Berlin, Germany (SPX) Feb 08, 2026
For upcoming human and robotic missions to the Moon and Mars, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) will establish a new Human Exploration Control Center (HECC) at its site in Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich. The new facility will expand the existing German Space Operations Center (GSOC) and is designed to manage complex, long-duration missions beyond low Earth orbit while reinforcing Germany and Europ

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Feb 08, 2026
In a new study, researchers say that non-biological sources they considered could not fully account for the abundance of organic compounds in a sample collected on Mars by NASA's Curiosity rover. In March 2025, scientists reported identifying small amounts of decane, undecane, and dodecane in a rock sample analyzed in the chemistry lab aboard Curiosity. These were the largest organic compo

Munich, Germany (SPX) Feb 08, 2026
Isar Aerospace is expanding its test operations at Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden, by establishing a second test site in cooperation with SSC Space. The new infrastructure is intended to support the development and production ramp up of the companys Spectrum launch vehicle and to help make access to space more scalable for European customers. The expansion at Esrange is aligned wit

London, UK (SPX) Feb 08, 2026
Our Milky Way galaxy may not host a supermassive black hole at its center but instead an enormous concentration of dark matter that exerts an equivalent gravitational influence on nearby stars and gas, according to new research published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The authors argue that this invisible substance, which makes up most of the universe's mass, can account b

Tempe AZ (SPX) Feb 08, 2026
Almost as tall as a football field, NASAs Space Launch System rocket and capsule stack traveled slowly - just under 1 mile per hour - out to the Artemis II launchpad, its temporary home at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Jan. 17, 2026. That slow crawl is in stark contrast to the peak velocity it will reach on launch day, over 22,000 miles per hour, when it will send a crew of four on a j

Crew-12 is scheduled to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, no earlier than Wednesday 11 February.

Week in images: 02-06 February 2026

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Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Feb 05, 2026
Life on Earth has traditionally been viewed as running on two main energy sources, sunlight captured by photosynthesis and chemical energy derived from reactions such as microbes feeding on reduced compounds in soils, sediments, and oceans. A new review introduces a third, largely overlooked energy source that may help drive global biogeochemical cycles, mechanical force converted into usa