X-Ray Telescopes on a Satellite Can Map the Moon's Surface Chemistry in a Few Years
Researchers at Tokyo Metropolitan University have simulated a lightweight, sub‑10 kg X‑ray fluorescence telescope that could be mounted on a lunar orbiter to map the Moon’s surface chemistry. The model shows that a single instrument can produce a global map of five major elements (oxygen, iron, magnesium, aluminum, silicon) within two years at 70 km resolution, while a 5 × 5 detector array could halve the mission time and add sodium at 30 km resolution. The approach leverages intense solar flares for illumination and has been tested against harsh radiation environments. If deployed, it would deliver the first complete elemental abundance map of the Moon.
Mark Cuban Puts $500K Into Relativity Space, Boosting 3D‑Printed Rocket Rival to SpaceX
Mark Cuban wired $500,000 to Relativity Space after a cold email, securing a stake in the $4.2 billion‑valued 3D‑printed rocket firm. The investment comes as Relativity lines up $2.9 billion in NASA and U.S. Space Force contracts and prepares its Terran R launch...
Space Solar Agrees to Host Lonestar Data Storage Aboard Orbital Power Stations
Space Solar, a UK‑based space‑based solar power startup, signed a letter of intent with US data‑storage firm Lonestar to host its StarVault modules on the OSPREYBuilder demonstrator slated for launch in 2028. Lonestar, which has already demonstrated storage on the...
SpaceX to Launch 2 Starshield Satellites During Saturday Night Starlink Mission
SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg on June 6, carrying 21 Starlink broadband satellites and two classified Starshield payloads. The mission, designated Starlink 17‑43, will use booster B1097, which is slated for its 201st landing on the drone ship ‘Of Course...
NASA Clarifies Air Leak Situation Yesterday on ISS
NASA announced that the International Space Station’s Zvezda service module experienced a leak rate rise to roughly two pounds of air per day during the week of June 1, after the Progress 95 cargo vehicle docked. Russian Roscosmos planned an invasive bracket‑cutting...
Parker Solar Probe Has Flown Through the Sun’s Outer Atmosphere, the Corona, Where Temperatures Soar Into the Millions of Degrees...
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe achieved its closest solar approach on 24 December 2024, skimming to 6.1 million km (3.8 million miles) from the Sun’s surface and hitting a record 692,000 km/h, the fastest speed for any human‑made object. The probe’s carbon‑composite shield allowed it to survive the...
Studies Pinpoint Russian Satellites as GPS Interference Source
A research paper released on June 2, 2026 by the University of Texas at Austin confirms that Russian early‑warning satellites have been responsible for space‑based GNSS interference. The analysis of 1‑Hz carrier‑to‑noise data from 165 reference stations identified between three...
This Week In Space Podcast: Episode 213 — Live From ISDC With Gerry Griffin
Episode 213 of *This Week In Space* brings Apollo legend Gerry Griffin to the International Space Development Conference, where he recounts his tenure as NASA flight director after the Apollo 1 fire, his leadership on Apollo 8’s lunar orbit, and the dramatic rescue of...
NASA Orders ISS Crew Into Dragon Capsule Amid Russian Segment Leak, Reverses After Two Hours
NASA instructed five members of the ISS crew to take refuge in the docked SpaceX Crew‑Dragon spacecraft on June 5 after a Zvezda service‑module leak surged to roughly two pounds of air per day. The precautionary “safe‑haven” order was rescinded...
NASA Orders ISS Crew to Shelter as Zvezda Air Leak Doubles, Then Reverses
On June 5, 2026 NASA instructed five ISS crew members to enter the docked SpaceX Crew‑Dragon and don spacesuits after the air loss from Russia's Zvezda service module rose from about one pound to two pounds per day. The precautionary...
SpaceX IPO Opens to Retail Investors, Valued at $1.75 Trillion
Elon Musk's SpaceX filed for a $75 billion initial public offering that values the rocket maker at $1.75 trillion. The company set aside 20‑30% of the 555.6 million shares for retail investors, including a $2 billion tranche for UK private investors. The move could...
NASA Orders ISS Crew to Shelter as Zvezda Air Leak Doubles, Reverses After Two Hours
NASA instructed five International Space Station crew members to take refuge in the docked SpaceX Crew Dragon after a worsening air leak in Russia's Zvezda module doubled to two pounds of air loss per day. The precautionary safe‑haven order was...
