Researchers at the University of Stuttgart have developed a compact short-pulse laser achieving up to 80% efficiency—more than twice that of many current systems—by using a multipass design that reuses light within a small crystal. The palm-sized device delivers ultrashort light pulses lasting billionths to quadrillionths of a second, enabling high-precision energy delivery for applications in medicine, manufacturing, analytics, and quantum science. Traditional high-efficiency short-pulse … Continue reading Tiny laser could transform medicine and quantum science

SpaceX launched 29 more Starlink satellites early on Nov. 9 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The first stage successfully landed on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic, marking its 28th flight—just shy of the record 31 missions for a single booster. The upper stage carried the satellites to low Earth orbit, where they are set to … Continue reading SpaceX launches 29 Starlink satellites from Florida’s Space Coast

SpaceX successfully launched its Starlink Group 11-14 mission today, lifting 28 satellites into low Earth orbit atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 4:13 p.m. EST. The booster, B1093, completed its eighth flight, performing stage separation, deceleration burns, and landing on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You about 8.5 minutes after liftoff. B1093 will return to … Continue reading SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites from California’s central coast

Astronomers have observed the largest and most distant flare ever detected from a supermassive black hole, nicknamed “Superman,” originating 10 billion light-years away. At its peak, the flare shone with the brightness of 10 trillion suns. The flare came from an active galactic nucleus (AGN), where gas and dust spiraling into a supermassive black hole become superheated, emitting intense radiation. Researchers believe the black hole … Continue reading Largest observed flare from a black hole unleashes the light of 10 trillion suns

China’s Shenzhou-20 crewed spacecraft has delayed its return to Earth after possibly being struck by small pieces of space debris, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced. The delay is under review as officials conduct impact analysis and risk assessments, though no new landing date has been provided. Shenzhou-20 is docked at the Tiangong space station alongside Shenzhou-21, currently in a handover period, and if … Continue reading China’s Shenzhou-20 return mission delayed due to space debris impact

The U.S. military is close to fielding two new satellite‑jamming systems — L3Harris’s Meadowlands and Remote Modular Terminals — which, along with an upgraded Counter Communications System, will give the Pentagon three openly acknowledged counter‑space jammers. Meadowlands is in final training and exercises and is expected to be fielded this fiscal year, while the Remote Modular Terminals are being deployed overseas in a limited early‑use … Continue reading US Space Force to Use Three Weapons To Jam Chinese Satellites Via Remote Control

SpaceX successfully launched its Bandwagon-4 rideshare mission to low Earth orbit, carrying an Nvidia-backed data center demo, a Vast commercial space station testbed, and AI-powered weather satellites. Liftoff occurred at 1:09 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral’s pad 40, with a 95% chance of favorable weather. The mission used Falcon 9 booster B1091, previously flown for Amazon’s Project Kuiper, which landed safely at Landing Zone 2 … Continue reading Commercial space station demo, data center precursor launch on SpaceX rocket

The U.S. and China are racing to return to the Moon, targeting 2028 and 2030, amid a push for both scientific exploration and valuable lunar resources. Companies are eyeing helium-3, a rare isotope on Earth that could fuel nuclear reactors or cool quantum computers, with Interlune signing a potential $300 million deal to supply up to 10,000 liters. Harvesting helium-3 is technically challenging, requiring massive … Continue reading Mining Company Says It’s Identified Hugely Valuable Material on Surface of the Moon

3I/ATLAS, only the third known interstellar object to enter our solar system, has intrigued scientists since its discovery in early July. Likely a comet, it reached its closest point to the Sun on October 29, brightening much faster than expected. Observations from NASA’s STEREO, ESA’s SOHO, and NOAA’s GOES-19 satellites showed this rapid luminosity increase, which may be linked to its extreme speed of 137,000 … Continue reading Mysterious Interstellar Object Has Unexpectedly Started Brightening, Scientists Say

China’s Shenzhou 21 spacecraft successfully docked with the Tiangong space station at a record speed, completing the maneuver in about 3.5 hours—three hours faster than previous missions. The crew includes commander Zhang Lu, returning from Shenzhou 15, and two first-time astronauts: engineer Wu Fei, China’s youngest space traveler at 32, and payload specialist Zhang Hongzhang. During their roughly six-month mission, the team will conduct 27 … Continue reading China’s Shenzhou 21 docks with space station, sets the country’s own speed record

Researchers from Stockholm University and Vanderbilt University claim to have found evidence linking mysterious sky flashes from the 1940s and 1950s to nuclear weapons testing sites in the U.S. The flashes, described as “transient star-like objects,” appeared in historical Palomar Observatory photos taken before the first satellites were launched, ruling out human-made orbital objects. Analysis showed the flashes were 68% more likely to occur the … Continue reading Study finds signs of UFOs near US sites in 1950s

SpaceX launched 29 more Starlink satellites into orbit on October 29 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, using a Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket’s first stage, booster 1082, successfully landed on the drone ship “Just Read the Instructions” for its 15th flight, which previously included high-profile missions like Crew-8 and Polaris Dawn. The upper stage will deploy the satellites into low Earth orbit about 64 minutes after … Continue reading SpaceX launches 29 Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida

