Space Exploration & Science Missions News

Universe Today • Paul Sutter

NASA ranks navigation improvement fourth among top technical hurdles for lunar and Mars missions

NASA has identified improved space navigation as its fourth most pressing technical challenge, underscoring the absence of GPS satellites and global communication networks on the Moon and Mars. Current missions rely solely on Earth-based radio broadcasts to direct robots and astronauts, leaving deep-space crews vulnerable to positioning uncertainties.

2025-06-07T23:06:24.600573-07:00

Ars Technica

Trump withdraws NASA administrator nominee as draconian budget proposal threatens Mars, SLS and Orion

2025-06-03T09:36:03.268268-07:00

SpaceWatch Global

ispace’s Resilience Lander Set for June 5 Lunar Touchdown

2025-06-03T04:26:39.833922-07:00

Wall Street Journal

Senate Republicans Move to Shield $10B for Artemis and ISS Amid NASA Cuts

2025-06-05T11:59:38.943807-07:00

Space Exploration & Science Missions News Timeline

balerionspace.substack.com

SpaceX shifts focus to Starship, Mars and Jupiter moons as Altspace rises to fill LEO gap Having underpinned the new space economy, SpaceX is now shifting resources from Falcon 9 operations toward Starship, Mars missions and exploration of Jupiter’s moons. That pivot opens opportunities in low Earth orbit services, and orbital startup Altspace is positioning itself to capture emerging commercial demand.

2025-06-13T18:11:12.992120-07:00

SpaceX shifts focus to Starship, Mars and Jupiter moons as Altspace rises to fill LEO gap

New Scientist

Perseverance rover could date Mars’ newly identified Jezero Crater volcano Scientists have pinpointed a 2 km-high composite volcano on the rim of Jezero Crater, and NASA’s Perseverance rover may already have collected samples from its flows. Dating these materials could for the first time establish the timeline of volcanic activity on another planet, refining our understanding of Martian geologic history.

2025-06-13T10:15:44.183717-07:00

Perseverance rover could date Mars’ newly identified Jezero Crater volcano

smithsonianmag.com

How US and USSR Tried and Fail to Forge a Joint Moon Program During the Space Race Amid escalating Cold War tensions in the mid-1960s, U.S. and Soviet officials discussed a joint lunar landing program, exploring cooperative scientific committees and bilateral agreements. But competing strategic goals, mutual suspicion and political pressures ultimately derailed these early overtures, leaving the moon race firmly bifurcated.

2025-06-13T09:40:04.394530-07:00

How US and USSR Tried and Fail to Forge a Joint Moon Program During the Space Race

Space.com

Off-Earth Experiments Target Cancer Breakthroughs with Artificial Organs in Microgravity Space-based experiments with artificial organs and cell cultures are giving researchers novel insights into cancer progression and drug responses. By exploiting microgravity’s impact on tissue growth and cellular behavior, scientists aim to develop more effective cancer models and therapies, turning the International Space Station into a floating biotech lab for Earthside medical breakthroughs.

2025-06-13T03:03:00.001465-07:00

Off-Earth Experiments Target Cancer Breakthroughs with Artificial Organs in Microgravity

Ars Technica

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Isaacman’s bold NASA proposal: nuclear ships, seven-crew Dragons and accelerated Artemis NASA administrator nominee Jared Isaacman has unveiled an ambitious strategy to deploy nuclear-powered vessels for deep-space missions, expand Crew Dragon’s capacity to seven astronauts and compress the Artemis lunar program timeline. His plan seeks to harness commercial innovation to maintain US leadership in lunar exploration.

2025-06-12T14:13:34.384855-07:00

Isaacman’s bold NASA proposal: nuclear ships, seven-crew Dragons and accelerated Artemis

Yomiuri Japan News

JAXA Unveils HTV-X No. 1 Cargo Spacecraft, Eyes Five ISS Resupply Missions by FY 2029 Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) revealed its HTV-X No. 1 unmanned cargo transfer vehicle at the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture. The spacecraft is slated for five supply missions to the International Space Station through fiscal 2029, marking the next generation of Japan’s ISS logistics under the H3 launch era.

2025-06-12T09:49:42.443774-07:00

JAXA Unveils HTV-X No. 1 Cargo Spacecraft, Eyes Five ISS Resupply Missions by FY 2029

New Scientist

Vera Rubin Observatory Set for First Sky Survey, Poised to Revolutionize Dark Matter and Planet Nine Searches Equipped with the world’s largest digital camera and a 3.2-gigapixel sensor, the Vera Rubin Observatory will begin scanning the entire southern sky every three nights, enabling unprecedented studies of dark matter distribution, transient phenomena and the elusive Planet Nine.

2025-06-12T08:35:24.801669-07:00

Vera Rubin Observatory Set for First Sky Survey, Poised to Revolutionize Dark Matter and Planet Nine Searches

Space.com

FY2026 Budget Proposal Puts Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope at Risk of Shutdown Under the White House’s FY2026 budget proposal, the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) faces elimination of its operating funds, threatening closure of the world’s most powerful solar observatory. Operators warn there is no feasible way to maintain the complex facility without congressional support for its high-precision instrumentation and staffing costs.

2025-06-12T05:04:42.801731-07:00

FY2026 Budget Proposal Puts Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope at Risk of Shutdown

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