Space News

HyImpulse Extends Series A Funding Round by €50 Million

German launch services provider HyImpulse announced on 2 September that it had extended its Series A funding round by more than €50 million, bringing its total funding to date to €125 million. The company is currently preparing for the second flight of its suborbital SR75 rocket and the inaugural launch attempt of its larger SL1 […]

Cluster’s encore for reentry science a success

The Cluster mission danced its final dance as Tango reentered the atmosphere on 1 September, at 23:30:31 CEST. The end of the Cluster mission in 2024 turned into the start of the reentry data collection campaign. After four ‘targeted’ reentries, this is now a proven method of safe end-of-life disposal. It also enabled the repeated observation of the reentries by a plane full of scientists, creating a unique reentry data set that will improve our understanding of the destructive process and can inform the design of safer and more sustainable satellites in the future.

ESA’s first lunar rover rolls forward

Yesterday evening, during a signing ceremony at the Space for Inspiration event in Copenhagen, Denmark, the European Space Agency (ESA) and ispace-Europe celebrated the implementation of MAGPIE, set to be the first European rover on the Moon.

APOD: 2026 September 2 – Solar Eclipses and Culture

House Clears FY2027 CR, Now to the President

A full month before FY2027 begins, the House today joined the Senate in passing a Continuing Resolution (CR) to avoid a government shutdown on October 1. Both parties are eager […]

NASA Selects Blue Origin as Mars Telecommunications Network Provider

NASA awarded Blue Origin a contract Tuesday to develop the agency’s Mars Telecommunications Network, a next-generation communications system that will enable reliable, high-bandwidth communications and navigation services for current and future Mars missions. The firm-fixed-price contract has a maximum potential value of approximately $700 million to deliver a high-performance Mars telecommunications orbiter to NASA no […]

SpaceX to launch Starlink mission from West Coast

Liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California is currently scheduled for 1:18 a.m. PDT (4:18 a.m. EDT / 0818 UTC).

What’s Up: September 2026 Skywatching Tips from NASA

Brilliant Venus and a Harvest Moon Use the Moon to find Antares and the Teapot, spot brilliant Venus, welcome the equinox, and see the Harvest Moon near Saturn and Neptune. Skywatching Highlights Transcript The Moon joins a tea party… Venus cranks up the brightness… the seasons officially change… and the Harvest Moon meets up with […]

Launch Site and Facility Progress ahead of East Coast Starship debut

As SpaceX prepares to launch Starship Flight 14 in the coming weeks, work in Florida…

Historic Engines Take Their Place on Artemis III

On Aug. 24, technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida began installing the four RS‑25 engines in the core stage of the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that will carry the Artemis III crew into low Earth orbit in 2027. Each RS‑25 engine has a unique serial number that records its detailed flight […]

It turns out that Orion's much-maligned heat shield performed really well

Independent safety officials also have high praise for changes by NASA leadership.

PLD Space Adds €108 million to Series C Funding Round

Spanish launch services provider PLD Space has secured an additional €108 million in funding, extending the Series C round to €288 million. The company is preparing for the inaugural flight of the Miura 5 rocket later this year. PLD Space announced that it had closed a €180 million Series C funding round in early March. […]