Space Exploration & Science Missions News

NASA Spaceflight • Ryan Weber

Starship Flight 11 marks end of one development era and opens a new phase

After ten integrated test flights and a years‑long campaign of static fires, tanking and cryogenic proof tests — plus several wet dress rehearsals — Starship Flight 11 closes the vehicle's current development chapter and signals the start of a new phase in the programme's maturation and operational testing.

2025-10-12T13:41:22.449965-07:00

Space Explored

SpaceX moves reused Super Heavy to pad for Starship Flight 11, will attempt first booster reuse

2025-10-09T11:53:36.487625-07:00

Ars Technica

One NASA science mission spared amid proposed Trump cuts as scientists rally over wider uncertainties

2025-10-08T17:44:26.172676-07:00

SpaceNews.com

ESA inaugurates 35‑metre deep‑space antenna NNO‑3 at New Norcia, Australia

2025-10-05T13:43:21.195849-07:00

Space Exploration & Science Missions News Timeline

NASA Spaceflight

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Starship Flight 11 marks end of one development era and opens a new phase After ten integrated test flights and a years‑long campaign of static fires, tanking and cryogenic proof tests — plus several wet dress rehearsals — Starship Flight 11 closes the vehicle's current development chapter and signals the start of a new phase in the programme's maturation and operational testing.

2025-10-12T13:41:22.449965-07:00

Starship Flight 11 marks end of one development era and opens a new phase

Space.com

Human-associated microbes survive spaceflight stresses, easing health risks for long‑duration missions Human-associated microbes essential for digestion and immune function withstand the stresses of spaceflight — including launch accelerations, microgravity and radiation — remaining viable through missions. That resilience reduces a key health unknown and supports prospects for preserving crew microbiomes on long‑duration exploration missions.

2025-10-12T07:04:25.704391-07:00

Human-associated microbes survive spaceflight stresses, easing health risks for long‑duration missions

NASA Spaceflight

Cassini reanalysis finds new molecules in Enceladus' water jets Researchers reexamined Cassini plume measurements and identified previously undetected molecules in the water jets venting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The detections expand the known chemistry of the plumes and feed directly into scientific priorities and instrument requirements for follow‑on missions.

2025-10-11T14:24:35.192885-07:00

Cassini reanalysis finds new molecules in Enceladus' water jets

Space.com

Telescope image shows baby exoplanet carving a gap in its birth ring A new telescope image reveals a forming exoplanet embedded in a circumstellar ring, where the infant world has carved a distinct gap as it accretes material. The snapshot provides direct visual evidence of a planet in the act of growth and orbital clearing within its birth disk.

2025-10-11T03:02:55.104258-07:00

Telescope image shows baby exoplanet carving a gap in its birth ring

dailycampus.com

Save Our Space Shuttle Discovery From Being Moved When Space Shuttle Discovery made its final landing at Kennedy Space Center’s Runway 15 on March 9, 2011, it closed a 27‑year flight career. A public campaign to prevent Discovery's relocation highlights disputes over museum stewardship, transport risk and the orbiter's status as a national heritage artifact.

2025-10-11T00:46:35.303383-07:00

Save Our Space Shuttle Discovery From Being Moved

Space.com

Four sun‑pointing spacecraft could speed space‑weather warnings by ~40% A new study finds four sun‑pointing spacecraft operating together as a small constellation could accelerate space‑weather warnings by roughly 40%, shortening the time between solar observation and alert issuance. The proposal suggests coordinated sun‑gazing platforms can materially improve lead times for space‑weather forecasting.

2025-10-10T12:03:03.967984-07:00

Four sun‑pointing spacecraft could speed space‑weather warnings by ~40%

Universe Today

ESA's ExoMars TGO and Mars Express target interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS during Mars flyby Between Oct. 1 and 7, ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and Mars Express turned their instruments toward interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it zipped past Mars. The orbiters collected complementary remote‑sensing data during the comet’s roughly 30 million‑kilometre close approach, adding in‑space vantage points to telescope observations.

2025-10-10T08:01:01.436335-07:00

ESA's ExoMars TGO and Mars Express target interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS during Mars flyby

Space.com

Coronal hole to raise geomagnetic storm risk Oct. 11–12; satellites, HF comms and polar flights could be affected A returning solar coronal hole is expected to send elevated solar wind late Oct. 11–12, creating a heightened risk of geomagnetic storms and auroras that could disrupt satellite operations, HF communications and GNSS-dependent navigation, and lead airlines to impose polar-route operational restrictions.

2025-10-10T07:33:33.762830-07:00

Coronal hole to raise geomagnetic storm risk Oct. 11–12; satellites, HF comms and polar flights could be affected

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