“China’s Chang’e-7 launch will not proceed in planned window this year” – that’s the word from China Central Television. While not cancelled, the Moon probe atop a Long March 5 booster liftoff has been delayed due to an apparent confluence of issues at the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan. But there is no official […]

A hypothetical asteroid impact scenario is in play prior to a major gathering of planetary defense specialists next year. The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) is an independent non-governmental organization recognized by the United Nations. IAA is hosting the Planetary Defense Conference 2027. Impact date Date of the hypothetical potential impact on Earth is pegged […]

Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic suborbital space plane program has announced a higher fee for per person spaceflight. Michael Colglazier, CEO of Virgin Galactic, said that the company’s tranche of spaceflight expeditions priced at $750,000 “was oversubscribed and booked out ahead of schedule.” While Colglazier said that demonstrated strong demand from a wide range of […]

Katalyst Space successfully uploaded a flight software update for its LINK spacecraft, which is set to boost NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to a higher orbit. That observatory is designed to study gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the universe, and other cosmic objects and events. Launched on July 3, the LINK servicing spacecraft […]

Here’s a wait-a-minute question: What’s the frequency, Kenneth Arnold? Admittedly, I borrowed and bent that R.E.M. song line. But it came to me in reading the latest outpouring of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) documents, videos and illustrations by the Department of War on August 7. Those files are part of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System […]

Taking LEO Off the Board: Russian Thinking About Anti-Satellite Warfare is authored by Aaron Stein, President of the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI). “The Soviet Union and Russia have invested in anti-satellite weapons to ensure that their nuclear deterrent remains credible. For both the Soviet Union and Russia, the destruction of American satellites was (and is) […]

The Department of War has published the fifth release of data regarding Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).  Chief Pentagon spokesman, Sean Parnell, said: “Today, the Department of War is publishing the fifth release of declassified and historical Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) files as part of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE). The […]

  A Chinese research team has completed an updated geologic map of the entire Moon featuring a scale of 1:5 million. China’s Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (IGCAGS) detailed the geologic map on August 6. Beyond its scientific data, the 2.8-by-1.2-meter map introduces a proprietary cartographic standard that identifies over 13,500 impact […]

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is testing ground-penetrating radar technology to look for subsurface frozen water on Mars. Red Planet rotorcraft would be outfitted a flexible, fabric-based antenna that extends below the aircraft without interfering with landings or breaking at touchdown. SkyFall is project to be released from NASA’s Space Reactor-1 Freedom in late 2028. Each […]

The dispersion of launch costs has shrunk over the years. A new paper noted that three effects could be causing this phenomenon. Historically it has been documented how there is a high degree of trial and error in the early application of technologies, leading to a wide dispersion in productivity outcomes. Space exploration began in […]