusWave bonded connectivity solution. After successful trials, the company is moving from its long‑standing Fleet Xpress service to a multi‑network platform that promises higher...
Industry Report: Canada Risks Falling Behind without Major Overhaul of Space Procurement
Space Canada’s new position paper warns that Canada’s defence space capabilities risk lagging as the nation relies on U.S. suppliers for roughly 75 % of its capital budget. The report urges a sweeping procurement overhaul, championing commercially‑owned, commercially‑operated (COCO) models and...
Lunar Spacecraft Exhaust Could Obscure Clues to Origins of Life
A new study published in *Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets* shows that methane released by lunar landers can travel across the Moon’s surface and become trapped in the permanently shadowed regions of both poles within a week. Simulations of ESA’s...
Why Jeremy Hansen Is Leaving Entertainment Behind for His Trip Around the Moon
Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen will fly on NASA’s Artemis 2 lunar flyby, marking Canada’s first crewed deep‑space mission. The nine‑day flight is packed with scientific experiments, capsule tests and scheduled downlinks, leaving only brief windows for personal time. Hansen says he...
How the Evidence for Alien Life on K2-18 B Evaporated
In 2023 JWST observations of the sub‑Neptune K2‑18 b appeared to reveal dimethyl sulfide, a gas linked to marine life on Earth, sparking excitement about a possible habitable ocean. A new pre‑print by Welbanks and colleagues re‑analyzes the mid‑infrared MIRI data...
Astronaut Captures Lightning From Space Over Milan
Lightning from Above https://t.co/wzm1nU8nZo NASA/Nichole Ayers NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers captured this image of lightning while orbiting aboard the International Space Station more than 250 miles above Milan, Italy on July 1, 2025. Storm observati… https://t.co/wSTkSl11z8
Supernova Remnant Video From NASA's Chandra Is Decades in Making
NASA's Chandra X‑ray Observatory released a new video tracking Kepler's Supernova Remnant over more than 25 years of observations. The animation captures the remnant's evolution from 2000 to 2025, revealing ejecta speeds ranging from 4 million to 13.8 million miles per hour....
Stars that Die Off the Beaten Path
Astronomers combined NSF VLA atomic‑hydrogen maps with ALMA molecular‑gas data to forecast where massive stars in the nearby galaxy M33 will explode as supernovae. By overlaying catalogs of red supergiants, Wolf‑Rayet stars and existing supernova remnants, they created the first...
Four Baby Planets Show How Super-Earths and Sub-Neptunes Form
An international team led by UCLA scientists has directly observed four young “baby” planets in the 20‑million‑year‑old V1298 Tau system as they contract and shed their primordial atmospheres. Using a decade‑long series of transit observations from ground‑based and space telescopes, the...
Fragmentation and Consolidation (Part 2) – Getting Ahead of the Curve
The space sector is transitioning from a fragmented, novelty‑driven phase to a consolidation era where reliability and risk mitigation dominate. Customers no longer ask which component performs best; they demand proven delivery, stable interfaces, and support. Suppliers must shift their...
Terran Orbital Appoints Michael Vishion as Vice President of Program Management
Terran Orbital, a Lockheed Martin company, announced Michael Vishion as vice president of program management. Vishion brings more than 25 years of aerospace and defense experience, including leadership of multi‑site portfolios worth $200‑$350 million. He will report to CEO Peter...
A Red Moon, a Blue Moon, a Supermoon and More: Your Guide to the Southern Sky in 2026
The 2026 southern‑hemisphere sky will feature a total lunar eclipse on 3 March, a rare blue moon on 31 May, and a supermoon on 24 December. Planetary highlights include a tight Mercury‑Mars‑Saturn grouping in April, a Venus‑Jupiter close approach in June, and a...
222 - GNSS Resilience, Interoperability and Trust
In this episode, Lisa Dyer, Executive Director of the GPS Alliance, explains how growing geopolitical tensions and reliance on precise timing are driving the need for GNSS resilience, interoperability, and innovation across multiple satellite constellations. She highlights that robust, cross‑compatible...
