Space News

Hello Universe: NASA’s Next-Gen Space Processor Undergoes Testing

NASA’s High Performance Spaceflight Computing project aims to dramatically improve the computing power of spacecraft. Missions need processors that can withstand the harsh space environment, so they use chips developed years ago that are hardy and reliable. But upgraded chips are needed to enable the development of autonomous spacecraft, accelerate the rate of scientific discovery […]

I Am Artemis: Kathleen Harmon

Listen to this audio excerpt from Kathleen Harmon, the Artemis II Mission Interface Manager for NASA’s Deep Space Network: Captivated by Apollo launches on her television as a child, Kathleen Harmon now plays a key role in NASA’s Artemis program. Harmon serves as the Artemis II mission interface manager for NASA’s Deep Space Network, an […]

Space Force awards TrustPoint $4 million for LEO navigation demonstration

The startup is developing C-band system as alternative to GPS

Spaceflight NowMay 12, 2026

Star Catcher raises $65 million for space power grid

Star Catcher Industries, a company developing power-beaming technology for satellites, has raised $65 million to validate the technology in space.

Live coverage: NASA, SpaceX to launch 34th Cargo Dragon mission to the space station

SpaceX’s 34th mission as part of the Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract with NASA will deliver 6,500 pounds of science and supplies to the International Space Station. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled for 7:16 p.m. EDT (2316 UTC).

Transcelestial tests space-to-ground laser communications technologies

Transcelestial has advanced its work to provide space-to-ground optical communications with a test of laser transmissions from a satellite to ground stations.

Ars TechnicaMay 12, 2026

Once again, SpaceX has set a new record for the tallest rocket ever built

SpaceX cleared an important milestone Monday on the road to launching a new version of Starship.

Space is having its internet moment. Investors should act accordingly.

In the 1990s, the internet stopped being a novelty and started to resemble what it is today. The release of the Mosaic browser in 1993 made the web usable for ordinary people. Amazon listed on Nasdaq in 1997. And by 2000, Cisco briefly became the most valuable company in the world. The bubble later burst […]

Australia’s Cloudy Beauty

Valley fog gathered in the Victorian Alps while an arch-shaped cloud drifted across Port Phillip Bay.

Curiosity Blog, Sols 4886-4892: Ingenuity and Perseverance, Curiosity Style

Written by Michelle Minitti, MAHLI Deputy Principal Investigator Earth planning date: Friday, May 8, 2026 While we know the monikers Ingenuity and Perseverance are attached to our sister helicopter and rover on the Mars 2020 mission, those characteristics were in full force with Curiosity over the past week. The science we achieved this week was […]

NASA’s Curiosity Takes Close Look at Rock That Got Stuck on Drill

Description NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, to capture this view of a rock nicknamed “Atacama” on May 6, 2026, the 4,877th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The rock had gotten stuck to the drill on the end of Curiosity’s robotic arm on April 25. Engineers spent several days […]

May 2026 Satellite Puzzler

Your challenge is to tell us the location of the satellite image and why it is interesting.

NASA retaining six-month ISS missions

NASA plans to continue exchanging International Space Station crews about every six months after considering longer stays.

Spaceflight NowMay 11, 2026

Nicholas Houghton: Engineering Crew Safety for NASA’s Artemis Missions

Nicholas Houghton always dreamed of working at NASA and one day becoming an astronaut. Today, he helps design systems that keep crews safe during missions aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft, including the successful Artemis II mission around the Moon. After joining NASA as a Pathways intern, Houghton later became a full-time engineer on the Orion Crew Survival Systems (OCSS) […]

SpaceX launches intelligence-gathering satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office

The NROL-72 mission was the 13th to date supporting what the NRO calls its “proliferated architecture” satellite constellation. Liftoff of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 7:13:50 p.m. PDT (10:13:50 p.m. EDT / 0213:50 UTC).

NASA Invites Media to Annual Lunabotics Robotics Competition

NASA will hold its 2026 Lunabotics Challenge Tuesday, May 19, to Thursday, May 21, at the Astronauts Memorial Foundation’s Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Links to view the Lunabotics competition live can be found on the agency’s Lunabotics page. The competition is slated to run between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. each day. Media are invited to attend the […]

Joint Earth Observation Mission Quality Assessment Framework – Optical Guidelines Documents Released

The Optical Guidelines document provides standardized, transparent, and repeatable process for assessing the quality of optical data from commercial Earth Observation missions.

