Space news
Sector news aggregated from reference outlets, always linking to the original source.
August 17, 2026
On this day in space, Aug. 17, 1877: American astronomer Asaph Hall discovered Mars's moon Phobos.
On August 17, 2026, optical design and manufacturing specialist Resolve Optics announced the availability of custom-designed, space-qualified lens assemblies engineered for high-precision satellite…
Laser-technology mapping found thousands of geoglyphs hidden beneath the trees; the area may have been home to millions of people. The post Laser reveals lost civilization in the Amazon…
The sharpest images ever taken of the Sun’s surface reveal ribbons of solar plasma curling into tight, wave-like vortices near the edge of a sunspot — a pattern never before seen on our star. The…
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The new awards are aimed at demonstrating the ability of multiple satellite networks to connect to the Space Force’s emerging Space Data Network.
Last week, the SDA and DIU selected three companies to develop designs for scalable satellite capabilities including rendezvous, capture, and deorbit. The post DIU, SDA Select Winners for…
The end of SpaceX’s Transporter program could leave a giant hole for space startups looking for cost effective rides to orbit. SEOPS is trying to fill it. The post SEOPS Doubles Down on Waymaker…
Astronomer Asaph Hall met Angeline Stickney at New York Central College in 1855. Two years his elder, she instructed him in geometry and German, and was reputedly so strong a mathematician that Hall…
A river of gas over a trillion miles long is streaming onto a young planet-forming system and is tipping it over.
Astronomers have discovered that the jet of a distant blazar has been gravitationally lensed by an unseen source of dark matter. Led by Silke Britzen at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy…
New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope have found on Neptune's small inner moons Larissa and Galatea, and in the planet's rings, traces of minerals that may have…
Christopher Kubasik exits after board investigation into unspecified conduct The post L3Harris names space sector leader Sam Mehta CEO after Kubasik steps down appeared first on SpaceNews .
As the X Files sci-fi drama series famously sloganeered, “the truth is out there.” But at the same time, inquiring minds are immersed and embroiled today in finding whether or not the proof is out…
For more than 75 years, the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) has been the annual moment when the global space community comes together – not online, not in separate regional events, […]…
A transformation already underway, though imperceptible to us, will eventually change forever the way the Sun, Moon and Earth align. The post Total solar eclipse: the phenomenon’s…
TUPPER LAKE, NY — Satellite direct-to-device providers Lynk Global and Omnispace said their merger has closed… The post D2D providers Lynk Global, Omnispace merge into Elveo; CEO details strategy…
Elizabeth Zhang of Cupertino, California, has earned the Astronomical League's National Young Astronomer award for her study of circumbinary planets. The post California Teen Wins 2026 National…
The demand for launch services is higher than ever, but the supply of rockets today is very constrained. Jeff Foust reports on the various factors that make getting a ride to orbit today difficult…
Launch services provider SEOPS has added a second dedicated rideshare mission after seeing high demand for one announced less than three months ago. The post SEOPS adds second Waymaker rideshare…
LANYARD was not the only effort to salvage something from the Samos satellite reconnaissance program in the early 1960s. Dwayne Day discusses a similar effort to repurpose Samos hardware for a…
The race to return humans to the Moon pits not just two countries but two political philosophies. Alexander William Salter discusses how American leadership in space can establish a humane space…
One argument that critics of space settlement make is that it would be far easier to settle Antarctica. Milan Cirkovic offers several reasons why that argument is wrong.
As the Cold War space race between the US and USSR raged, US officials tried to understand what the Soviet Union was doing. Andrea Zullo reviews several reports from that era to summarize where…
The James Webb Space Telescope has captured new images of NGC 2392, a planetary nebula commonly known as the Lion Nebula, revealing the cosmic object in striking infrared detail. The Hubble Space…
A new paper has put hard numbers on a plan that's been rattling around the astronomy community for a while now—a California company called Reflect Orbital wants to put giant mirrors in orbit and…
New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope show that IRS 3, a star near the center of the Milky Way, is losing vast amounts of mass, causing its surrounding envelope to expand…
The EarlyDetect model uses NASA data to anticipate active regions on the Sun, though it is not yet ready for real-time alerts. The post Soon we may have a solar flare “alert”…
Maritime Launch Services earned its first operating profit in the second quarter of 2026, as its launch-pad lease with the Department of National Defence (DND) delivered its first full quarter of…
What happens if the Falcon rockets stop flying?
What phase is the Moon in today, August 16, 2026? Check it out and see the full calendar for the month. The post Moon today: check the Moon phase for this Monday 08/17/2026 first appeared…
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