Space Force Moves to Standardize Satellites with ‘Handle 2.0’ Contract
The U.S. Space Force has awarded Falcon ExoDynamics a $3.3 million contract to develop Handle 2.0, an upgraded modular interface that links satellite buses and payloads. The effort builds on the original Handle prototype demonstrated on the 2022 Slingshot 1 mission and aims...
Elon Musk’s 10,000 Starship Annual Production Target: Demand Drivers and Infrastructure Imperatives
Elon Musk has set a target of producing 10,000 Starships per year, a rate that translates to roughly 27 launches each day. The ambition hinges on three primary demand drivers: massive cargo shipments for Mars colonization, ultra‑fast point‑to‑point Earth transport,...
Long March 8A Fairing Likely Launched on Christmas
Possibly the payload fairing from the Long March 8A launched from Wenchang on Christmas Day (UTC).
Jan. 7, 1610: Galileo Sees Four Moons of Jupiter
On January 7, 1610 Galileo Galilei turned his refined telescope toward Jupiter and recorded three luminous points that would soon be recognized as moons. Within a week he identified a fourth body, and by January 15 he concluded all four orbited the planet,...
SpaceX’s IPO Will Make Space Investment Far Less Niche
The article argues that space investment is shedding its niche status as the sector becomes essential infrastructure for broader economic activity. A potential SpaceX IPO, whether in 2026 or later, is highlighted as a catalyst that could shift capital toward...
United Semiconductors, Aegis Aerospace Partner on In-Space Manufacturing Platform
United Semiconductors and Aegis Aerospace announced a joint effort to launch an in‑space manufacturing platform for semiconductor materials. The partnership will move United's ISS‑tested processes onto Aegis' Advanced Materials Manufacturing Platform, with a demonstration slated for the ISS by late...
The Next Great Space Race: Building Data Centers in Orbit
Tech giants Google, SpaceX, and Blue Origin are racing to develop orbital AI data centers powered by solar‑panel‑equipped satellites. Prototypes are slated for testing by 2027, while experts warn that operational facilities are still years away due to power, radiation,...
NASA Seeks to Accelerate Development of Habitable Worlds Observatory
NASA awarded three‑year, fixed‑price contracts to seven companies to study critical technologies for the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), a flagship space telescope slated for a 2040s launch. The studies cover mirror coatings, micro‑thruster propulsion, and on‑orbit servicing, while evaluating six‑meter...
FAST J0139+4328 Is a Low-Surface-Brightness Galaxy, Deep Imaging Reveals
Deep optical imaging by Serbian and Russian astronomers has revealed that the neutral hydrogen cloud FAST J0139+4328 is actually a low‑surface‑brightness dwarf galaxy. Using the 1.4 m Milanković and 0.6 m Nedeljković telescopes, the team detected a faint stellar counterpart offset by...
NASA Perseverance Rover Sees Megaripples on Mars | Space Photo of the Day for Jan. 7, 2026.
NASA’s Perseverance rover has obtained its most detailed view yet of an aeolian megaripple, dubbed “Hazyview,” in the Honeyguide field near Jezero Crater. The 2‑meter‑tall sand structure appears largely inactive, with a salty dust crust that preserves ancient wind and...
SkyFi Expands Virtual Constellation with Vantor Satellite Imagery
SkyFi announced the integration of Vantor’s very‑high‑resolution satellite imagery into its marketplace, expanding its virtual constellation of partner‑operated sensors. The new "Vantor Hub" lets commercial and government users order on‑demand imagery through SkyFi’s self‑service portal. By aggregating dozens of spacecraft...
Winning the Red Planet Race: Returning Mars Samples Before China Should Be a Top US Priority, Experts Say
The United States faces a critical decision on its Mars Sample Return (MSR) program as costs have ballooned to about $11 billion and the target launch has slipped to 2040, while China’s Tianwen‑3 mission plans to bring back at least 500 g...
