Written by Sharon Wilson Purdy, Planetary Geologist at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Earth planning date: Wednesday, June 11, 2025 As we near the end of our Altadena drill campaign, Curiosity continued her exploration of the Martian bedrock within the boxwork structures on Mount Sharp. After successfully delivering a powdered rock sample to […]

Officially announced by SpaceX as a future goal of Starship, Point-to-Point proposes utilizing its rapidly… The post Starship point-to-point: a potential future application or a capability flex? appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

NASA and the Department of Defense (DoD) teamed up June 11 and 12 to simulate emergency procedures they would use to rescue the Artemis II crew in the event of a launch emergency. The simulations, which took place off the coast of Florida and were supported by launch and flight control teams, are preparing NASA […]

AST SpaceMobile has reached a deal enabling bankrupt satellite operator Ligado Networks to pay the more than $500 million it owes Viasat, in exchange for L-band spectrum to boost its planned direct-to-smartphone services. The post AST SpaceMobile reaches deal to bankroll Ligado’s Viasat settlement appeared first on SpaceNews.

Attendees line up to enter the theater for a screening of the new NASA+ documentary “Cosmic Dawn: The Untold Story of the James Webb Space Telescope,” Wednesday, June 11, 2025, at the Greenbelt Cinema in Greenbelt, Maryland. Following the screening, Jacob Pinter, host of NASA’s Curious Universe podcast, led a discussion with Sophia Roberts, a […]

A crew mission has been delayed until next Wednesday at the earliest.

NGSO solutions positioned to capture 97% market share by 2034, driven by Starlink growth  The post “The Starlink Effect”: NGSO Services to Dominate Maritime Satellite Communications Market appeared first on SpaceNews.

POLARIS Spaceplanes has secured €5.4 million in new funding through an oversubscribed top-up to its recent seed round. Founded in 2019, POLARIS Spaceplanes is developing a multipurpose spaceplane and hypersonic transport system called AURORA. With the addition of an expendable upper stage, the spaceplane is designed to be capable of delivering payloads of up to […] The post Germany’s POLARIS Spaceplanes Secures €5.4M in New Funding appeared first on European Spaceflight.

Week in images: 09-13 June 2025

There is huge promise in AI to transform spacecraft design.  From near real-time performance calculations that enable broader design space exploration, to generative algorithms using mission requirements as inputs to […] The post Is AI the next frontier in spacecraft design, or just a shiny buzzword? appeared first on SpaceNews.

The Starlink 12-26 mission represents the 490th Falcon 9 rocket launch to date. SpaceX is targeting a liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 11:21 a.m. EDT (1521 UTC).

This serene spiral galaxy hides a cataclysmic past. The galaxy IC 758, shown in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image, is situated 60 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. Hubble captured this image in 2023. IC 758 appears peaceful, with its soft blue spiral arms curving gently around its hazy barred center. However, […]

China’s CAS Space completed a hot fire test of its Kinetica-2 rocket’s first stage, targeting a maiden orbital launch later this year. The post CAS Space performs Kinetica-2 first stage hot fire test ahead of first launch and cargo demo appeared first on SpaceNews.

ESA at Le Bourget 2025

From the ESA Blogs.

When ESA astronaut Raphaël Liégeois flies to the International Space Station, he will carry with him not only scientific experiments and mission objectives, but also a comforting memory of home in the form of two beloved Belgian dishes.

Look Up, a French space situational awareness company, has raised nearly 50 million euros ($57.6 million) to continue development of a radar network to track space objects. The post French SSA company Look Up raises 50 million euros appeared first on SpaceNews.

The European Union and the European Space Agency are emphasizing the need for European readiness to use and protect space assets and ensure autonomy for access to space as global […]