How Does Starship Compare to Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, New Glenn, Vulcan, Nova, and Neutron?
SpaceX’s Starship promises over 100 metric tons to low‑Earth orbit in a fully reusable configuration, but as of June 2026 it remains a test‑flight program under FAA review. By contrast, Falcon 9 is the only operational, high‑cadence reusable launcher, while Falcon Heavy, New Glenn, and ULA’s...
Leaks on Space Station Lead Astronauts Briefly to Seek Shelter in Spacecraft
On June 5, 2026, an air leak in a Russian module of the International Space Station prompted NASA to order the crew to seek temporary refuge in the docked SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. The seven‑person crew—two Americans, one Russian, one French, plus a...
Innospace Sets Korean Record with 420‑Second Methane Engine Test
Innospace announced a 420‑second ground combustion test of its 0.4‑ton‑thrust LiMEK‑04 liquid methane engine, the longest such test in South Korea. The dual‑propellant regenerative cooling system promises weight savings for the company’s upcoming Hanbit‑Micro kick stage and could reshape the...
ExoMars Rover Targets Vast Bed of Clay in Search for Life
The European Space Agency’s ExoMars rover, Rosalind Franklin, will target the expansive clay‑rich plain of Oxia Planum on Mars to hunt for signs of past life. The site’s ancient, water‑altered clays are believed to have preserved organic molecules and possible biosignatures. The...
Antonio Gracias' SpaceX Investment Could Be Worth over $90 Billion
SpaceX’s draft S‑1 filing reveals a planned $75 billion IPO at a $1.5 trillion valuation, the largest public offering ever contemplated. Antonio Gracias, a longtime Musk confidant, controls about 7.3% of the company through Valor Equity Partners, a stake that could be...
Voyager 1, the First Human-Made Craft to Enter Interstellar Space, Carries a Golden Record of Earth’s Music and Greetings —...
Voyager 1, the first human‑made object to enter interstellar space, carries a gold‑plated copper phonograph record containing 90 minutes of music, natural sounds and greetings in 55 languages selected by a committee chaired by Carl Sagan. The probe is now over...
ISS Leak Forces Temporary Safe Haven Procedures
A pressure leak was detected in the Zvezda service module’s PrK transfer tunnel on the ISS, prompting Roscosmos to pause ongoing structural repairs for further data collection. NASA responded by ending the Dragon crew’s temporary safe‑haven procedures, allowing astronauts to...
Japan's Hayabusa2 Targets 1998 KY26, a Potential Soviet Spacecraft Relic
Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft is on course to rendezvous with the small near‑Earth object 1998 KY26 in 2031 for a sample‑return mission. A newly released paper suggests the target may actually be the missing Soviet probe Phobos 1, turning a planetary‑science mission into...
NASA Announces Winners of 2026 University Innovation Competition
NASA announced the MIT team’s Exploration-Class Lunar Integrated Power System (ECLIPSE) as the 2026 RASC-AL competition’s first‑place winner. A second MIT team earned second place with a Mars Exploration Layered Infrastructure concept, while Virginia Tech captured third with its Mars...
ETH Zurich Spin‑out Unveils Helios, a Four‑Armed Robot for Space Work
Orbit Robotics, a spin‑out from ETH Zurich, launched Helios, a four‑armed robot built for microgravity environments. The design lets the robot anchor with two arms while the other two manipulate tools, targeting the roughly 35% of ISS crew time spent...
Muon Space Launches Condor-Ultra Platform, a 100 kW Modular Bus for Orbital Compute Constellations
Muon Space introduced Condor-Ultra, a modular satellite bus capable of generating up to 100 kW and designed for stackable launch on SpaceX’s Starship. The platform aims to power large‑scale communications, remote‑sensing and edge‑compute constellations, with a pathfinder mission slated for 2028.
Space Power: What Is Taiwan Building? Why?
In this episode of The Downlink, host Laura Winter talks with Dr. Wu Zhangxin, Director General of Taiwan's space agency (TASA), about Taiwan's rapid ascent in the space sector. Dr. Wu explains how Taiwan moved from crowd‑funded university rockets to...
