One concept for the Golden Dome missile defense system with space-based elements. (credit: Redwire) By Sandra Erwin, Published by Space News, 24 February 2026 Reconciliation boost lifts 2026 totals, but sustainability questions loom for missile defense and Space Development Agency WASHINGTON — Funding for the U.S. Space Force this fiscal
Artist's impression of a Falcon 9 upper stage with payload in 2015. (SpaceX) By Robyn Schofield & Robert George Ryan, Published by Science Alert, 23 February 2026 Space junk returning to the Earth is introducing metal pollution to the pristine upper atmosphere as it burns up on re-entry, a new
A render of a STETMAN UASAT-NANO CubeSat prototype in orbit with deployed solar panels. (Source: STETMAN) By Roman Kohanets, Published by United24 Media, 20 February 2026 Ukraine has begun regulatory registration of a planned low-Earth-orbit satellite communications network called UASAT-NANO, a project led by Ukrainian company STETMAN, according to DOU
The Falcon 9 upper stage re-entering the atmosphere above Berlin, Germany, on February 19, 2025. Gerd Baumgarten By Passant Rabie, Published by Space & Spaceflight, 19 February 2026 For the first time, scientists were able to directly detect upper-atmospheric pollution from space debris. On February 19, 2025, a Falcon 9
Long exposure photographs showed the Falcon 9 rocket debris over Berlin in 2025 By Georgina Rannard, Published by the BBC, 19 February 2026 When a SpaceX rocket failure set the skies aflame over western Europe last February, no-one was sure if the debris was also polluting our atmosphere. Now scientists
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks about the Golden Dome initiative in the Oval Office on May 20, 2025. | Alex Brandon/AP By Brooke Griswold, Published by Defense News, 19 February 2026 Just a year ago, SpaceX majority owner Elon Musk dismissed going to the moon as a “distraction.” Now,
Astronomer’s view of a star obscured by streaks from Starlink satellites. Rafael Schmall/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY By Gregory Radisic and Samantha Lawler, Published by The Conversation, 18 February 2026 On January 30 2026, SpaceX filed an application with the US Federal Communications Commission for a megaconstellation of up to one
Image credit: SpaceX By Tim Fernholz, Published by Tech Crunch, 11 February 2026 In a sense, this whole thing was inevitable. Elon Musk and his coterie have been talking about AI in space for years — mainly in the context of Iain Banks’ science-fiction series about a far-future universe where
