SpaceX launched a new batch of 27 Starlink satellites early Wednesday, marking the company’s 160th Falcon 9 flight of 2025. The launch took place at 6:40 a.m. EST from Vandenberg Space Force Base, with the satellites deployed into low Earth orbit just over an hour later. The Falcon 9 first stage completed its 18th flight, landing safely on the droneship Of Course I Still Love … Continue reading SpaceX launches Starlink satellites from California on 160th Falcon 9 flight of the year

Chinese astronauts on the Shenzhou 21 mission conducted an eight-hour spacewalk outside the Tiangong space station on December 9 to inspect and maintain equipment. During the EVA, they photographed cracks in the Shenzhou 20 capsule’s windows, installed a space debris protection system, and replaced the cover of a temperature control adapter. The damage to Shenzhou 20 was caused by a space junk strike, making it … Continue reading Chinese astronauts inspect damaged Shenzhou 20 spacecraft during 8-hour spacewalk

NASA has lost contact with its Maven spacecraft, which has orbited Mars since 2014, after it failed to communicate following its passage behind the planet. Maven, launched in 2013, studies Mars’ upper atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind, helping explain how the planet lost much of its atmosphere over time. The spacecraft also serves as a communication relay for the Curiosity and Perseverance … Continue reading NASA loses contact with its Maven spacecraft orbiting Mars for the past decade

Astronomers have observed the most distant supernova ever seen, dating back 13 billion years, just 730 million years after the Big Bang, using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The explosion, accompanied by a gamma-ray burst (GRB 250314A), marks the death of a massive star and possibly the birth of a stellar-mass black hole. Initial detection came from the SVOM satellite and NASA’s Swift Observatory, … Continue reading The James Webb Space Telescope just found the oldest supernova ever seen

Astronomers have observed ultra-fast winds from a black hole in the spiral galaxy NGC 3783, traveling at 60,000 km/s, or about 20% the speed of light. The black hole, with a mass of 30 million suns, powers an active galactic nucleus that emits intense radiation and drives these powerful winds. Researchers found that bursts of X-ray light from the black hole trigger the winds within … Continue reading Black hole spotted blasting winds at 130 million mph

SpaceX successfully launched a classified U.S. military payload, NROL-77, from Cape Canaveral on Dec. 9 at 2:16 p.m. EDT. The mission, for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), carries a national security satellite, though specific details about the payload remain secret. The mission patch features a flying squirrel and the motto “Another One Gone — Today, Tomorrow and Beyond,” symbolizing endurance and knowledge-gathering in space. This … Continue reading SpaceX launches mysterious NROL-77 mission for the US military

Early on Dec. 8, the Sun unleashed a powerful X1.1-class solar flare from sunspot region AR4298, temporarily disrupting radio communications across Australia and parts of Southeast Asia. The flare, which peaked at 12:01 a.m. EST, also ejected a coronal mass ejection (CME), though initial analyses indicate it is not Earth-directed. The eruption adds to an active week of solar activity, with several earlier CMEs expected … Continue reading Sun unleashes intense X-class solar flare, triggering radio blackouts across Australia

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky safely returned to Earth Tuesday after an eight-month mission aboard the International Space Station, landing on the Kazakh steppe. The Soyuz MS-27/73S undocked Monday evening, endured re-entry temperatures of 2,500°F, and parachuted to a precise landing at 12:03 a.m. EST. Russian recovery crews quickly extracted the crew, conducted medical checks, and prepared them for … Continue reading NASA astronaut, two Russian cosmonauts return to Earth from space station

The Department of the Air Force has approved SpaceX’s plan to convert the former Delta 4 launch site, SLC-37 at Cape Canaveral, into a Starship launch complex. The approval followed completion of an environmental impact statement, which found no major environmental concerns aside from significant noise and overpressure during launches and landings. An early plan to build an additional Starship site, SLC-50, was dropped due … Continue reading SpaceX gets approval to build Starship launch complex at Cape Canaveral

SpaceX launched 29 new Starlink satellites on Dec. 7 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 12:58 a.m. EST and reached low Earth orbit about nine minutes later, with the satellites deployed roughly an hour after launch. The rocket’s first stage, B1088, completed its 12th flight and landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in … Continue reading SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches Starlink satellites from Vandenberg in California

The interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, the third known object from outside our solar system, is departing the inner solar system after months of high-speed travel at roughly 130,000 mph (210,000 km/h). Discovered in June and confirmed in July, it made close approaches to Mars and the Sun in October and will pass about 170 million miles from Earth on December 19. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and … Continue reading ESA images show 3I/ATLAS getting active ahead of its close encounter with Earth

For the first time in its history, all eight docking ports on the International Space Station (ISS) are fully occupied, NASA announced. The crowded station required NASA’s robotic Canadarm2 to temporarily move the Northrop Grumman Cygnus-23 cargo spacecraft to make room for the Thanksgiving Day arrival of the Soyuz MS-28 crew carrying Chris Williams, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, and Sergei Mikaev for an eight-month mission. Other spacecraft … Continue reading For the 1st time ever, 8 spacecraft are docked to the International Space Station

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev has been removed from the upcoming Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station after allegedly photographing restricted SpaceX materials at the company’s Hawthorne training facility. Artemyev reportedly used his phone to take images of sensitive engines and documents and attempted to remove them from the site, prompting an interagency investigation, according to Russian media. Roscosmos announced that 43-year-old Andrey Fedyaev, who … Continue reading Russia replaces cosmonaut after alleged security breach at SpaceX facility

