Space News

Samba’s fiery farewell recorded

Yesterday, on 31 August 2026, Samba reentered Earth’s atmosphere at 21:39:38 UTC / 23:39:38 CEST as the third of the four Cluster satellites. Samba had been lined up for a special 'targeted reentry' safely over the South Pacific Ocean, the precision so high that a plane could fly out from Tonga and successfully record its demise for reentry science.

APOD: 2026 September 1 – A Plane Lunar Eclipse

Ice Island Survives Run-In With Joe Island

In summer 2026, a substantial iceberg calved from Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland and swiftly drifted into Nares Strait, colliding with an island along the way.

NASA Welcomes Türkiye as Newest Artemis Accords Signatory

During a ceremony hosted by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman at the agency’s headquarters in Washington on Monday, the Republic of Türkiye signed the Artemis Accords, joining the growing international coalition of like-minded nations dedicated to peaceful, transparent space exploration. “It is my privilege to welcome the Republic of Türkiye as the 71st signatory of the […]

Launch Preview: Array of international launches planned this week

Six missions are scheduled to launch from launch sites across the globe this week. After…

September 2026 Satellite Puzzler

Here’s the August 2026 puzzler. Quick, where is this? And what makes this place interesting or unique?

Commercial Space Federation (CSF) Welcomes Two New Associate Members

August 31, 2026— Washington, D.C.—The Commercial Space Federation (CSF) is pleased to welcome Outlier and Rendezvous Robotics as its newest Associate Members, bringing expertise in reusable satellite platforms and adaptable […]

Roman Space Telescope Headed to Deep Space

The observatory will shed new light on the mystery of dark energy, observe distant exoplanets, and explore the structure of the universe.

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Launches

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, transits the Sun during launch from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 30, 2026. Roman is named after the agency’s first chief astronomer. Roman will survey billions of stars and galaxies with a field of view far larger than Hubble’s, […]

Media briefing: BepiColombo's next milestone towards Mercury

Rewatch the European Space Agency's 31 August 2026 online press briefing on the latest developments of the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission, Europe's and Japan's first mission to Mercury.

Speed to Field Starts Below the Prime

I have spent much of my career looking at the defense industrial base from different vantage points: as a warfighter, inside major defense companies, and now leading a company whose […]

What happened this month at the European Space Agency? (August 2026)

August was a busy month for ESA, between spectacular views, historic milestones and exciting new discoveries.