A Long March 6A rocket lifts off from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, March 15, 2026, carrying the Yaogan-50 (02) satellite into orbit. Credit: CASC By Andrew Jones, Published by Space News, 4 September 2026 HELSINKI — A Chinese satellite launched into an unusual orbit early this year has suffered an
A SpaceX Falcon rocket lifted of from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) to begin the NROL-69 mission on behalf of the National Reconnaissance Office and the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now By Thomas Novelly, Published by Defense One, 27 August 2026 The U.S. military purchased
A Chinese LandSapce ZhuQue-3 booster, the country's first to successfully touch down on land. LandSpace By Joseph Trevithick, Published by TWZ, 19 August 2026 Earlier today, Chinese firm LandSpace achieved the country’s first successful recovery of a reusable space launch rocket booster on land. This follows China’s first-ever recovery of
A concept for a later phase of NASA's proposed lunar base. Credit: NASA By Therese Jones, Published by Space News, 17 August 2026 Earlier this month, a discarded SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage crashed into the lunar surface at 8,700 kilometers per hour. This was not a controlled landing. The
Image by Getty / Futurism By Joseph Trevithick, Published by TWZ, 13 August, 2026 "Our space assets need to shoot, move, and communicate just like the rest of the joint force," the head of U.S. Space Command says. The head of U.S. Space Command (SPACECOM) says having a “credible, acknowledged”
By Thomas Novelly, Published by Defense One, 12 August 2026 Gen. Whiting adds to previous calls for new tech in his final speech to the SMD Symposium. HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Space weapons and refuelable satellites are among the items needed to preserve the U.S. military’s orbital edge over China, the
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket debris burns up over Ingersleben, Germany on Feb. 19, 2025. (Image credit: Bennett Theile) By Selam Gebrekidan, Published by the New York Times, 31 July 2026 Flaming chunks of metal crash into homes, farms and parking lots. Who’s to blame? And who pays for the damage?
Notional depiction of space-based interception. Elements of this illustration were created in MidJourney, an artificial intelligence tool. Credit: THOR Design Studio By William J. Astore, Published by New Internationalist, 22 July 2026 As space becomes an increasingly vital arena for war, William J Astore tracks its increased militarization. ‘One point five trillion
