Space

NASA officials announced Tuesday that they are seriously considering sending the full-scale engineering model of the Perseverance Mars rover to the Moon, equipping the vehicle with a nuclear power source to explore the south pole region. The car-sized rover, nicknamed “Promise” (also known as OPTIMISM), currently resides at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California where […]

!Sentinel-1 radar vision Sentinel-1A paved the way for Europe’s Copernicus Earth observation program. Credit: ESA The European Space Agency has officially ended operations for Sentinel-1A, the first satellite of the Copernicus program, after more than 12 years of service. The spacecraft’s operational duties ceased on June 29, 2026, nearly double its original 7-year design lifetime. […]

!Titan as seen by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft in infrared, revealing surface features through the moon’s hazy atmosphere. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/University of Idaho BOULDER, Colorado — Scientists and engineers have begun mapping out the first crewed mission to Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, arguing that the distant world is far more hospitable to human explorers than […]

!NASA astronaut Chris Williams works outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk to swap out a malfunctioning wrist joint on the Canadarm2 robotic arm. NASA astronaut Chris Williams works outside the International Space Station to replace a wrist joint on the Canadarm2 robotic arm on June 30, 2026. Credit: NASA NASA astronauts Chris Williams […]

Startup Orbital Files FCC Plans for 100,000 Data Center Satellites A five-month-old startup named Orbital has filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission for permission to deploy up to 100,000 data center satellites in low Earth orbit, a proposal that would create the largest constellation ever filed by a single company. The application, submitted […]

Scientists Confirm Two Long Gamma-Ray Bursts Came from Collapsing Neutron Stars A team of researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory has confirmed that two unusual long-duration gamma-ray bursts, GRB 211211A and GRB 230307A, were produced by the collapse of neutron stars into black holes. The findings, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, provide the most […]

Could the Rise of Space AI Explain the Fermi Paradox? Featured image: Conceptual illustration of a low-mass interstellar probe, representative of the quiet expansion model proposed in the paper. [Credit: ESA / JAXA] Where is everybody? Enrico Fermi’s famous question, posed over lunch at Los Alamos in 1950, has generated countless answers over the decades. […]

SKA-VLBI Promises to Revolutionize Mapping of the Milky Way Through Cosmic Masers Featured image: Artist’s conception of the SKA-Low station array in Western Australia, with a diagram overlay showing maser sources tracing spiral arms across the Milky Way. [Credit: SKA Observatory / CSIRO] A new study published on arXiv outlines how the Square Kilometre Array’s […]

The Radio Sky Is Brighter Than Astronomers Thought, SKA Prototype Reveals Featured image: An SKALA4.1 log-periodic dipole antenna at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Western Australia. [Credit: CSIRO / SKA Observatory] Astronomers have been underestimating the brightness of the low-frequency radio sky by a significant margin, according to new measurements using a prototype antenna for […]

Rocket Lab Acquires Iridium in Landmark $8 Billion Deal Featured image: Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck and Iridium CEO Matt Desch at the joint announcement. [Credit: Rocket Lab / Iridium] Rocket Lab has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Iridium Communications for approximately $8 billion, in what analysts are calling the most significant consolidation in […]