Chinese company Landspace’s first test flight of its Zhuque-3 rocket successfully reached orbit but ended with the first stage exploding during reentry. Launched on December 2 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, the 66-meter reusable rocket placed its expendable second stage into orbit before its first-stage booster lost an engine during landing, caught fire, and crashed. Despite the fiery failure, Landspace called the flight a … Continue reading China’s 1st reusable rocket explodes in dramatic fireball during landing after reaching orbit

Samples from asteroid Bennu are providing new insights into the origins of the solar system and the beginnings of life. Since NASA’s Osiris-REx spacecraft returned the material to Earth in 2020, scientists have identified sugars and a previously unseen “gum-like” substance in the asteroid samples. Three new studies, published in Nature Geosciences and Nature Astronomy, detail these findings: one highlights sugars as essential building blocks … Continue reading “Space gum” and sugars discovered in asteroid Bennu samples, NASA reveals

December marks the closest approach of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS to Earth, giving astronomers a rare opportunity to observe it. The comet, composed of planetary material from another star, has captured both scientific and popular attention. While some conspiracy theories speculate it could be alien technology, astronomers and space agencies confirm it is not a spaceship. This event represents a rare chance to study an … Continue reading 3I/ATLAS to make its closest approach to Earth in December

Twenty-nine new Starlink satellites were successfully deployed into low Earth orbit by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on December 2 from Cape Canaveral. The launch occurred at 5:18 p.m. EST, and the satellites were released 1 hour and 5 minutes later. The Falcon 9’s first stage, Booster 1077, completed its 25th flight and landed on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. … Continue reading SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 29 Starlink satellites

A powerful X1.9-class solar flare erupted from a newly emerged sunspot (AR4299) on Sunday, November 30, prompting a geomagnetic storm watch. The flare briefly disrupted radio communications in Australia and parts of Southeast Asia. A coronal mass ejection (CME) accompanied the flare, which could affect power grids, navigation systems, and spacecraft, though major impacts on Earth are not expected. The CME may cause minor technological … Continue reading Geomagnetic storm watch issued after powerful solar flare is seen erupting from sun

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut successfully docked with the International Space Station despite damage to the launch pad in Kazakhstan. Roscosmos reported that several elements of the Baikonur Cosmodrome pad were damaged during liftoff but said repairs would be made quickly. The crew—cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergey Mikaev, and NASA astronaut Chris Williams—will spend eight months aboard the ISS. … Continue reading Russian cosmodrome damaged after Soyuz launch to ISS

Scientists may have recorded electrical activity—nicknamed “mini lightning”—in Mars’ atmosphere for the first time, using audio and electromagnetic data from NASA’s Perseverance rover. The discharges were linked to dust devils and dust storm fronts in the Jezero Crater region, suggesting Mars can generate atmospheric electricity. The findings, analyzed over 28 hours of recordings spanning two Martian years, have implications for Martian chemistry, climate, habitability, and … Continue reading Lightning detected on Mars for the first time, scientists say

For the first time, magnetic switchbacks—zigzag-shaped kinks in plasma previously only seen near the Sun—have been detected in Earth’s magnetic field. Physicists Emily McDougall and Matthew Argall discovered these structures while analyzing data from NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale mission, finding that solar plasma interacting with Earth’s local magnetic fields caused the switchbacks. Switchbacks form when open magnetic field lines from the Sun reconnect with closed loops, … Continue reading Unexpected ‘Zigzag’ Structures Discovered in Earth’s Magnetic Field

Astronomers have now cataloged over 40,000 near-Earth asteroids (NEAs), ranging from a few yards to several miles wide, enhancing both scientific knowledge and planetary defense. NEAs are closely monitored because even small asteroids can cause serious regional damage if they impact Earth, with software predicting their paths decades or centuries in advance. Discovery rates surged in the 1990s and 2000s and continue to grow with … Continue reading Astronomers confirm 40,000 near-Earth asteroids within striking distance

The Voyager spacecraft, launched in 1977, are the farthest human-made objects from Earth, traveling over 12 billion miles at speeds of 38,000 mph. Originally tasked with studying the outer planets, they now journey into interstellar space, providing insights into the solar system’s boundary. Both spacecraft encountered a “wall of fire” at the heliosphere’s edge, where temperatures reached up to 90,000°F, marking the transition from solar … Continue reading At The Edge Of Our Solar System, NASA’s Voyager 1 Found A ‘Wall Of Fire’

Over northern Italy, a rare atmospheric phenomenon known as an “elve” appeared as a glowing red ring above the Alps, captured by photographer Valter Binotto on November 17. Elves are brief, disk-shaped flashes caused by powerful electromagnetic pulses from lightning striking the ionosphere, lasting less than a thousandth of a second and spanning hundreds of miles. The event Binotto photographed was triggered by a massive … Continue reading Photographer captures eerie red halo hovering over the Italian Alps

Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) has begun breaking apart after its close approach to the sun on October 8, with images showing multiple fragments of its icy nucleus. Astronomer Gianluca Masi captured animations from stacked exposures taken between November 11 and 18, revealing three, possibly four, distinct pieces. Earlier observations from Italy’s Asiago Observatory showed two fragments about 1,200 miles apart, with hints of a smaller … Continue reading Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) breaks apart in incredible telescope photos