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• Josh Dinner
NASA has revised the schedule for Artemis III and set out expected progress for the lunar landers being developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin. The update offers a view of how the agency’s crewed lunar mission timeline depends on the development of both commercial landing systems.
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NASA has revised the schedule for Artemis III and set out expected progress for the lunar landers being developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin. The update offers a view of how the agency’s crewed lunar mission timeline depends on the development of both commercial landing systems.
Solstar Space says its Wi-Fi technology connected NASA’s R5-S10 CubeSat with Momentus’ Vigoride-7 orbital service vehicle during proximity operations, relaying data to NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The Oct. 20 announcement documents an in-orbit connectivity demonstration involving a spacecraft and an orbital servicing vehicle.
Speaking at NBAA-BACE, NASA chief Jared Isaacman highlighted progress on the agency’s X-59 and described test data collected so far as “extremely encouraging.” The remarks offer a public update on the program, though the available report provides no specific results, milestones or schedule details.
NASA has opened its Artemis human lunar program with the uncrewed Artemis 1 test flight and the crewed Artemis 2 mission around the moon. The next challenge is translating those milestones into crewed lunar landings, a progression the article argues will depend on sound decisions.
NASA formally concluded its OSIRIS-REx asteroid-sampling mission on Sept. 30, 2026, after the spacecraft returned pieces of an asteroid to Earth. The mission’s operational close does not end its scientific work: researchers expect to study the returned material for decades.
The Moon has contracted by about 45 meters as its interior cools, and NASA scientists have mapped more than 10,000 faults across its surface to assess the effects. The findings connect a long-term change inside the Moon with geological features visible at the surface.
Astronomers used NASA’s SPHEREx spacecraft to study brown dwarfs—objects that do not become stars and drift through space alone. The observations offer a closer look at these poorly understood objects and demonstrate the mission’s use in investigating the composition and properties of the universe.
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Poland’s ability to make long-term commitments to NASA’s Artemis program is complicated by uncertainty over US politics and budgets, a Polish minister said. The warning underscores how shifting US policy and funding conditions can affect international partners’ planning for the lunar program.
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