Space Explored

After an hour and a half attempt, Blue Origin scrubbed its New Glenn NG-2 mission due to weather concerns. It wasn’t the only issue the company ran into during the countdown, but why did weather specifically cause the delay? And when will it launch again?

President Trump has renominated private astronaut and tech billionaire Jared Isaacman as NASA Administrator. This comes as both a surprise and is not at all, beating out Acting Administrator Sean Duffy for the job.

It’s been nine months into President Trump’s second term, and the government’s most popular and beloved agency is still without proper leadership. Some rumbles have made it sound like that could change soon, but we’re still awaiting official word.

Blue Origin may just have a shot at taking away SpaceX’s prized Artemis 3 crewed lunar landing, as the company has fallen behind its goals to get an HLS Starship variant ready for a 2027 attempt. Now NASA is looking at new options that may be able to get a lander ready faster.

Astronomers using the ATLAS telescope in Chile detected a faint, fast-moving object on July 1 that was later confirmed to be traveling on a hyperbolic path through the solar system. The object, now designated 3I/ATLAS, is the third known interstellar body ever discovered, following ‘Oumuamua in 2017 and Borisov in 2019.

The Dreamchaser spaceplane has long been under development by Sierra Space and its parent company, Sierra Nevada Corporation. While intended to serve as the third option of NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract, a change in its development timeline has removed that as an obligation.

The race to return humans to the Moon is not just about planting a flag. At stake is something less visible but far more consequential: who sets the rules, builds the infrastructure, and defines the operating playbook for the next era of space exploration. And the answer could ripple far beyond the Moon, shaping how – and how soon – humans reach Mars. 

NASA is gearing up for a landmark late-September launch featuring three pivotal spacecraft: the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and NOAA’s Space Weather Follow-On (SWFO-L1). The missions are being prepared at Astrotech Space Operations, a Lockheed Martin subsidiary in Titusville that has become one of the nation’s premier spacecraft processing hubs.

When a spacecraft lands on Mars or slams into an asteroid millions of miles away, chances are it came from one of two labs: the Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory or the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. NASA may be the face of American space exploration, but behind that iconic logo are world-class research centers shaping how we reach, explore, and understand the cosmos. JPL and APL are two of the most influential.

Yesterday, SpaceX was forced to scrub its launch of NASA’s Crew-11 mission to the ISS due to a rather nasty cloud that rolled over the launch pad. Today, SpaceX will reattempt; however, the chances of good launch weather have gotten worse, and that may be the theme for the rest of the weekend.

Today, at 12:09 P.M. ET, SpaceX will launch the next rotation of four astronauts to the International Space Station. The mission will be more than just delivering new crew members; the Crew-11 mission will see some differences that show just how the ISS program is changing.

Austin, Texas’ ICON is quietly transforming how humanity builds – on Earth and beyond. The construction technology company, known for its innovative 3D‑printed homes, has begun applying its expertise to space. Its advanced robotic systems and signature material, Lavacrete, are being adapted to construct off‑world habitats and infrastructure using local planetary materials.

For the first time, an instrument on the International Space Station is being used to combat pollution entering the coast of California. Another reason NASA science is increasingly important for use here on Earth.

In the wake of the Trump administration’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget, a wave of headlines has described NASA’s future in stark, often dire terms. Phrases like “extinction-level event” and “gutting science” have circulated widely, creating the impression the agency is on the verge of collapse. The proposed cuts are indeed significant – but from a reporting standpoint, the broader picture appears more layered than many early reactions suggest.

NASA announced this week that NASA+, the agency’s new streaming service, will be making the leap to another streaming service, Netflix. However, NASA+ will still be available, for free, on the agency’s website.

SpaceX’s final Crew Dragon to roll out of the factory floor has officially arrived at the International Space Station after a successful launch with the crew of Axiom-4. With that, it brings SpaceX’s total to five crew-capable Dragon spacecraft for government and commercial use.

In a last-minute announcement, SpaceX, NASA, and Axiom Space are attempting to launch Axiom-4, the company’s fourth private astronaut mission to the ISS for about two weeks. The launch is set for 2:31 A.M. ET from LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

NASA, SpaceX, and Axiom Space have decided to postpone the launch of the Axiom-4 crew to the International Space Station pending the completion of an investigation into a leak on the Russian side of the station. The news came after a single-day delay due to another leak, this time on a Falcon 9 booster, discovered before launch.

NASA has shared that it will be shutting down many of its social accounts in favor of a more streamlined strategy with fewer accounts. The move has stirred controversy, with some thinking the change will make finding engaging content easier, while others are concerned that some NASA information won’t get shared at all.

In two studies published this year, researchers have confirmed the discovery of previously unknown bacterial species aboard China’s Tiangong space station and within NASA’s high-sterility clean rooms. Though some of the sample collection dates back to earlier missions – most notably swabs taken aboard Tiangong in 2023 and NASA’s clean room linked to the 2007 Phoenix Mars lander – the timing of the publications is critical.

In what is a shocking development, the White House will pull Jared Isaacman’s NASA Administrator nomination for unknown reasons ahead of its full Senate vote next week. This opens the door for another individual to step into the role that has been left vacant for over 100 days in one of the most troubling times in the agency’s existence.