USSF Eyes ‘Dual-Use’ Ways to Boost Space Superiority, Prep for Guardians in Orbit
U.S. Space Force leaders are exploring dual‑use initiatives that can sustain today’s space‑superiority mission while laying groundwork for future Guardians—military astronauts—operating in orbit. At the AFA Warfare Symposium, officials warned that China’s fully integrated civil‑military space program could give it a decisive edge if the U.S. hesitates. Panelists highlighted the need for stronger NASA partnerships, a Guardian Liaison office, and expanded test‑pilot training as low‑cost ways to build capabilities for both current and future demands. The debate centers on timing, with some senior officers urging preparation now rather than waiting for a 2030‑2040 horizon.
NASA Changed an Asteroid’s Orbital Path Around the Sun, a First for Humankind
In September 2022 NASA’s DART spacecraft slammed into Dimorphos, the smaller member of the Didymos binary, deliberately altering its orbit. New analysis published in Science Advances shows the impact also slowed the entire binary system’s heliocentric speed by roughly 12 microns...
NASA Must Delay Deorbiting the ISS, U.S. Lawmakers Say
U.S. Senate Commerce Committee added a draft provision to the NASA Authorization Act of 2026 that would extend the International Space Station’s operational life to 2032, two years beyond the current plan. The measure also bars NASA from deorbiting the...
Logic Robotics Develops a Logistics Operating System for the Space Economy
Logic Robotics unveiled a logistics operating system designed to automate the movement of palletized cargo from terrestrial factories to spaceports and beyond. The platform, called LINK, integrates an AI‑driven digital twin that models facilities, vehicles, and missions in real time,...
Can We Observe Earth-Like Exoplanets From Our Own Planet?
A hybrid observatory that pairs a space‑based starshade with large ground‑based telescopes such as the ELT can achieve the extreme contrast needed to directly image Earth‑like exoplanets. The study, led by Nobel laureates John C. Mather and Michel Mayor, demonstrates...
Commercial Space Federation (CSF) Welcomes New Members
The Commercial Space Federation (CSF) announced that LeoLabs, the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR), and SurgeStreams have joined as new members. Their inclusion expands CSF’s reach into orbital intelligence, gravitational biology research, and commercial‑space digital infrastructure. Each...
NASA Rules Out Asteroid Smashup on the Moon in 2032
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope observed asteroid 2024 YR4 in February 2026, confirming it will miss the Moon by about 13,200 miles on Dec. 22, 2032. Earlier analyses in 2025 gave the rock a 4.3% chance of lunar impact, but the new data...
March 6, 1953: The Birth of Carolyn Porco
Carolyn Porco, born March 6, 1953, rose from a doctoral candidate in earth and space sciences to become a leading planetary imaging scientist. She joined the Voyager team in the early 1980s and co‑planned the iconic 1990 “Pale Blue Dot” photograph with...
Hyperscalers Are Coming to an Orbit Near You. Power Will Decide the Winners.
The article warns that power availability will become the decisive bottleneck in the emerging orbital economy of megaconstellations and space‑based data centers. SpaceX has already mitigated this by deploying massive solar arrays, achieving 28 kW peak power and demonstrating the advantage...
Rocket Lab Launches Satellite for Undisclosed Customer
Rocket Lab launched an Electron rocket from New Zealand on March 5, delivering a single satellite for an undisclosed customer, most likely BlackSky’s Gen‑3 Earth‑observation spacecraft. The mission, announced only five hours before liftoff, placed the payload into a 470‑km mid‑inclination orbit....
A Satellite Receiver Trusted by Pentagon, ESA Has More Than 20 Security Flaws — and the Maker Never Responded
A penetration tester uncovered more than 20 critical vulnerabilities in International Data Casting Corporation's SFX2100 satellite receiver, a device deployed by the U.S. Department of Defense, the European Space Agency and other critical infrastructure operators. The flaws include hard‑coded credentials,...
Centre Ropes In Spacetech Startups To Build ‘Bodyguard’ Satellites
India’s security agencies have moved to partner with deep‑tech spacetech startups to create “bodyguard” satellites that can shield high‑value space assets. Bloomberg reports that Galaxeye, Agnikul and Dhruva Space are in advanced talks, with a test flight slated for June...
