An image of Earth taken by Artemis 2 commander Reid Wiseman shortly after the Orion translunar injection burn April 2. Credit: NASA/Reid Wiseman By M.C. Sungaila, Published by Space News, 21 August 2026 Policy documents from both the White House and the Office of Space Commerce this summer acknowledge that space is
NASA's Space Reactor-1 Freedom cruises past Mars in this artist's concept, demonstrating nuclear electric propulsion in deep space. Source. Credit: NASA. By Lachlan Brown, Published by Space Daily, 21 August 2026 NASA has put a date on an idea that the United States has studied for more than six decades
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
The SpaceX rocket expected to smash into the moon is seen lifting off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 15 January 2025. Photograph: Cristóbal Herrera/EPA By Associated Press, Published by The Guardian, 31 July 2026 Scientists and sky gazers will watch intently as rocket’s upper stage slams into lunar surface on
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
NASA plans to build a semi-permanent base on the Moon in the 2030s, as shown in this illustration. NASA By Clive Neal, Published by The Conversation, 14 July 2026 Lots of excitement for space bubbled up in spring 2026. The Artemis II mission took a crew of four on a
Nano Tritium battery: Citi Labs By Mrigakshi Dixit, Published by Interesting Engineering, 7 July 2026 Miami-based City Labs is all set to launch the world’s first commercial nuclear-powered satellite into orbit. Solar panels have some challenges. When a satellite slips into the shadow of the Earth, hits a permanently dark
