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Every morning
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Tuesday recap
Portugal signed the Artemis Accords on Jan. 11, becoming the 60th nation to join the framework for responsible lunar and deep‑space exploration. The signing ceremony in Lisbon featured Portuguese Space Agency director Hugo Costa and U.S. Ambassador John J. Arrigo, underscoring growing U.S.–Portugal cooperation. The Accords outline principles for safety, transparency, heritage preservation, and data sharing as humanity prepares for a 2026 Moon return. Portugal’s entry expands the multinational coalition guiding NASA’s Artemis program.
The ISS Change-of-Command ceremony should start in a few minutes at 2:35 pm ET. Watch on NASA's YouTube channel: https://t.co/oJhxxboDKW
An international team led by the University of Bern has identified river‑delta formations in the southeast Coprates Chasma of Valles Marineris, providing direct evidence of a standing ocean on Mars around three billion years ago. The deltas, captured by high‑resolution images...
NASA’s Imaging X‑ray Polarization Explorer (IXPE) has for the first time measured X‑ray polarization from a white dwarf binary, EX Hydrae, located about 200 light‑years away. The week‑long observation revealed the geometry of the accretion flow as material from a...
.@Eutelsat continues $2.6B #OneWeb constellation refurbishment program with 340-sat order to @AirbusSpace; launches start in 2026 to prepare for future @defis_eu #Iris2 secure constellation; hosted payloads an option. https://t.co/Pg4n3xlTtn https://t.co/uzxgPbtE83
Chinese astronomers have performed an asteroseismology analysis of the newly identified pulsating white dwarf WFST J0530, confirming it as a faint ZZ Ceti (DAV) star. The study measured three stable pulsation modes between 594 and 873 seconds, yielding a mass...
Tyvak International’s 12U CubeSat LIDE has completed its first months of on‑orbit operations, confirming the satellite can deliver 5G connectivity from space. Launched on July 23, 2025, the mission demonstrated downlink speeds of up to 10 Mbps and uplink rates of 1 Mbps using...
Bill Adkins, a veteran staffer on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, will assume the role of principal deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office on Jan. 12, succeeding Troy Meink. The deputy director manages the NRO’s daily operations, including classified satellite...
Now it's final: @eumetsat, with backing of 29 0f 30 member states, commits to $1B EPS-Sterna constellation of small polar-orbit sats to study microwave measurements of atmosphere. 1st batch of 6 sats to launch 2029. @esa @OHBSweden @AACClydeSpace.https://t.co/NWVbtoKesN https://t.co/DxOS9wChrr
The article argues that AI’s next breakthrough lies in spatial intelligence, not just faster image processing. GEOINT’s persistent, sensor‑agnostic data can supply a living digital twin of Earth, giving AI the context to predict actions and recommend responses. Government spending,...
SpaceX’s Starship achieved a successful test flight in October 2025, positioning it to deliver payloads far larger than current rockets. The super‑heavy‑lift vehicle can transport roughly ten times more mass to orbit, enabling space telescopes with unfurled mirrors and reducing...
Planets remain in orbit because their tangential velocity is high enough to keep the star’s curvature away from their path, creating a continuous free‑fall around the Sun. Newton’s law of universal gravitation explains that gravity pulls inward while orbital speed...
GRU Space, a Y Combinator‑backed startup, opened bookings for its planned lunar hotel, requiring a $1 million deposit to reserve a spot. The company’s roadmap includes three lunar missions, with an inflatable habitat test in 2029 and a full‑scale hotel launch...
NASA’s Deep Impact mission, launched on Jan. 12 2005, deployed an impactor that struck Comet 9P/Tempel 1 on July 4, creating a 150‑meter crater. The collision revealed the comet’s interior to be roughly 75 % porous, with fine dust and intact water ice and organic compounds....
Satellogic will deliver two NewSat Mark V 50 cm Earth‑observation satellites to Portugal’s CEiiA for $18 million, with hand‑over scheduled for Q2 2026. The payloads are built with 85% European components, underscoring the EU’s drive for space sovereignty. These satellites will become part of...
A‑23A, a massive tabular iceberg that calved from Antarctica’s Filchner Ice Shelf in 1986, is now showing extensive blue melt‑water ponds as it drifts in the South Atlantic. NASA’s Terra satellite captured the striking image on 26 December 2025, and an ISS...