New AI Hub to Empower Space-Enabled Connectivity
The European Space Agency announced a new AI Hub at its ECSAT campus in Oxfordshire, backed by the UK Space Agency. The facility will provide a testbed for AI‑driven satellite and converged communications, extending the capabilities of ESA’s existing 5G/6G...
20 Space Summits Incoming March 2026: UK, US, And World
March 2026 will host more than 20 high‑profile space conferences, summits and workshops across the UK, the United States and globally. The calendar features flagship gatherings such as Space‑Comm Europe in London, the Joint Space Operations Summit in Maryland, LPSC in...
A History of Entry, Descent, and Landing of Human Spacecraft
The article traces the evolution of human spacecraft entry, descent, and landing from Vostok’s ejection‑before‑touchdown to modern capsules such as Dragon, Starliner, and Orion. It highlights how early programs diverged into ocean splashdowns, land touchdowns, and runway glides, with the...
Seraphim Space Investment Trust Posts Record Results
Seraphin Space Investment Trust reported record H2 2025 results, with net asset value climbing 20% to £337.5 million and fair‑value multiples exceeding 200% of cost for the first time. The top ten holdings delivered 79% revenue growth year‑over‑year, while more than 85%...
Poland-Based Liftero Will Provide Chemical Propulsion for Indian Firm OrbitAID’s In-Orbit Servicing Mission
Polish startup Liftero has signed a contract with India’s OrbitAID to provide two multi‑thruster BOOSTER configurations for an in‑orbit servicing mission slated for the fourth quarter of 2026. The boosters use nitrous‑oxide (N₂O) chemical propulsion to deliver six‑degree‑of‑freedom (6‑DOF) maneuvering,...
Toward Practical Laser-Driven Light Sails Using Photonic Crystals
Researchers have created a photonic‑crystal light sail (PCLS) that uses a three‑dielectric nanostructure of germanium pillars, air holes, and polymer matrix to achieve high reflectivity at a propulsion‑specific wavelength. Simulations and electron‑beam fabricated prototypes demonstrate about 90 % reflectivity at 1.2 µm...
New Webb Data Says Asteroid 2024 YR4 Will Miss the Moon in 2032
New James Webb Space Telescope observations collected on Feb. 18 and 26 refined the orbit of near‑Earth asteroid 2024 YR4, eliminating any chance of a lunar impact on Dec. 22, 2032. The asteroid is now projected to miss the Moon by about 13,200 miles (21,200 km)....
Missing Technosignatures? Turbulent Plasma May Blur Ultra-Narrow Signals Before They Leave Their Home Star Systems
A new SETI Institute study shows that turbulent plasma in a star’s immediate environment can broaden ultra‑narrow radio signals, spreading their power across frequencies and making them harder to detect. By calibrating plasma‑induced broadening with measurements from solar‑system spacecraft, the...
Terran Orbital Appoints Kwon Park as Senior Director of Manufacturing Operations
Terran Orbital, a Lockheed Martin company, announced Kwon Park as senior director of manufacturing operations. Park brings more than 20 years of aerospace and defense manufacturing experience, including leadership of a $300 million aerospace site. He will oversee manufacturing execution, production...
Branson Talks Virgin Galactic Return to Flight and Government Backing at Space-Comm Europe
Virgin Galactic announced that its next‑generation Delta Class suborbital vehicle will begin commercial flights by the end of 2026, targeting a rapid 48‑hour turnaround between missions. The move follows Blue Origin’s decision to suspend New Shepard flights, positioning Virgin as...
NGA Awards BlackSky Seven-Figure Order on Luno A Contract
BlackSky has secured a seven‑figure renewal from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency under the Luno A Facility Monitoring Delivery Order. The contract extension reflects strong customer satisfaction with BlackSky’s high‑cadence, AI‑enabled change detection analytics. The company now monitors more than...
Two Satellites in SES’s O3b mPOWER MEO Constellation Come Online
SES announced that the ninth and tenth O3b mPOWER satellites have entered service, raising the constellation to ten operational units out of the planned thirteen. The satellites were launched by SpaceX on July 22 from Cape Canaveral and use redesigned...
