Third COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation radar satellite enters service ramp-up
Tuesday, 06 January 2026 04:22
The third satellite in the COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation radar constellation has been launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on a SpaceX Falcon 9 for the Italian Space Agency and the Italian Ministry of Defense, extending Italy's dual-use Earth observation capability.
Built by Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales and Leonardo, and operated in orbit by Teles Chinese astronauts hone extreme cave survival skills
Tuesday, 06 January 2026 04:22
Twenty-eight astronauts and trainees have completed China's first cave-survival training program, a nearly monthlong exercise run by the Astronaut Center of China in Chongqing's Wulong district.
The course included more than 10 core activities such as environmental monitoring, cave mapping, simulated communication with ground control, and a series of psychological and behavioral drills in Array Labs raises $20 million to scale production of radar satellites for 3D Earth mapping
Monday, 05 January 2026 18:57
Startup aims to mass-produce radar hardware and deploy formation-flying satellites
Cloud-9: a new celestial object found by Hubble
Monday, 05 January 2026 16:15
A team using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered a new type of astronomical object – a starless, gas-rich, dark-matter cloud that is considered a 'relic' or remnant of early galaxy formation. Nicknamed 'Cloud-9,' this is the first confirmed detection of such an object in the Universe.
Press conference with ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot
Monday, 05 January 2026 15:30
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Media representatives joined French ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot, on Monday 5 January, for a hybrid press conference to learn more about her first mission to space.
This event, held at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Germany, was the final media event in Europe ahead of her launch to the International Space Station.
Sophie selected the name ‘εpsilon’ for her first mission, currently planned no earlier than 15 February, reflecting the power of small, yet impactful contributions, and how many parts come together to make a whole.
During εpsilon, Sophie will conduct a wide range of tasks on the International
Minibus provides $24.4 billion for NASA for fiscal year 2026
Monday, 05 January 2026 15:22
House and Senate appropriators have released the text of a final appropriations bill for fiscal 2026 that largely rejects the steep cuts the Trump administration proposed for NASA.
ARCHE ORBITAL SYSTEMS Signs Strategic MoU with MSRO to Advance National Space Capabilities for the Maldives
Monday, 05 January 2026 15:09
Dubai / Male’ November 18, 2025 – ARCHE ORBITAL SYSTEMS, a global space-technology company specializing in advanced mission design and in-orbit services operations, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) […]
No more free rides: it’s time to pay for space safety
Monday, 05 January 2026 13:00
A small but important change can be found at the end of President Trump’s sweeping December 18, 2025, Executive Order, “Ensuring American Space Superiority.
Tree planting for εpsilon
Monday, 05 January 2026 12:34
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Tree planting for εpsilon China’s astronauts complete cave training amid preparations for moon missions
Monday, 05 January 2026 12:26
China’s astronaut corps has completed a near month-long underground cave training, conducted in part to prepare for future crewed lunar landing missions.
L3Harris to sell majority stake in space propulsion unit to AE Industrial
Monday, 05 January 2026 11:56
Private equity firm to revive Rocketdyne name, L3Harris keeps RS-25 engine
The post L3Harris to sell majority stake in space propulsion unit to AE Industrial appeared first on SpaceNews.
Space Rider orbital ballet
Monday, 05 January 2026 09:00
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Animation showing a possible interoperability application in orbit of payload deployment and retrieval operations with ESA’s reusable Space Rider.
Space Rider is a versatile uncrewed robotic laboratory about the size of two minivans. This video shows operations of how Space Rider could fly to an orbital platform and deliver payloads using a robotic arm as well as retrieving other payloads to return them to Earth. In the near future platforms orbiting Earth could allow for cheap and efficient experimentation and research in the low Earth-orbit economy. Whereas Space Rider could stay in orbit for two months, by delivering
Hunga eruption reshaped stratospheric water and ozone with limited climate cooling
Monday, 05 January 2026 07:23
A new international assessment details how the January 2022 eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai volcano in the South Pacific altered the stratosphere, atmospheric chemistry, and radiation while having only a small impact on global surface climate and the Antarctic ozone hole.
The Hunga Volcanic Eruption Atmospheric Impacts Report, released under the Atmospheric Processes and their Rol From roots to rocket
Monday, 05 January 2026 07:20
On 5 January 2026, the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne, Germany, hosted a special tradition: the planting of an astronaut tree by ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot in honour of her first mission to space, εpsilon. This symbolic gesture celebrates her achievements and future mission while reinforcing the deep connection between space explorers and the planet they call home.
North Korea tests hypersonic missiles, says nuclear forces ready for war
Monday, 05 January 2026 04:37
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test-firing of "cutting-edge" hypersonic missiles to ready Pyongyang's nuclear forces for war, state media said Monday.
Pyongyang said Sunday's test was made all the more necessary by "recent geopolitical crisis" - a clear nod to this weekend's events in North Korea's socialist ally Venezuela.
Seoul and Tokyo said Sunday they had detected the 