Orbital congestion is accelerating as commercial megaconstellations plan to launch thousands of low‑Earth‑orbit satellites in 2026, heightening collision and spectrum‑interference risks. Advances in AI‑driven debris tracking and collision‑avoidance tools promise better situational awareness, yet regulatory frameworks lag behind. Active debris...
Japan’s commercial space sector has surged, with startups launching radar imaging satellites, developing lunar landers, and pursuing on‑orbit servicing. Recent policy reforms—such as streamlined licensing, increased R&D subsidies, and a dedicated commercial space law—have lowered barriers for private firms. In...
The article examines how existing legal regimes—particularly the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, the non‑binding Artemis Accords, and the U.S. 2015 Space Resources Ownership Act—can be leveraged for off‑Earth territorial expansion. It argues that while sovereign claims are prohibited, actors can...
Alex Li argues that just as naval power secured maritime trade and cemented the U.S. dollar’s reserve status, future control of orbital trade routes will create a space‑based Bretton Woods. He outlines how low‑energy orbital pathways, such as the Interplanetary...
Astronomers have identified a completely dark object with a mass equivalent to one million suns, anchored by a black‑hole‑like core, in the gravitational‑lens system JVAS B1938+666. The object lies about 11 billion light‑years away, making it the most distant mass‑only detection ever...
The University of Surrey and Kyushu University, together with RIKEN’s Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory, have secured a £215,100 Royal Society grant to study some of the most short‑lived, neutron‑rich and neutron‑deficient isotopes. Over the next three years the team will...
Momentus Inc. will flight‑test an additively manufactured metal fuel tank on its Vigoride‑7 Orbital Service Vehicle. The tank, printed with Velo3D’s metal 3D‑printing system, showcases internal geometries impossible with traditional machining. Momentus aims to use this technology to lower costs...
CCTV reports that CAS Space today successfully conducted a suborbital launch and landing of its Lihong-1 vehicle, potentially reaching 120 kilometres in altitude. Awaiting footage. https://t.co/mIJBMGTuNz https://t.co/iTmxf4N2E8
India’s ISRO attempted its first 2026 launch using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), but the rocket’s third stage failed again near the end of its burn. The malfunction caused the stage to tumble, aborting engine thrust and resulting in...
An international network of optical telescopes, ranging from 4‑meter workhorses to 10‑meter giants, underpins modern astrophysics. Key facilities cluster on Mauna Kea in Hawaii and the Atacama Desert in Chile, leveraging high altitude and dry air for superior seeing. The next...
In this brief episode, researchers from Purdue University discuss their innovative project to harness laser beams for power generation by directing them at a lightweight, origami-inspired sail. They explain how the sail's foldable design maximizes surface area while remaining compact...
The article surveys the world’s operational radio telescopes, from giant single‑dish instruments like China’s FAST to interferometric arrays such as the US Very Large Array and Europe’s LOFAR. It explains how large collecting areas and cryogenic receivers enable detection of...
Pete Hegseth will visit SpaceX in Brownsville tomorrow (Monday) and "deliver remarks to the workforce and leaders at SpaceX, alongside its founder, Elon Musk." It's part of his Arsenal of Freedom tour. https://t.co/cNf7ohcSQp
OroraTech has signed a multi‑year partnership with Kepler to mount its SAFIRE Gen4 thermal sensors on Kepler’s optical communications constellation. The first four sensors launched aboard a Falcon 9 on Jan 11, expanding OroraTech’s active fleet to 15 instruments and advancing its...
The article outlines fifty foundational themes that shape science‑fiction storytelling, grouped into categories such as space exploration, alien contact, artificial intelligence, biology, temporal manipulation, and societal futures. It details how each pillar— from space colonization and faster‑than‑light travel to AI...
The Royal Astronomical Society unveiled its 2026 award winners at the A&G Highlights Meeting on 9 January. Professor Shrinivas Kulkarni received the Gold Medal in Astronomy for pioneering work in time‑domain and multi‑wavelength transient astrophysics, while Professor Andrew Jackson earned the...
SpaceX successfully launched NASA’s Pandora exoplanet telescope aboard a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg, marking the rocket’s fifth first‑stage recovery and a landing on the West Coast. Pandora, a smallsat designed to repeatedly observe 20 known transiting exoplanet host stars, flew alongside...