Space Development Agency Faces Challenges Scaling Its Growing Constellation
The Space Development Agency’s first operational tranche of 42 satellites launched in late 2024, but on‑orbit checkout and functional testing have lagged due to supply‑chain bottlenecks, a 45‑day government shutdown, and a technical snag with a Lockheed Martin spacecraft. The...
EarthDaily and ABB Reveal First High Precision Images From Orbit
EarthDaily released the first public images from its EDC‑01 satellite, confirming that the ABB‑built imaging system meets daily global‑monitoring standards. The satellite digitizes 20 billion pixels per second and carries 16 multispectral assemblies covering 22 spectral bands. EarthDaily will launch six...
Sierra Space and Vast Detail Their Series C Investment Rounds
Sierra Space closed a $550 million Series C round, lifting its valuation to roughly $8 billion and marking a strategic pivot toward national‑security satellite programs. The funding will support new product development and expanded production capacity, including contracts worth up to $1.19 billion with...
Policy Choices That Will Shape Our Lunar Future
The Beyond Earth Symposium highlighted a strategic shift from viewing lunar exploration as a symbolic race to focusing on durable infrastructure. Keynote speaker Bhavya Lal argued that lasting impact depends on power systems, logistics, governance, and commercial frameworks rather than...
NASA Wallops Supports First Rocket Lab HASTE Launch of 2026
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility provided tracking, telemetry and range‑safety services for Rocket Lab’s HASTE suborbital launch on Feb. 27, 2026. The mission, dubbed Cassowary Vex, carried a hypersonic test platform for the Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit. This was the first...
HEO And SATLANTIS Sign MoU To Better Provide Sovereign Space Domain Awareness
On 3 March 2026 HEO Space and Spain’s SATLANTIS signed a memorandum of understanding to deliver sovereign space domain awareness (SDA) capabilities to government and defence clients. The deal merges HEO’s non‑Earth imaging software, analytics and operational expertise with SATLANTIS’s high‑performance optical...
Asteroid 2024 YR4 Will Not Impact the Moon
Asteroid 2024 YR4, a 60‑metre near‑Earth object, once carried a 4 % chance of striking the Moon in December 2032. New observations with JWST’s NIRCam in February 2026 precisely measured its orbit, eliminating the lunar‑impact risk. The asteroid will safely miss the Moon by...
Scientists Successfully Harvest Chickpeas From 'Moon Dirt'
Scientists at the University of Texas and Texas A&M have successfully grown and harvested the Myles chickpea variety using a simulated lunar regolith mix. By blending up to 75% moon‑dirt with vermicompost and inoculating seeds with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, the team...
Unlocking AI in Space: The Case for Greater Industry and Space Agency Collaboration
Artificial intelligence is poised to reshape space exploration, offering real‑time data analysis, autonomous navigation, and predictive health monitoring for spacecraft. To realize these gains, AI hardware must survive radiation, extreme temperatures, and power constraints while delivering sufficient compute throughput. The...
Circuits Integrated Hellas and Reach Power Sign Multi-Year Strategic MOU
Circuits Integrated Hellas (CIH) and Reach Power have signed a multi‑year memorandum of understanding to co‑develop integrated RF/mmWave and wireless power‑at‑a‑distance (WPDT) solutions. CIH will supply custom semiconductor designs, beamforming architectures and heterogeneous integration, while Reach contributes its proven power‑beaming...
UK Announces £500 Million Package for Industrial Growth and National Security
The United Kingdom unveiled a £500 million space funding package aimed at accelerating economic growth and national security. The money targets seven sub‑sectors, with priority given to satellite communications, assured access, in‑orbit servicing, assembly, manufacturing and space domain awareness. The package...
Roundhill Launches Pure-Play Space ETF
Roundhill Investments announced the launch of the Roundhill Space & Technology ETF (ticker MARS) on March 5, 2026, offering active exposure to pure‑play space companies. McKinsey projects the global space economy to swell to $1.8 trillion by 2035, up from $630 billion...
Government Throws Weight Behind Space-Manufactured Drugs
The UK government announced a new package of measures to accelerate space‑based pharmaceutical manufacturing, offering regulatory clarity and a sandbox for companies developing drugs in microgravity. The initiative, led by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, brings together the...
