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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Policy
HTV-X Arrives at ISS For the First Time
After its launch from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex at the JAXA Tanegashima Space Center on October 26th at 9:00 AM JST, Japan’s HTV-X1 resupply mission arrived at the ISS, where it was berthed at roughly 1:00 AM JST on October 30th.
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ISS Operations Continue with New Cargo and Crews
NASA’s flagship laboratory, the International Space Station (ISS), has returned to a period of normalcy, but as the facility approaches its third decade of operation – considerable shakeups and changes are expected as the space agencies responsible face an uncertain future.
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After Biosignature Announcement, Mars Sample Return Remains in Limbo
Ambitious plans by NASA and the European Space Agency to return samples of the Martian surface to Earth continue to remain in limbo even as the Agency has announced the collection of a potentially biosignature-containing sample aboard the Perseverance rover.
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Vulcan Begins Operational Missions
On August 12, 2025 at 8:56 p.m. EDT (0056 UTC), United Launch Alliance successfully launched its Vulcan Centaur VC4S vehicle from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for the USSF-106 mission.
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Strategy 2040: Europe’s Vision for Exploration Beyond Artemis
Amidst a changing world, space powers like ESA are forced to contend with new realities – where existing allies are no longer and the game has drastically changed.
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A Shaky Step Forward for Starship Flight 9
The ninth flight test of SpaceX’s Starship-Super Heavy rocket took place on May 27, 2025, achieving a marginal improvement over the previous two missions. Although Ship 35 completed a successful ascent, fuel leaks and a loss of control in space prevented the spacecraft from completing most of its intended objectives.
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Familiar Spectacle and Setbacks From Starship Flight 8
SpaceX launched Starship’s eighth integrated test flight on Thursday, March 6th, producing a remarkably similar showing to its seventh flight. Exactly seven weeks after that test was cut short by an upper stage failure, the system encountered another anomaly.
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Starship Faces Complications after Flight 7 Anomaly
On January 16th, 2025 SpaceX’s Starship-Super Heavy launched on its seventh flight test, in what aimed to be a test of block upgrades of the Starship upper stage. While IFT-7 looked fairly similar to previous test flights during the first few minutes of ascent, problems quickly developed, ultimately resulting in the dramatic loss of the Starship vehicle over the Caribbean Sea.
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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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Intelsat 33e Breakup Sends Shockwaves
Space-tracking company ExoAnalytic Solutions has identified about 500 pieces of debris from Intelsat 33e’s recent breakup in geostationary orbit (GEO).
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A Graceful Exit, Part 2: What Comes After ISS?
The end of the International Space Station will mark a tectonic shift in human spaceflight. The ISS program united the efforts of fifteen nations, including a landmark union between the United States and Russia, and citizens from eight other countries have since visited the orbiting laboratory. Now, approaching retirement, we begin to ask the question of what comes next?
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China Continues Growth of ILRS Project
On Friday, May 10 2024, Serbia became the most recent partner on China’s International Lunar Research Station, a multinational effort to support permanent science and research at the lunar South Pole.
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NASA Seeks Industry Assistance with Mars Infrastructure
NASA has enlisted the help of commercial partners to respond to two fronts in exploration, aiming to remove some of the technical and financial burden on the agency, so that larger and more ambitious goals can be accomplished in the next 15 to 20 years.
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NASA Lays Out LEO Sustainability Vision
To address a rapidly changing space operating environment and ensure its preservation for generations to come, NASA released the first part of its integrated Space Sustainability Strategy on Tuesday, April 9th at Space Symposium.
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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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ESA’s L4 Mission Set to Focus on Icy Moons
After meeting to discuss ideas and assess technologies, the European Space Agency has begun the process of designing their next “Large Class” mission – one that could explore Saturn’s moons of Enceladus and Titan up close.
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Op-Ed: Setting Up Camp, an Exploration of Artemis
As we prepare to go back to the moon, industry expert Robbie Gitten takes a deep dive on several elements of what makes a moon base in his first Op-Ed for Space Scout.
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As IM-1 Prepares for Launch, Questions Abound for CLPS
Intuitive Machines is targeting February 14th for the launch of IM-1, the first flight of its NOVA-C robotic moon lander as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.
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NASA’s PACE Climate Sat Ready to Fly
After nearly nine years of planning, preparation, and even once being slated for cancellation entirely, NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Earth-observation mission is set for launch
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What To Expect: NASA’s 2023 Architecture Concept Review
Set for release on January 22nd, these highly-anticipated documents will provide key insights into NASA’s overarching Moon to Mars exploration strategy, including new details in its vision for sending humans to Mars.
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NASA Leadership Lays Out Revised Artemis Schedule
In a media teleconference held on January 9th, NASA leadership announced significant delays to the next two missions in its Artemis program.
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VP Harris Lays Out Cooperative Policy Roadmap
At the National Space Council meeting on December 20, 2023, Vice President Kamala Harris and her advisors announced that the Artemis Program will land an international astronaut on the moon “before the end of the decade.”
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GAO Highlights Shortcomings for Artemis III
On November 30th, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report detailing the various challenges remaining for SpaceX, Axiom, and NASA as they work towards the first Moon landing in more than 50 years as part of the Artemis III mission.
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North Korea Launches First Domestic Spysat
North Korea, in a stunning turn of events, has launched their first successful spy satellite, entering an elite club of nations with such power.
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A Pause for Mars Sample Return
On November 13 2023, NASA’s Planetary Science Advisory Committee, which advises all of NASA’s planetary science interests, held a meeting to discuss the state of various programs heading into 2024.
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