BlackSky’s Lyn Chassagne on using satellite imagery to solve problems

In this episode of Space Minds, Mike Gruss talks with BlackSky’s Lyn Chassagne about AI’s role in the imagery sector, how international partners are thinking about sovereignty and the quest […] The post BlackSky’s Lyn Chassagne on using satellite imagery to solve problems appeared first on SpaceNews.

Creotech plans $118 million capital raise, investment in new satellite factory

WARSAW, Poland — Polish space technology company Creotech Instruments has announced plans for a $118 million fundraise that will allow the company to open a new satellite production facility in Poland by 2029 as part of a new long term development strategy. Creotech Instruments hopes to quadruple its manufacturing capacities to around 40 satellites annually […]

Hubble Survey Sets Up Roman’s Future Look Near Milky Way’s Center

The Milky Way’s galactic bulge, the bulbous region that surrounds the galactic center, contains a dense collection of stars, planets, and other free-floating objects. This region has been studied for decades with numerous ground-based and space-based telescopes, including NASA’s Hubble and James Webb space telescopes. Soon, NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will be the […]

Special Operations Forces test mobile platform for direct satellite imagery access

The software, developed by SkyFi, operates on tactical Android devices

Cowboy raises $275 million to build rockets with orbital data center upper stages

Cowboy Space, founded less than two years ago as Aetherflux to develop space-based solar power, has raised $275 million at a $2 billion valuation to build rockets with upper stages that would serve as data centers once in low Earth orbit.

Failing to pass a defense budget is a self-inflicted wound in the space race

As we have learned from the current conflicts in Ukraine and Iran, space-enabled capability has become critical to all we do in the military. It is persistent (always there) and operates in denied areas (first in the battlefield). These capabilities provide critical combat effects: intelligence, missile threat warning, rapid communications and necessary and amazingly accurate […]

Former NASA chief of staff returns to lead agency launch operations

NASA’s former chief of staff has returned to the agency in a new role overseeing launch operations, a move that raised some concerns on Capitol Hill.

Spaceflight NowMay 8, 2026

Tianzhou-10 cargo spacecraft arrives at Tiangong space station

China launched the Tianzhou-10 cargo spacecraft late Sunday, docking with the Tiangong space station hours later to deliver supplies, equipment, experiments and propellant.

SpaceNewsMay 10, 2026

ESA and JAXA finalize agreement on Apophis asteroid mission

ESA and JAXA have finalized an agreement to collaborate on a mission to study the asteroid Apophis during its close flyby of Earth in 2029.

SpaceNewsMay 9, 2026

MDA Space continues work on Gateway robotic arm

MDA Space is continuing work on a robotic arm for the lunar Gateway while it discusses the future of the project with the Canadian Space Agency.

SpaceNewsMay 9, 2026

Viasat wins $307 million Marine Corps satellite communications contract

Five-year MECS2 award covers multi-orbit, multi-band commercial satellite services worldwide

Rescue mission for NASA’s $500 million space telescope passes key testing milestone

Katalyst Space Technologies’ Link spacecraft is set to head to orbit in June 2026 onboard Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus XL air-launched rocket. NASA awarded Katalyst a $30 million contract for the mission in September 2025.

Ars TechnicaMay 8, 2026

Manufacturing qubits that can move

It's hard to mix electronic manufacturing and flexible geometry.

Swift reboost mission completes environmental tests

A spacecraft designed to raise the decaying orbit of a NASA astrophysics satellite has passed environmental tests ahead of a launch as soon as June.

Ars TechnicaMay 8, 2026

Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab make a breakthrough in rotor technology

Testing shows rotor blades won't disintegrate when they spin at supersonic speed.

Paraguay signs the Artemis Accords

Paraguay signed the Artemis Accords May 7, the sixth country to do so in the last two and a half weeks.

Rocket Lab announces large launch contract and plans to acquire space robotics company

Rocket Lab announced May 7 the largest launch contract in the company’s history as it also moves to acquire a space robotics company.

SatVu zooms in on energy facilities in Cuba, India and Australia

SAN FRANCISCO – British startup SatVu released imagery from HotSat-2, a thermal satellite built to keep tabs on energy infrastructure. HotSat-2, built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd., is the second satellite in SatVu’s commercial high-resolution thermal-imaging constellation. The first, HotSat-1, failed six months after launch. HotSat-2 images released May 7 show refining of domestic crude […]