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 "Twilight" rideshare launched on Jan. 11 from Vandenberg, deploying 40 spacecraft into a dusk‑dawn sun‑synchronous orbit. The manifest included three NASA astrophysics cubesats—SPARCS, BlackCAT and Pandora—alongside commercial constellations from Kepler Communications, Spire, Plan‑S, Hawkeye 360, Capella Space, ICEYE and Umbra....
Space Forge announced the first plasma generation aboard its ForgeStar‑1 satellite, marking the inaugural commercial in‑orbit semiconductor factory. The miniature furnace produced plasma at 1,000 °C, proving that gas‑phase crystal growth can be achieved in low‑Earth orbit. The company plans to...
India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is set to lift off tonight, marking its first flight since a May 2025 failure that lost the EOS‑09 Earth‑observing satellite. The rocket will carry the EOS‑N1 (Anvesha) military hyperspectral imaging satellite along with 15...
Launch windows for Artemis II. Sadly only one daylight and one dusk option. All others are full on night. For visual and impact reasons, I wish it was a daylight launch 😪 https://t.co/EuEQAfdQCg
The article surveys ten seminal first‑contact science‑fiction films—from “Arrival” and “Contact” to “The Thing”—highlighting how each uses an alien encounter to probe language, ethics, and institutional behavior. It notes that the movies treat contact not merely as spectacle but as...
India’s PSLV‑C62 mission on 12 January 2026 will loft Spain’s KID re‑entry demonstrator, Brazil’s Orbital Temple, and 13 other satellites, including India’s EOS‑N1 earth‑observation payload. KID will separate at about 504 km, re‑enter after 108 minutes, and transmit data without a parachute. The Orbital...
The FCC approved a second tranche of 7,500 Starlink Gen2 satellites, raising the total authorized Gen2 spacecraft to 15,000. The approval is incremental, part of SpaceX’s plan to eventually field 29,988 low‑Earth‑orbit satellites. The order also grants SpaceX a temporary...
The U.S. Space Force awarded SpaceX nine national‑security launch missions worth $739 million under the NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 contract. Five launches will deploy the Space Development Agency’s Tracking Layer satellites, while four support the National Reconnaissance Office’s classified payloads. The missions...
NASA is sharing a lot of information about preps for the Artemis II launch including the potential launch dates/times in February, March and April. https://t.co/QvClDD3nVg
On January 10, 1946, the U.S. Army Signal Corps successfully bounced a radar signal off the Moon in an experiment known as Project Diana. Led by Lt. Col. John DeWitt at Fort Monmouth, the team transmitted a pulse that returned...
Four laboratory mice flew aboard China’s Shenzhou‑21 mission for a 14‑day stay on the Tiangong space station. After returning to Earth, a female mouse gave birth to nine pups, six of which are thriving. The experiment demonstrated that short‑term microgravity...
NASA projected a Saturn V image onto the Washington Monument from Dec. 31 2025 to Jan. 5 2026, celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary and the upcoming Artemis 2 launch. The crewed round‑the‑moon mission is slated for Feb. 6 2026, marking the first human lunar flight since Apollo 17. Artemis 2...
Wow has it been another packed week of neat Starship updates to dive into today my friends. Also loads of NASA news too with the Crew 11 situation and budget surprises. 👇 It has been an unusual week. 🤔 https://t.co/MDvGLZjgoM https://t.co/bAGKgupuv1
The University of Arizona’s Pandora SmallSat is set to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 on Jan 11, 2026, from Vandenberg. Equipped with an 18‑inch telescope, the mission will conduct multi‑color spectroscopic observations of at least 20 known exoplanets to probe atmospheric...
In this special edition, COO Charles Doran of Solamed Solutions discusses how advances in telemedicine, robotics, and AI are reshaping space medicine and the ethical frameworks needed for long‑duration missions to the Moon and Mars. He highlights critical gaps such...
Leonid Space completed a comprehensive validation of its deorbit forecasting workflow, testing 934 non‑maneuvering satellites that reentered between 1961 and 2024 across six solar cycles. The company reports median one‑year deorbit errors of 6.0 days with perfect knowledge, 18.6 days...
NASA is targeting 5:00 pm ET Wednesday, Jan 14, for the undocking of Crew-11 with splashdown at 3:20 am ET on Jan 15. https://t.co/CrcVLu2Ol9