Russia Readies a Smaller Starlink, and a 2027 Deadline It Keeps Moving
Russia’s private aerospace firm Bureau 1440 plans to launch a commercial satellite broadband service called Rassvet by 2027, targeting an initial constellation of roughly 288‑292 low‑Earth‑orbit satellites. The network will offer 5G non‑terrestrial connectivity, laser inter‑satellite links, and plasma thrusters, with...
Elon Musk Plans to Pitch SpaceX's Terafab Chip Moonshot to Employees at Europe's Biggest Tech Company
Elon Musk will address ASML employees in a virtual fireside chat to outline SpaceX’s ambitious Terafab chip‑manufacturing moonshot. The Terafab joint venture, involving SpaceX, Tesla and Intel, aims to build massive semiconductor factories that will feed a planned network of...
NASA Ends MAVEN Mars Mission After Seven Years of Atmospheric Study
NASA announced on June 3 that the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission is officially terminated after an unrecoverable anomaly in December left the spacecraft spinning and powerless. The decision follows a review board’s assessment that contact cannot be restored,...
MIT’s Hybrid Micro‑Thruster Paves Way for Mars‑Bound CubeSats
MIT’s Space Propulsion Laboratory has demonstrated a hybrid thruster that combines chemical and electric propulsion on a single ASCENT fuel source. The system achieved a thrust‑to‑power ratio of 40‑65 µN per watt and a specific impulse of 600 seconds, proving that briefcase‑sized...
NASA Astronauts Ordered to Shelter in Dragon While Russians Repair Air Leak
NASA instructed the five U.S. astronauts on the International Space Station to shelter inside the docked SpaceX Dragon capsule while Russian cosmonauts prepared to repair a newly detected air leak in the Zvezda module. The leak, measured at about one...
ISS Astronauts Told To Prepare For Possible Evacuation Over Air Leak
NASA instructed the four‑person Crew‑12 expedition aboard the ISS to shelter inside the docked Crew Dragon and don spacesuits after a worsening air leak was detected in the Russian Zvezda service module's transfer tunnel. The leak, previously a modest loss...
ISS Astronauts Told To Prepare For Possible Evacuation As Air Leak Worsens
NASA announced that astronauts aboard the International Space Station have moved into SpaceX’s Dragon capsule and are on high alert for a possible evacuation after the Zvezda service module’s transfer tunnel leak worsened. The crack‑filled PrK tunnel now loses about...
Launch of Most Powerful Ariane 6 to Date Set for 17 June
Arianespace will launch the first Ariane 64 equipped with upgraded P160C solid‑fuel boosters on 17 June, carrying 36 Amazon low‑Earth‑orbit satellites. The P160C adds roughly 14 tonnes of propellant, boosting total booster load to about 160 tonnes and lifting payload capacity by roughly 12 percent....
Astronauts Told to Return to ISS After Sheltering over Air Leak Repairs
Astronauts on the International Space Station were instructed to return to the orbital complex after sheltering in the SpaceX Crew Dragon while Russian cosmonauts repaired air leaks in the Zvezda service module’s transfer tunnel. The leaks, first reported in 2019,...
What Does the ISS Air Leak Emergency Reveal About the Aging Space Station?
On June 5, 2026 NASA ordered the four Crew‑12 astronauts to shelter inside their docked SpaceX Crew Dragon after a leak in the Russian Service Module Transfer Tunnel accelerated to roughly two pounds of air per day. The incident moved the ISS from...
China’s Qianfan Constellation Reaches 200 Satellites in Orbit
China’s Qianfan broadband constellation hit the 200‑satellite milestone after two consecutive Long March launches added 36 new units. The deployments used a Long March 6A on Thursday and a Long March 8 on Friday, both operated by the Shanghai‑led venture SSST (Spacesail)....
Starlink Hits 12 Million Subscribers, Plans 100x Bandwidth Boost with V3 Satellites
SpaceX’s Starlink service now serves over 12 million active customers across more than 160 countries. The company announced its next‑generation V3 satellites will deliver over ten times the bandwidth of current hardware and will be launched at a rate that could...
Rocket Report: Blue Origin Explosion Still Making Headlines; Impulse Raises Money
Canada is accelerating its sovereign launch capability with a $144 million investment to build a dedicated pad at Spaceport Nova Scotia, while China unveiled its Long March 12B, a reusable‑focused rocket developed in just 21 months. In the private sector, Impulse Space announced...