Sentinel-1's Decade of Essential Data over Shifting Ice Sheets
The Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission has completed a ten-year record of high-resolution ice-velocity measurements across Greenland and Antarctica, published in Remote Sensing of Environment. Advanced SAR processing delivers maps with 200‑250 m spatial detail and temporal coverage from days to a decade,...
China's Xuntian Telescope to Probe Dark Universe 2027
The Chinese Space Station Telescope, or Xuntian, is set to launch in 2027. Science objectives include sky survey, revealing characteristics of dark energy, cosmic structure of dark matter, evolution of the Milky Way, directly imaging exoplanets. Will co-orbit with Tiangong....
The Space Economy Value Chain
The space‑economy value chain links research, manufacturing, launch, operations, and data services to end‑user outcomes, creating a multi‑layered market that now totals high hundreds of billions of dollars and is projected toward a trillion by the 2030s. Upstream activities carry...
NASA Picks Habitable World-Finders
NASA announced seven contracts to advance key technologies for the upcoming Habitable Worlds Observatory, a flagship mission aimed at directly imaging nearby potentially habitable exoplanets. The awardees—Astroscale US, BAE Systems, Busek, L3Harris Technologies, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Zecoat—will develop...
NASA Works to Extend Swift’s Life Ahead of Reboost Mission
NASA is preparing a low‑cost reboost mission to extend the life of the 21‑year‑old Swift gamma‑ray observatory, whose orbit is decaying due to atmospheric drag. Satellite‑servicing startup Katalyst Space will launch a Pegasus XL‑borne vehicle in June 2026 to attach to Swift...
Elon Musk Sets Sights on Mass-Producing 10,000 Starships Annually: A Leap Toward Multiplanetary Life
Elon Musk announced on X that SpaceX could eventually produce up to 10,000 Starship vehicles a year, far exceeding the current Gigabay plant’s 1,000‑ship capacity. The claim follows rapid progress at Starbase, where the 700,000‑square‑foot facility is being built to...
Latest Insights on Starlink’s Financial Performance
Starlink’s 2025 financials show a dramatic surge, with revenue projected between $11.8 billion and $15.5 billion, up from roughly $8 billion in 2024. The subscriber base grew to about eight million, adding 4.6 million new users and expanding service to 35 additional countries. Cash‑flow...
Hubble Telescope Spies 'Wake' Of Supergiant Beutelgeuse's Hidden Companion Star
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope, together with ground‑based observatories, have detected a dense gas wake trailing Betelgeuse’s hidden companion star, Siwarha. The wake, likened to a boat’s ripple, confirms the companion’s existence after its initial indirect detection in July...
Astronomers Discover a Bright Supernova Using Gravitational Lensing for the First Time
An international team of astronomers has announced the first spatially resolved, gravitationally lensed supernova, SN 2025wny, located 10 billion light‑years away. The supernova’s light was amplified by a factor of about 50 by two foreground galaxies, producing multiple images that ground‑based telescopes...
SDA Surveying Industry On Ability to Provide Ground Entry Points for Tranche 3
The U.S. Space Force Space Development Agency (SDA) is surveying firms capable of delivering ground entry points (GEP) for Tranche 3 of its Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. A five‑year solicitation, expected next month, will cover civil engineering, procurement, installation, integration, testing...
Israel Space Agency Selects Team to Lead R&D Space Laboratory Development
The Israel Space Agency has awarded the Access to Space consortium, led by Creation Space and backed by ImageSat International, the Technion, and Ben‑Gurion University, to build and run a national R&D space laboratory. The government will contribute roughly $16 million,...
Weather Satellites Critical to National Security Operations
House SS&T will hold a hrg next wk (Jan 13, 10:00 am ET) on "From Orbit to Operations: How Weather Satellites Support the National Security Mission." Witnesses: https://t.co/xCfXyGuaBp
NASA Launches an Infrastructure Modernization Effort.
