Space Exploration & Science Missions News

Reuters • Kantaro Komiya

ispace launches lower-cost lunar cargo service with SpaceX Starship and its moon lander

Japanese lunar logistics provider ispace says it will begin a new, lower-cost lunar cargo business using SpaceX’s Starship Heavy rocket and a moon lander developed by SpaceX. The offering positions ispace to deliver a “ride-share” model for lunar shipments via Starship’s heavy-lift capacity.

2 Sources

2026-07-08T00:59:57.310429-07:00

Universe Today

Hayabusa 2 completes flyby of asteroid Torifune, passing within ~800 meters

3 Sources

2026-07-07T13:30:31.124330-07:00

Space.com

Bridenstine challenges NASA’s Artemis commercial moon-lander designs, warning they could create long-term program risk

1 Source

2026-07-07T08:17:05.925446-07:00

Space.com

Launch preview: SpaceX Transporter-17 (81 payloads) plus debuts of China’s Long March 10B and Skyroot’s Vikram-I

5 Sources

2026-07-06T14:19:46.203510-07:00

Space Exploration & Science Missions News Timeline

Reuters

2 sources

ispace launches lower-cost lunar cargo service with SpaceX Starship and its moon lander Japanese lunar logistics provider ispace says it will begin a new, lower-cost lunar cargo business using SpaceX’s Starship Heavy rocket and a moon lander developed by SpaceX. The offering positions ispace to deliver a “ride-share” model for lunar shipments via Starship’s heavy-lift capacity.

2026-07-08T00:59:57.310429-07:00

ispace launches lower-cost lunar cargo service with SpaceX Starship and its moon lander

SpaceWatch Global

2 sources

Tumbleweed puts “Oasis Alpha” demo satellite into sun-synchronous 590km LEO via SpaceX Transporter 17 Austrian startup Tumbleweed has launched its first mission, Oasis Alpha, into a sun-synchronous low Earth orbit at about 590km altitude. The demonstration satellite rode aboard SpaceX’s Transporter 17 mission, marking an initial commercialization step for the company’s in-orbit technology validation effort.

2026-07-08T00:14:03.139134-07:00

Tumbleweed puts “Oasis Alpha” demo satellite into sun-synchronous 590km LEO via SpaceX Transporter 17

Universe Today

3 sources

Hayabusa 2 completes flyby of asteroid Torifune, passing within ~800 meters JAXA’s Hayabusa 2 has successfully executed its flyby of asteroid Torifune, coming to within about 800 meters of the surface. The maneuver adds to the spacecraft’s close-range reconnaissance campaign as it continues its itinerary beyond its primary target operations.

2026-07-07T13:30:31.124330-07:00

Hayabusa 2 completes flyby of asteroid Torifune, passing within ~800 meters

Space.com

1 source

Bridenstine challenges NASA’s Artemis commercial moon-lander designs, warning they could create long-term program risk Former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine says aspects of NASA’s Artemis commercial moon lander designs are flawed and that the issues “are going to come back and bite us.” His critique centers on the design choices being made for the program’s lunar landings.

2026-07-07T08:17:05.925446-07:00

Bridenstine challenges NASA’s Artemis commercial moon-lander designs, warning they could create long-term program risk

Space.com

5 sources

❗️

Launch preview: SpaceX Transporter-17 (81 payloads) plus debuts of China’s Long March 10B and Skyroot’s Vikram-I This week’s manifest includes six international orbital launches, anchored by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Transporter-17 mission carrying 81 payloads, including four Canadian Earth-observation satellites, to a Sun-synchronous orbit. The schedule also features debut demonstration flights for China’s Long March 10B and Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-I, alongside multiple SpaceX rideshare and Starlink launches.

2026-07-06T14:19:46.203510-07:00

Launch preview: SpaceX Transporter-17 (81 payloads) plus debuts of China’s Long March 10B and Skyroot’s Vikram-I

Space.com

2 sources

JWST spots an “unusual” collision-shaped Centaurus A and flags early-universe “little red dots” as potential black-hole hosts NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope used unprecedented near- and mid-infrared sensitivity to penetrate Centaurus A’s dust lanes, revealing a densely packed, active, and changing galaxy shaped by a cosmic collision. Separate JWST findings identify early-universe “little red dots” that may conceal black holes firing high-energy neutrinos through space.

2026-07-06T11:13:49.729102-07:00

JWST spots an “unusual” collision-shaped Centaurus A and flags early-universe “little red dots” as potential black-hole hosts

Space.com

1 source

Superconducting-magnet space thruster completes first orbital tests, enabling possible “solar-powered” propulsion A superconducting-magnet thruster has completed its first orbital test campaign, demonstrating acceleration without conventional onboard propellant. The approach aims to tap environmental forces and, in the future, use solar power to propel spacecraft, reducing or rethinking traditional fuel needs for on-orbit maneuvering.

2026-07-06T09:04:46.392562-07:00

Superconducting-magnet space thruster completes first orbital tests, enabling possible “solar-powered” propulsion

Space.com

2 sources

NASA faces on-orbit servicing challenge for Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) NASA’s new exoplanet “alien-hunting” telescope, the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), will be serviceable once it is on orbit. The move shifts a key implementation question to how NASA will carry out or enable servicing in space.

2026-07-06T06:09:44.901373-07:00

NASA faces on-orbit servicing challenge for Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO)

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