Next Ariane 6 Launch to Carry 36 Amazon Leo Satellites Using Upgraded Boosters
Amazon Leo will lift 36 broadband satellites on an Ariane 64 launch from French Guiana on June 17, marking the first Ariane 6 flight to employ the longer P160C solid‑rocket boosters. The upgraded boosters add more than two metric tons of low‑Earth‑orbit capacity, allowing...
India’s Eye in the Sky: The Rise of a State-Deep Tech Startup Space Partnership
India announced on May 3, 2026 that startup GalaxEye successfully launched the world’s first OptoSAR satellite, marking a breakthrough in combined optical‑SAR imaging. The achievement underscores a broader shift as Indian deep‑tech firms like Pixxel secure high‑profile contracts, including one with the...
Safety Officials Finally Have a Good Idea of What a Big Rocket Explosion Can Do
The New Glenn methane‑oxygen rocket exploded on Cape Canaveral, creating a 7,174‑foot blast radius and halting Blue Origin’s only launch pad. The incident gave the Space Force its first real‑world data on methalox rocket detonations, confirming the 100 percent TNT equivalency safety model....
Date Is Set for Bigger Booster, More Powerful Ariane 6
Ariane 6’s next mission, flight VA269, is slated for 17 June 2026 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The rocket will fly with four upgraded P160C solid‑propellant boosters, each carrying roughly 14 tonnes more propellant than the earlier P120C units, making it the most powerful...
Juno Detects Relativistic Electron Acceleration at Jupiter’s Bow Shock
NASA’s Juno mission, led by Savvas Raptis, reported the first direct detection of electrons accelerated to relativistic speeds at Jupiter’s bow shock. The finding links the size of foreshock transients to the maximum energy particles can attain, reshaping theories of...
Planet Labs Posts Record Q1 2027 Revenue, up 42% to $94 Million
Planet Labs announced Q1 2027 revenue of $94 million, a 42% year‑over‑year increase and a company record. The surge was powered by a 65% jump in defense and intelligence sales, new U.S. government contracts and a growing backlog now exceeding $900 million.
AstroForge Completes DeepSpace-2 Assembly, Targets Asteroid Flyby
Asteroid‑mining startup AstroForge finished assembling its DeepSpace‑2 spacecraft, a $5 million, sub‑$10.5 million mission slated for a Falcon 9 rideshare launch with Intuitive Machines’ IM‑3 lunar lander. The build marks the company’s first fully integrated modular platform after a failed Odin mission last...
NASA ETF's SpaceX Edge May Shift Space Fund Flows
This has to be a Top 5 chart of the year.. $NASA vs the OG Space ETFs. You never see a new launch immediately usurp a category- usually takes years (outside of BYOA of course). Why? $NASA is the only...
NASA Accelerates SR‑1 Freedom Nuclear Electric Propulsion Demo for Mars Launch by 2028
NASA announced a streamlined management plan to fast‑track the SR‑1 Freedom nuclear electric propulsion demonstration, aiming for a launch by the end of 2028. The agency will repurpose the Power and Propulsion Element from the lunar Gateway and tap Department...
The Exploration Company Completes Drop Test of Nyx Capsule
The Exploration Company completed a drop test of its Nyx cargo capsule on May 19 in the Mojave Desert, releasing a 2,800‑meter‑high model that successfully deployed drogue and main parachutes. The test confirmed timing, extraction and handover dynamics match the capsule’s...
Strawberries in Orbit: Redwire's Space Farming Bet Sparks 18% Stock Surge
Redwire Corporation secured a contract with Luxembourg‑based Astrobiome Space to install its Greenhouse system on the International Space Station, where wild strawberries will be cultivated in microgravity. The deal marks the first commercial space greenhouse and showcases Redwire’s shift from...
Commission Proposes New Satellite Licensing Framework for EU Resilience
The European Commission has unveiled a new EU‑wide licensing framework for mobile satellite services (MSS) that will take effect when current 2 GHz licences expire in May 2027. The proposal splits the band into one‑third reserved for government use and two‑thirds for...
European Reusable Orbital Launch Vehicles
The article outlines Europe’s emerging reusable launch ecosystem, focusing on ESA’s Themis demonstrator, commercial ventures MaiaSpace and PLD Space, and the ESA Launcher Challenge that turns ESA into a launch‑service customer. While hardware and funding are advancing, Europe still lacks...