The Promise Of A World of Low Launch Prices Is Still Far Off
The article argues that despite hype around reusable rockets, truly low‑cost launch prices remain elusive. It examines why SpaceX’s sub‑$5 kg target is still out of reach for most customers, citing technical bottlenecks, limited launch cadence, and regulatory hurdles. The piece...
Chinese Astronauts Hone Extreme Cave Survival Skills
China’s Astronaut Center completed its first cave‑survival training, involving 28 astronauts and trainees in a month‑long program in Chongqing’s Wulong district. Participants endured 8 °C temperatures, 99 % humidity, darkness and confined spaces while conducting mapping, scientific tasks and emergency drills. The...
Lunar Dust Study Links Space Weathering to Changes in Moon Ultraviolet Brightness
Southwest Research Institute and UT San Antonio re‑examined Apollo 11, 16 and 17 lunar soils with modern transmission electron microscopy to quantify how space weathering alters far‑ultraviolet (FUV) reflectance. The study linked the presence of nanophase‑iron particles in grain rims...
Lunar Dust Model Maps How Charged Grains Stick to Spacecraft
Researchers from the Beijing Institute of Technology, the China Academy of Space Technology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have introduced a theoretical model that couples electrostatic forces with contact‑mechanics to predict whether low‑velocity charged lunar dust grains stick to...
Northrop Grumman Boosters Set For First Crewed Lunar Voyage Of Artemis Era
Northrop Grumman's new five‑segment solid rocket boosters will power NASA's Artemis II launch, the first crewed mission of the Space Launch System, slated for early February 2026. Each 177‑foot booster delivers 3.6 million pounds of thrust, together providing 7.2 million of the SLS’s...
Lunar Spacecraft Exhaust Could Obscure Clues to Origins of Life
Over half of methane exhaust from lunar landers can migrate across the Moon, reaching the opposite pole within two lunar days and becoming trapped in permanently shadowed regions. Simulations of ESA’s Argonaut mission show 42 % of exhaust settles at the...
Danish Mani Mission to Chart Lunar Terrain in 3D
Denmark’s University of Copenhagen will lead the ESA‑backed Mani mission, slated for a 2029 launch, to map the Moon’s north and south polar regions in three dimensions. The satellite will capture high‑resolution images from multiple angles, using shadow analysis to...
Where Is the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the World’s Largest Space Launch Facility?
The Baikonur Cosmodrome, the world’s largest space launch facility, sits in southern Kazakhstan about 200 km west of the city of Baikonur. Operated by Russia’s Roscosmos under a 1994 lease, it has supported more than 400 orbital launches since its first...
ESA’s Mars Orbiters Watch Solar Superstorm Hit the Red Planet
ESA’s Mars Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter captured the May 2024 solar superstorm’s effects on the Red Planet, revealing unprecedented electron spikes in the upper atmosphere. A radiation monitor on TGO logged a dose equivalent to 200 Earth days in...
Ursa Major Successfully Hot Fires Latest Variant of AM-Enabled Hadley Engine
Ursa Major announced the successful hot‑fire of its upgraded Hadley H13 liquid rocket engine, marking the first flight test of the latest variant. The company has integrated additive manufacturing across roughly 80% of the engine’s parts, streamlining production and cutting...
A History of the Deep Space Network
The Deep Space Network (DSN), established in 1963 under JPL, provides continuous 360‑degree coverage through three antenna complexes in the United States, Spain, and Australia. Over six decades it has evolved from 26‑meter dishes to 70‑meter giants, supporting iconic missions...
Space: The Final Frontier for Standards
In August 2025, NIST, NOAA and biotech firm Rhodium launched seven reference materials—including cholesterol, house dust and a freeze‑dried human liver—on a Falcon 9 to the International Space Station. Six of the samples are NIST standard reference materials (SRMs) that meet...
March 4, 2026 Zimmerman/Batchelor Podcast
Robert Zimmerman’s new release, *Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8*, chronicles the historic 1968 mission that first took humans to another world. The book launches in three formats—print, ebook, and audiobook—each featuring a foreword by Valerie Anders and a fresh introduction...