Two Chinese satellites, Shijian-21 and Shijian-25, appear to be maneuvering for a potential rendezvous and docking in geostationary orbit (GEO), possibly for an on-orbit refueling test. Shijian-25, launched in January for servicing missions, is approaching Shijian-21, which has previously towed a defunct satellite to graveyard orbit. Both are now in closely matched orbits, minimizing fuel use for docking. The proximity operations, expected around June 11, … Continue reading Chinese spacecraft prepare for orbital refueling test as US surveillance sats lurk nearby

A SpaceX Starship prototype, Starship 36, exploded during a routine static fire test at the company’s Starbase facility in Texas late Wednesday. The rocket experienced a “catastrophic failure” while secured to a test stand, though no injuries or hazards to nearby communities were reported. The incident marks the latest setback for Elon Musk’s goal of developing a reusable rocket for Mars colonization. Standing 123 meters … Continue reading SpaceX rocket explodes in new setback

In a surprising move, Honda successfully launched and landed a prototype reusable rocket on June 17, aiming for suborbital spaceflight by 2029. The 20.6-foot rocket reached 889 feet during testing in northern Japan, demonstrating key reusability technologies. While still in early research phases, Honda has expanded its space efforts through U.S.-based initiatives and partnerships, including ISS tech trials and satellite refueling systems, Gizmodo has reported. … Continue reading Honda Unexpectedly Enters the Space Race With First Successful Rocket Launch

A sunspot facing Earth has rapidly become highly active, producing multiple strong M-class solar flares in under 24 hours, including a powerful M8.46 flare on June 15—just below the strongest X-class level. This flare also triggered a coronal mass ejection (CME), part of which may reach Earth around June 18. If it does, it could cause minor geomagnetic storms and possibly visible auroras in northern … Continue reading Powerful solar flare erupts from sun triggering radio blackouts across North America

Astronomers have used fast radio bursts (FRBs)—brief, powerful flashes of radio waves—to detect previously unseen ordinary matter in the universe, helping solve the long-standing “missing baryon problem.” While dark matter and dark energy dominate the cosmos, only about 10% of ordinary matter had been directly observed. The rest, believed to be spread across the intergalactic medium, was too diffuse to detect—until now, CNN has reported. … Continue reading Mysterious fast radio bursts help astronomers pinpoint cosmic ‘missing’ matter

NASA is targeting June 19 for the launch of the Ax-4 private astronaut mission to the ISS, pending resolution of an air leak in the Russian segment. The mission was delayed from its original June 11 date due to a liquid oxygen leak in the Falcon 9 rocket and concerns over a persistent leak in the Zvezda module’s vestibule. While Roscosmos claims the issue has … Continue reading NASA sets new potential launch date for Ax-4 mission to ISS

SpaceX reached a major milestone with the 500th mission of its Falcon rocket family on June 12. A Falcon 9 launched 26 Starlink satellites from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base, successfully deploying them into low Earth orbit. The rocket’s first stage landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You, marking its 15th reuse, Space.com has reported. This was SpaceX’s 72nd Falcon 9 launch of … Continue reading SpaceX sends 26 Starlink satellites to orbit on landmark launch

The European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter has captured and sent back the first-ever images and video of the Sun’s south pole, offering groundbreaking insights into the Sun’s behavior. These closest, most detailed images will help scientists understand how solar magnetic fields shift and trigger powerful storms that can disrupt satellites and power grids on Earth. The data fills a key gap in solar science by … Continue reading First view of the Sun’s south pole filmed by spacecraft

A year after Boeing’s troubled crewed test flight of the CST-100 Starliner, NASA still hasn’t decided on the spacecraft’s next mission — or whether it will be crewed or uncrewed. The next flight isn’t expected before early 2026, pending resolution of technical issues like thruster failures and helium leaks. Budget cuts and ongoing testing have delayed decisions, while Boeing remains quiet amid speculation it might … Continue reading Starliner future plans still in limbo

Asteroid 2024 YR4, once considered the highest-impact risk to Earth ever recorded, now poses no threat to our planet but has slightly increased its odds of hitting the moon in 2032—from 3.8% to 4.3%, according to NASA. The James Webb Space Telescope recently helped refine its trajectory by 20%. First detected in late 2023, the asteroid briefly sparked alarm with a 3.1% chance of impacting … Continue reading NASA raises the odds that an asteroid could hit the moon in 2032

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has captured unprecedented data of a powerful plasma explosion moving toward the sun’s surface, revealing protons with energy levels 1,000 times higher than expected. This event, caused by “magnetic reconnection” — where the sun’s magnetic fields break and reconnect — accelerates charged particles and fuels the solar wind. Understanding this process is crucial for predicting space weather, which can disrupt satellites, … Continue reading NASA’s Parker Solar Probe spots powerful magnetic explosion aimed at the sun’s surface

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have released the largest map of the early universe to date, revealing nearly 800,000 galaxies in an expansive image from the COSMOS-Web project. This wide-field survey, the largest of JWST’s first year, stitched together over 10,000 images covering a sky area the width of three full moons. The data offers insights into galaxy formation, cosmic environments, and … Continue reading James Webb Space Telescope reveals largest-ever panorama of the early universe