The episode discusses NASA’s sweeping infrastructure modernization, including the demolition of the T‑Tower test facility at Marshall and the closure of the Goddard library, both reflecting broader shifts in agency priorities. It highlights NASA’s selection of industry proposals to advance...
New Census of Sun's Neighbors Reveals Best Potential Real Estate for Life
Georgia State University graduate student Sebastián Carrazco‑Gaxiola presented a new all‑sky spectroscopic survey of more than 2,100 nearby K‑dwarf stars within 40 parsecs. Using the CHIRON spectrograph on SMARTS in Chile and the TRES instrument on the Tillinghast telescope in Arizona,...
NASA's Curiosity Rover Sends Stunning New Panorama From High on Mars' Mount Sharp
NASA’s Curiosity rover transmitted a striking composite panorama from high on Mount Sharp, captured over sols 4,722 and 4,723 using its navigation cameras. The view showcases the boxwork formation, a network of mineral‑rich ridges that record ancient groundwater flow. While...
Webb Reveals a Sample of Galaxies with Unusual Features, Nicknamed 'Platypus'
University of Missouri astronomers, using JWST data, identified nine ultra‑compact, point‑like galaxies dating back 12‑12.6 billion years. Their spectra feature narrow emission lines, distinguishing them from quasars and known star‑forming galaxies. The team likens the odd combination of traits to a...
Webb Finds Early-Universe Analog's Unexpected Talent for Making Dust
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers observed the dwarf galaxy Sextans A and identified two rare dust species—metallic iron grains and silicon carbide—alongside tiny clumps of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The galaxy, only 3–7 % as metal‑rich as the Sun, mimics...
Hubble Telescope Discovers a New Type of Cosmic Object and Astronomers Are on 'Cloud 9'
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have identified a new dark‑matter‑dominated object, dubbed “Cloud 9,” on the outskirts of galaxy Messier 94. The cloud, classified as a Reionization‑Limited Hydrogen I Cloud (RELHIC), contains roughly one million solar masses of neutral hydrogen but no stars,...
An Excellent Summary of Europe’s Rocket Companies, Both Established and Startups
A new European Spaceflight report catalogues every active launch company across the continent, from the long‑standing ArianeGroup and Avio to a wave of emerging startups. The list provides concise status updates and ranks firms based on recent activity and announced...
Webb Telescope Sheds Light on Ancient 'Monster Stars' That May Reveal the Birth of Black Holes
Astronomers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have modeled the enigmatic “little red dots” as ultra‑massive, metal‑free stars roughly a million times the Sun’s mass. The new physical model reproduces the dots’ extreme brightness, V‑shaped spectra and solitary hydrogen emission,...
Willy Ley’s Long-Awaited Journey to Orbit: Honoring a Space Pioneer on Celestis’ Serenity and Destiny Flights
Celestis announced that symbolic portions of science writer Willy Ley’s cremated remains will fly on its 2026 Serenity Earth‑orbit mission and the upcoming Destiny lunar memorial flight. Ley, a founding member of Germany’s early rocketry club and a prolific advocate...
NASA May Be 1 Month Away From Historic Artemis 2 Astronaut Launch Around the Moon
NASA’s Artemis 2 crewed lunar flyby is slated for a February 6, 2026 launch, just a month away. The four‑person crew—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen—will ride the Space Launch System and Orion capsule on a free‑return trajectory...
Computer Model: A Thin Ice Cap Can Preserve Liquid Water on Mars
Scientists using a computer model have shown that a thin seasonal ice cap can act as an insulating lid, allowing liquid water lakes on Mars to persist for centuries. By combining climate outputs from the Mars Weather Research & Forecasting...
SEDS Canada Creates New Canadian CubeSat Conference
SEDS Canada, together with Space Concordia, is launching the inaugural Canadian CubeSat Conference, set for March 7‑8, 2026 at Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business in Montreal. The event serves as the technical showcase for the newly formed Canadian CubeSat Network (CCN),...