A Space Coast cape and launch hub in Florida, home to Space Force Station and nearby Kennedy Space Center
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has begun the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, a 10-year program that will image the southern sky every few nights. The telescope has started regular operations from its Chilean mountaintop site and is already returning new detections, including thousands of asteroids and transient views such as Comet 3I/ATLAS.
NASA and partners are pursuing a high‑risk salvage to boost the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory into a higher, stable orbit. A Katalyst Space Technologies robot will capture Swift and lift it from 224 miles to about 373 miles, extending its life as solar activity threatens its destruction in October.
Amazon has reached a milestone with a satellite constellation of over 390 satellites, enabling initial Leo internet service later this year. The launch cadence faces delays from recent rocket setbacks, but the company plans broader coverage as more satellites go online.
NASA has hired Katalyst Space Technologies to send Link, a three-armed drone, to grab the Swift Observatory and lift it to a higher orbit. The mission, launched from the Marshall Islands, aims to prevent Swift from burning up in Earth’s atmosphere and keep it scanning gamma-ray bursts and exploding stars.
Astronomers have detected helium escaping from LHS 1140b, a rocky 'super-Earth' 48 light-years away that orbits in its star's habitable zone. The finding has confirmed an atmosphere around a habitable-zone rocky exoplanet for the first time and has been published in Science; teams used ground-based infrared spectroscopy and modelling.
Sotheby’s has sold artifacts from Apollo 11, including a broken circuit-breaker switch and a felt-tip pen, for nearly $1 million. Buzz Aldrin recounts how he used a felt-tip marker to rearm the engine arm circuit, enabling the crew’s return from the Moon.
Northrop Grumman has launched MRV, a robotic vehicle with 10-foot arms to service geostationary satellites. It attaches electric jetpacks to aging assets, enabling in-orbit upgrades and life extensions of up to eight years per satellite. First operations are expected in the coming weeks once GEO reach is achieved.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage has struck the Moon near Einstein Crater at about 5,400 mph, carving a new crater and launching a dust plume. South Korea’s Danuri orbiter has photographed the site and released images. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is scheduled to image the impact next week while scientists begin analysing ejecta and crater formation.
Amazon has filed with the FCC to launch a Direct-to-Device satellite network intended to provide global mobile connectivity, competing with SpaceX's Starlink. The plan leverages Globalstar’s spectrum and envisions service for unserved regions and emergency operations, with initial service slated for later this year and full deployment by 2028. Several partnerships and regulatory waivers accompany the filing.
Scientists have tested a wearable radiation-shielding vest in lunar mission data, showing it could reduce an astronaut’s exposure by about 60% during severe solar events, with significant implications for long-duration missions to the Moon or Mars.
A deep partial lunar eclipse has occurred, with about 96% of the Moon in Earth's shadow for observers across much of the Americas. The event followed a recent total solar eclipse and is part of a pair of celestial events that are visible under clear skies. The maximum viewing is around midnight EDT, with visibility shifting by location. NASA notes the Artemis II mission remains a backdrop to ongoing space activity.
SpaceX has pledged $100 billion to build a 125,000‑acre Starbase in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, that it says will support thousands of Starship launches a year, add about 3,000 direct jobs and include propellant production, power generation and deep‑water shipping. Construction is scheduled to start in 2027; SpaceX targets initial launches by 2029 while state officials give a 2030 timeline.
SpaceX has announced a $100 billion plan to develop a 125,000-acre Starbase Louisiana on Pecan Island, expanding beyond Texas and Florida. The site will host methane production, power generation, deep-water shipping, vehicle processing, and potentially an on-site airport. Construction starts next year, with the first launch expected in 2029, creating more than 3,000 jobs.
NASA has launched the $4–4.3 billion Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope from Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy. The observatory has separated cleanly and is heading to Lagrange Point 2, about one million miles from Earth, for a five‑year primary mission to map billions of galaxies, search for exoplanets and study dark matter and dark energy.
President Trump has signed an executive order to begin creating a U.S. Space Academy to train astronauts, engineers and civil operators for NASA, the U.S. Space Force and the civilian spaceflight industry. A presidential commission chaired by NASA administrator Jared Isaacman will deliver proposals within 120 days; the academy’s location and funding remain undecided.
NASA has launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope aboard a Falcon Heavy, with a field-of-view more than 100 times wider than Hubble. The bus-sized telescope is heading to a point roughly 1 million miles from Earth to study dark energy, dark matter, and thousands of new worlds, while working with Webb and other observatories. It will take months to reach its destination and will begin rapid, wide-area observations.
A NASA-backed mission to salvage the Swift telescope using the three-armed Link spacecraft has failed to boost Swift to a higher orbit. Link has run low on fuel after a close approach and will reenter the atmosphere in coming weeks as NASA notes the mission offers lessons for future renewals of space assets.