SpaceX successfully launched the SXM-10 satellite for SiriusXM early Saturday, June 7, aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral. The rocket’s first stage landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic, marking its eighth reuse. The 14,100-pound satellite, built by Maxar Technologies, will join SiriusXM’s broadcasting network, Space.com has reported. This was SpaceX’s 69th Falcon 9 launch in 2025 and the second SiriusXM mission … Continue reading SpaceX launches Sirius XM radio satellite to orbit

NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter captured a stunning image of Arsia Mons, a 12-mile-high volcano on Mars, poking through dawn clouds—marking the first time such a view has been seen from the Martian horizon. Taken on May 2, the photo highlights water ice clouds around the Tharsis Mountains during Mars’ aphelion. The image helps scientists study seasonal atmospheric changes. Odyssey, launched in 2001, is the longest-operating … Continue reading Mars volcano twice as big as Earth’s tallest one seen poking through clouds

A tiny red dwarf star, TOI-6894, defies expectations by hosting a giant exoplanet, TOI-6894b, which is slightly larger than Saturn but only half its mass. Red dwarfs, with just 20% of the Sun’s mass, rarely have enough material to form such large planets, making this discovery extremely rare. The planet orbits its star every 3.37 days and, unlike typical hot gas giants, has a relatively … Continue reading A tiny star gave birth to a giant exoplanet, but no one knows how

Astronomers have discovered a gas giant planet orbiting the tiny red dwarf star TOI-6894, the smallest star known to host such a large planet. The planet, slightly larger than Saturn but only half its mass, orbits the star every three days. This challenges existing theories of planet formation, as small stars like TOI-6894 were not thought capable of hosting massive planets due to limited material … Continue reading Scientists puzzled by giant planet detected orbiting tiny star

SpaceX successfully launched 27 more Starlink satellites on June 4 from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base using a Falcon 9 rocket. The booster, B1063, completed its 26th flight and landed on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love Youin the Pacific. This marks the booster’s 18th Starlink mission. The satellites will soon move into their designated low Earth orbits, adding to Starlink’s growing network of … Continue reading SpaceX launches Starlink satellite stack from Vandenberg Space Force Base

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has discovered crystalline water ice in the debris disk around HD 181327, a young Sun-like star 155 light-years away. This finding supports the theory that water existed in the early solar system’s outer regions and played a key role in planet formation. The water ice, mostly found in the disk’s outer ring as “dirty snowballs” (ice mixed with dust), decreases … Continue reading James Webb Telescope Detects Frozen Water In Young Star System For The First Time

Japanese company ispace is set to attempt a historic moon landing on Thursday, June 5, at 3:24 p.m. EDT. Its Resilience lunar lander will try to touch down in the moon’s Mare Frigoris region. A successful landing would mark a major achievement for Japan and commercial spaceflight, following ispace’s failed attempt in 2023. If successful, Resilience will deploy a small rover named Tenacious and conduct … Continue reading Private Japanese spacecraft aims to land in the moon’s ‘Sea of Cold’ this week

SpaceX launched 27 more Starlink satellites on May 31, expanding its broadband internet constellation. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Station in California, with its first stage successfully landing on the droneship “Of Course I Still Love You” — marking its 25th mission. SpaceX’s founder Elon Musk emphasized Starlink’s role in funding future missions to Mars, with over 7,600 active satellites … Continue reading SpaceX adds 27 Starlink satellites to constellation after successful launch from California

Astronomers have discovered a mysterious object in the Milky Way that emits X-rays and radio waves in a repeating 44-minute cycle during periods of intense activity. Located 15,000 light-years away in a star-rich region, the object—dubbed ASKAP J1832−091—could be a highly magnetized neutron or white dwarf star, or possibly something entirely new. Spotted by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory while observing a supernova remnant, this marks … Continue reading Astronomers say new celestial object in our Milky Way galaxy producing radio waves

SpaceX is set to launch the U.S. military’s GPS III SV-08 satellite from Cape Canaveral on May 30, marking the second consecutive GPS satellite switch from United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket to SpaceX’s Falcon 9. The GPS III satellites offer advanced anti-jamming capabilities critical for national security, as threats to GPS signals from nation-states and commercial sources grow. The Space Force and Lockheed Martin expedited … Continue reading SpaceX to launch another GPS III satellite in record turnaround 

China has launched the Tianwen-2 probe on a mission to return samples from the asteroid 2016HO3 near Mars and explore the main-belt comet 311P. The spacecraft, launched aboard a Long March 3-B rocket, aims to collect samples and return them to Earth in about two years. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) described the mission as a major step in China’s interplanetary exploration, expected to … Continue reading China launches spacecraft it says will collect samples from asteroid near Mars

Using 20 years of data from the Hubble Space Telescope, researchers have gained new insights into Uranus’ atmosphere. The planet is mostly hydrogen and helium, with traces of methane, which gives it a pale blue-green color. Uranus is unique due to its tilted axis, causing extreme seasonal changes that last about 42 years each. The team observed its south pole darkening as it moved into … Continue reading A New Study Reveals the Makeup of Uranus’ Atmosphere

A new study suggests that a hidden population of asteroids, known as “Venus co-orbitals,” could pose a threat to Earth. These asteroids share Venus’ orbit around the Sun but are hard to detect from Earth due to the Sun’s glare. Researchers, led by Valerio Carruba of the University of São Paulo, created simulations showing that these objects may have chaotic orbits capable of close encounters … Continue reading Venus Harbors Secret Asteroids That Could Threaten Earth, Study Warns