NASA expects to launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope as soon as September, seeing it as evidence the agency can do flagships on cost and schedule.

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A billionaire-backed philanthropic organization is funding the development of a series of new observatories, including a space telescope larger than Hubble.

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Launchers Isar Aerospace is expected to attempt its second two-stage Spectrum vehicle test flight, a key step after its first, partially successful liftoff in 2025. In parallel, Spain’s PLD Space and its Miura-5 remain the second contender — after Isar — for the European Launcher Challenge, a competition that increasingly looks like Europe’s closest analogue […]

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In this special episode of Space Minds, our show is split into two segments from the recent SpaceNews annual Icon Awards.

The post The moon, AI and the high-stakes decisions shaping space’s future appeared first on SpaceNews.

The launch of USSF-87 comes amid leadership change at United Launch Alliance and pressure to increase launch tempo

The post Vulcan to open 2026 with national security launch appeared first on SpaceNews.

LiDAR costs, compute power and AI training are the “big three” usually associated with the high cost of autonomous vehicles (AVs). We rarely look up. But maybe we should. High above the Earth, the ionosphere, a chaotic, sun-charged layer of our atmosphere, is levying an invisible tax on every self-driving car in development. If you […]

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An unspecified “medical concern” involving one of the astronauts aboard the International Space Station has postponed a spacewalk and could force an unprecedented early return of part of the crew.

The post Medical issue could force early end of Crew-11 ISS mission appeared first on SpaceNews.

We are in an era where planetary science no longer depends on government missions. Commercial capabilities are mature and ready to deliver a higher cadence of planetary exploration that fits within proposed budgets. What’s missing is an operational model that matches ambition. The old way — one in which bespoke, government-run missions with decade-long development […]

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NASA says it is continuing to prepare for a possible Artemis 2 launch as soon as February, but with remarkably little publicity for the historic mission.

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