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SpaceNews.com • Andrew Jones

ESA–China SMILE mission slips into its launch phase May 19 to map the shape of Earth’s magnetosphere

ESA and China’s SMILE spacecraft is scheduled to launch May 19 after about a decade of preparation. The mission aims to deliver a “wide and unique” view of how solar wind streams and bursts of radiation from the Sun reshape Earth’s invisible magnetic shield—after an extensive pre-launch journey.

2026-05-15T11:15:23.779720-07:00

Space.com

JWST delivers unprecedented “cosmic web” map, sharpening views of galaxy structure and evolution

2026-05-15T06:09:45.050358-07:00

European Spaceflight

OHB Space UK awarded €320.7M to build and test spacecraft for ESA’s EnVision Venus mission; Thales Alenia Space granted prelimin

2026-05-15T01:30:24.960347-07:00

Universe Today

Artemis III: NASA’s next crewed Moon mission must prove mission architecture and systems readiness after Artemis II

2026-05-15T00:10:25.542881-07:00

News Timeline

SpaceNews.com

ESA–China SMILE mission slips into its launch phase May 19 to map the shape of Earth’s magnetosphere ESA and China’s SMILE spacecraft is scheduled to launch May 19 after about a decade of preparation. The mission aims to deliver a “wide and unique” view of how solar wind streams and bursts of radiation from the Sun reshape Earth’s invisible magnetic shield—after an extensive pre-launch journey.

2026-05-15T11:15:23.779720-07:00

ESA–China SMILE mission slips into its launch phase May 19 to map the shape of Earth’s magnetosphere

Space.com

JWST delivers unprecedented “cosmic web” map, sharpening views of galaxy structure and evolution Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have mapped the universe’s “cosmic web”—the largest known structure—with unprecedented detail. The resulting JWST dataset has enabled researchers to reconstruct the cosmic web to a level of granularity not previously achieved, yielding new clues about how galaxies evolve.

2026-05-15T06:09:45.050358-07:00

JWST delivers unprecedented “cosmic web” map, sharpening views of galaxy structure and evolution

European Spaceflight

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OHB Space UK awarded €320.7M to build and test spacecraft for ESA’s EnVision Venus mission; Thales Alenia Space granted prelimin OHB Space UK has secured a €320.7 million contract to assemble and test the spacecraft for ESA’s EnVision Venus explorer mission. Separately, OHB Space UK and Thales Alenia Space signed a Preliminary Authorisation to begin work estimated at about €24 million, advancing the mission toward integration and verification.

2026-05-15T01:30:24.960347-07:00

OHB Space UK awarded €320.7M to build and test spacecraft for ESA’s EnVision Venus mission; Thales Alenia Space granted prelimin

Universe Today

Artemis III: NASA’s next crewed Moon mission must prove mission architecture and systems readiness after Artemis II Artemis III is positioned as the pivotal step that must succeed before NASA can return humans to the lunar surface. The cluster looks back at Artemis II’s crewed, around-the-Moon mission as the latest global benchmark for deep-space human operations—and a proof point for what Artemis III has to de-risk next.

2026-05-15T00:10:25.542881-07:00

Artemis III: NASA’s next crewed Moon mission must prove mission architecture and systems readiness after Artemis II

SpaceNews.com

Intuitive Machines to acquire UK deep-space communications operator Goonhilly Earth Station Intuitive Machines has entered a definitive agreement to purchase Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd, the UK provider of lunar and deep-space communications, with the deal subject to regulatory approval. The acquisition is positioned to expand Intuitive’s integrated space-to-Earth network, boosting deep-space capacity for communications and PNT services.

2026-05-14T13:23:28.353289-07:00

Intuitive Machines to acquire UK deep-space communications operator Goonhilly Earth Station

Universe Today

Roman Space Telescope advances on schedule; Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey targets 1,000+ distant exoplanets with Hubble augm NASA says the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is ahead of schedule. Its Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey is expected to find 1,000+ exoplanets orbiting far beyond the Sun–Earth distance, with the Hubble Space Telescope providing an early “jump start” for complementary observations.

2026-05-14T10:55:22.460646-07:00

Roman Space Telescope advances on schedule; Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey targets 1,000+ distant exoplanets with Hubble augm

SpaceNews.com

House Appropriators advance NASA funding bill to keep agency budget flat On May 13, the House Appropriations Committee advanced a spending bill that rejects many of the NASA cuts proposed by the administration, holding NASA’s budget flat rather than allowing reductions. The measure raises the odds of continued congressional pushback on NASA’s topline and priorities.

2026-05-14T04:20:50.667147-07:00

House Appropriators advance NASA funding bill to keep agency budget flat

SpaceWatch Global

ispace and University of Leicester sign payload service agreement for lunar Raman spectrometer mission ispace, Inc. and the University of Leicester have signed a Payload Service Agreement to deliver a Raman spectrometer payload to the lunar surface on a future ispace mission. The agreement formalizes end-to-end arrangements for getting the instrument from the payload team to a Moon landing through ispace’s mission services.

2026-05-14T00:30:59.328358-07:00

ispace and University of Leicester sign payload service agreement for lunar Raman spectrometer mission

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Space Exploration & Science Missions News

ESA–China SMILE mission slips into its launch phase May 19 to map the shape of Earth’s magnetosphere

JWST delivers unprecedented “cosmic web” map, sharpening views of galaxy structure and evolution

OHB Space UK awarded €320.7M to build and test spacecraft for ESA’s EnVision Venus mission; Thales Alenia Space granted prelimin

Artemis III: NASA’s next crewed Moon mission must prove mission architecture and systems readiness after Artemis II

News Timeline