Two cosmonauts will perform a spacewalk today outside the International Space Station to install experiment hardware on the Nauka module and relocate a control panel for its European robotic arm. NASA will stream the spacewalk and provide limited technical commentary despite most agency activities being paused due to the government shutdown. This marks the second spacewalk in less than two weeks for Expedition 73 commander … Continue reading 2 Russian cosmonauts spacewalk outside the ISS

SpaceX launched 28 Starlink satellites today (Oct. 27) aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The rocket’s first stage successfully landed on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You, marking its 17th flight, while the upper stage delivered the satellites to low Earth orbit. This launch was SpaceX’s 137th Falcon 9 mission of the year and the third … Continue reading SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites from California, lands rocket at sea

Astronomers have discovered a new asteroid, 2025 SC79, which orbits the sun in just 128 days within Venus’s orbit, making it the second-fastest known unique asteroid. The asteroid is about 0.4 miles (700 meters) long and was spotted in the sun’s glare, highlighting the challenge of detecting “twilight” asteroids that could pose hazards to Earth. Observations were confirmed by NSF’s Gemini Observatory and Carnegie Science’s … Continue reading Astronomers discover 2nd fastest asteroid in the solar system hiding in the sun’s glare

The interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is emitting a dramatic jet of ice and dust toward the sun as it approaches its closest point to the star on October 30. The jet, captured in a composite image from Teide Observatory in the Canary Islands, extends up to 6,200 miles from the comet’s nucleus and is composed of carbon dioxide and dust particles. This behavior, typical of comets, … Continue reading Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS blasts a jet towards the sun

SpaceX set a new record with its 139th launch of 2025 on Oct. 23, sending the second Spainsat Next Generation (NG-2) satellite into orbit from Cape Canaveral. The two Spainsat NG satellites will provide secure military communications for the Spanish Armed Forces and partners, with the first satellite launched in January. The Falcon 9’s first stage was expended this time due to performance needs, while … Continue reading SpaceX launches its record-breaking 139th mission of the year

SpaceX has set a new record for Falcon 9 launches, with 133 flights in 2025, surpassing last year’s mark. A Falcon 9 carrying 28 Starlink satellites lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Oct. 22, contributing to SpaceX’s expanding low Earth orbit internet network. This launch marks SpaceX’s 138th mission of the year, tying its overall 2024 record, Space.com has reported. While Falcon Heavy … Continue reading SpaceX launches record-breaking 133rd Falcon 9 mission of the year

NASA has confirmed the discovery of a new “quasi-moon” named 2025 PN7, a small asteroid that travels almost perfectly in sync with Earth around the Sun. Detected by the University of Hawaii, the rock measures about 18 to 36 meters wide and follows a path that makes it appear to shadow our planet without being gravitationally bound to it. Scientists believe 2025 PN7 has been … Continue reading NASA confirms Earth now has two moons until 2083

China’s first reusable rocket, LandSpace’s Zhuque-3, advanced toward its inaugural flight with a successful static-fire test on October 20. The test, part of the rocket’s three-day maiden flight campaign, followed a fueling trial at LandSpace’s Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone. Zhuque-3, similar in design to SpaceX’s Falcon 9, features a reusable first stage powered by nine methane-LOX Tianque-12A engines and can carry about 40,350 … Continue reading China’s 1st reusable rocket test fires engines ahead of debut flight

NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX mission, which will fly alongside the near-Earth asteroid Apophis in 2029, received a $20 million funding allocation to continue operations for the next fiscal year. The spacecraft, repurposed from the OSIRIS-REx mission that sampled asteroid Bennu, will study Apophis’ close flyby of Earth to understand how such encounters affect small bodies. The funding secures 2026–27 operations but doesn’t guarantee future support, as Congress … Continue reading $20 million NASA mission to visit ‘God of Chaos’ asteroid saved from budget cuts

At the center of the Milky Way, a mysterious gamma-ray glow has puzzled scientists since NASA’s Fermi Telescope detected it in 2008. While some astronomers attribute the glow to pulsars—spinning remnants of exploded stars—others suggest it may come from collisions of dark matter, an invisible substance five times more abundant than regular matter. New supercomputer simulations show that dark matter could produce the bulge-shaped glow, … Continue reading Scientists think the mysterious glow in our galaxy could be from dark matter

SpaceX has launched over 10,000 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit, with 56 added on Sunday during the 132nd Falcon 9 launch of 2025, tying the annual launch record with months remaining. Of these, about 8,608 are currently operational, each with a typical five-year lifespan before deorbiting. Starlink began with prototypes in 2018 and commercial service in 2021, aiming to provide fast, low-latency global internet, … Continue reading SpaceX launches 10,000th Starlink internet satellite

A weak region in Earth’s magnetic field, known as the South Atlantic Anomaly, has expanded by an area roughly half the size of continental Europe over the past decade. Data from ESA’s Swarm satellite constellation show the anomaly has been weakening faster since 2020, particularly over Africa, due to unusual magnetic patterns in the boundary between Earth’s molten outer core and rocky mantle. This weakening … Continue reading Giant weak spot in Earth’s magnetic field is getting bigger

A series of solar storms is headed toward Earth, with three coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from sunspot region AR4246 expected to arrive between Oct. 15 and 17. The strongest activity is forecast for Oct. 16, when geomagnetic storms could reach G2 (moderate) levels, potentially causing minor satellite impacts, weak power grid fluctuations, and visible northern lights as far south as New York and Idaho. Space … Continue reading Several coronal mass ejections are racing toward Earth