Flawless Second Artemis II Launch Rehearsal Shows Readiness, Despite Setbacks
The second launch rehearsal for Artemis II was a massive success and a showcase of the propellant loading process and systems working as designed.
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Author: Emily B
NASA Tests SLS Umbilicals, Prepares for Second Wet Dress Rehearsal
Following the incomplete first Wet Dress Rehearsal for the Artemis II mission earlier this month due to hydrogen leaks, the Exploration Ground Systems team decided that more testing was needed.
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20 Years of Planning, Effort Ready to Culminate in Return to the Moon
The Artemis program, while relatively young, incorporates elements that have had long and winding development histories, which is reflected in the evolution of its earliest mission plans over time.
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Sugars Essential to Life Discovered on Bennu
On December 2nd, 2025, a team led by researchers at Tohoku University in Japan announced the identification of Ribose, Glucose, and other sugars in a sample of the asteroid Bennu returned by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission in 2023.
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ESA Lays Out Ambitious Vision Ahead of New Budget Decision
The 2025 meeting of the ESA Council at the Ministerial Level (CM25) will begin on November 26th at 13:30 CET.
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Solar and Space Weather Missions Ready for Launch
NASA’s IMAP mission is set to launch on September 24, 2025, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. This launch brings 3 separate missions to the Earth-Sun L1 Lagrange point: IMAP, the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and NOAA’s SWFO-L1.
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ESA Increases Mars Ambitions with Mars Transportation Infrastructure
As the European Space Agency (ESA)’s ExoMars/Rosalind Franklin Mission prepares for its 2028 launch, the agency is looking forward to future Mars science and exploration needs with an eye towards increasing European space independence.
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On Chasing Shadows: A New Exploration of Uranus
At the December 2024 annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU24), NASA provided updates on the status of NASA’s upcoming Uranus Flagship mission and the precursor projects that will enable it.
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Op-Ed: Contracts are Tools; Not One Size Fits All
Procurement and acquisition is one of the most important aspects of any space program or project. It’s not glamorous or dramatic, it doesn’t reveal new secrets or transform our understanding of the cosmos. It is, however, responsible for setting the framework for project development.
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Artemis Makes Strides Forward in Lunar Communications
On September 17th, 2024, NASA awarded Intuitive Machines a Near Space Network Services contract to design, build, and operate a system of communications relay and navigation satellites in lunar orbit to support Artemis missions.
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CFT Continues Safely: Starliner and the Commercial Crew Return Process
Boeing’s Crew Flight Test mission is continuing its stay aboard the International Space Station. On July 25, NASA and Boeing held a press conference to provide an update on the mission including ongoing tests, the current status of the spacecraft, and upcoming events.
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Starliner Mission Extended, All Systems Stable
Boeing’s Starliner Crew Flight Test (CFT) has once more been extended, but everything remains stable and safe for the station, spacecraft, and crew. A new return date has yet to be determined, but it will be no earlier than early July.
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Final GOES-R Satellite Ready to Fly
NASA and NOAA are preparing to launch GOES-U, the last of the four GOES-R series geostationary weather satellites on June 25th, 2024 at 5:16PM, Eastern Time atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy.
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ESA and SpaceX Prepare to Launch EarthCARE
The European Space Agency (ESA) and SpaceX are preparing to launch the long-anticipated EarthCARE mission on May 27, 2024, set to improve climate models and weather forecasts by studying Earth’s radiation budget in new detail.
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NOAA’s Next-Gen Constellation Moves Forward
As NOAA looks to the future of its weather satellite programs in the 2030s and beyond, it is making radical changes to its Low-Earth orbit (LEO) architecture in the face of emerging trends and capabilities.
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Uranus Aerocapture: New Solutions for Old Problems
NASA is planning a flagship-class mission to Uranus, the Uranus Orbiter and Probe (UOP), early in the next decade, and an ongoing study may turn atmospheres into a valuable asset for not just UOP, but many missions yet to come.
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ILLUMA-T: Entering a New Age of Space Communications
A next generation optical communications system known as ILLUMA-T is ready for flight onboard the CRS-29 mission to the International Space Station.
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Uranus Orbiter and Probe: 35 Years in the Making
The solar system contains 8 planets, each possessing incredible uniqueness. Of these, some stand out as being perhaps the least explored. Every planet has had at least one orbiter take incredible amounts of in situ observations for years on end if not decades, except the Ice Giants…
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