Theresa Cross

As humans prepare to build long-term bases on the Moon and eventually on Mars, most attention naturally focuses on rockets, habitats, and life-support systems. Yet some of the most valuable partners in creating sustainable worlds beyond Earth may be among the smallest creatures we know: insects. Though they cannot play any ecological role aboard the International Space Station, they may become essential to agriculture and recycling in future off-world settlements.

CubeSats began as a simple idea: standardize a tiny satellite so anyone could build one and share a rocket. The basic “1U” block is a 10 -centimeter cube. Larger variants – 2U, 3U, 6U, 12U, even 16U – snap together like Legos. 

For all their power, rockets remain at the mercy of the sky. A launch vehicle can withstand hundreds of tons of thrust, heat that rivals the Sun’s surface, and the vibrations comparable to a small earthquake – but a shift in wind or a charged cloud layer can still stop everything on the pad.

They have come from a fragile blue sphere, wrapped in oceans and clouds. They walk in sealed suits, carrying their air like infants carry blankets. They are aliens – strangers who bend local dust into shelter and harvest light into food. They call themselves human.

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.

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 6:11 p.m. EDT September 14 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station carrying the first mission of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL spacecraft. Designated NG-23, it is the most capable version of Cygnus to date, loaded with over 11,000 pounds of research and supplies bound for the International Space Station. 

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. 

With New Shepard back in service, New Glenn preparing for another flight, and lunar systems advancing, Blue Origin heads into late 2025 with progress on multiple fronts. The company is simultaneously running programs in suborbital tourism, orbital launch, propulsion, and lunar vehicle development, together outlining a transportation architecture that spans Earth orbit to cislunar space.

SpinLaunch, the California-based space startup once best known for trying to fling satellites into orbit with a giant centrifuge, has entered a new phase. The company announced in August that it closed a $30 million Series C funding round, bringing its total raised to about $203 million. Investors include ATW Partners and Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, which has also committed satellite manufacturing resources to the project. 

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.

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.

In a world of reusable rockets, lunar habitats, and interplanetary ambitions, it’s easy to focus on what’s next. But every launch, every orbit, and every mission we undertake still begins with the insights of those who came before us – most notably, Sir Isaac Newton.

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.

As United Launch Alliance rolled out its second Atlas V mission of the year on June 23, it wasn’t just rockets taking center stage. An ambitious artificial intelligence initiative dubbed “RocketGPT” has quietly lifted off behind the scenes, signaling the company’s broader modernization agenda alongside the final missions of the reliable Atlas fleet.

Jared Isaacman, best known for commanding private astronaut missions such as Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn, has pivoted from his sudden departure as NASA’s Administrator nominee to lead a bold new front: mobilizing private capital for space science. At the June 21 International Space Development Conference in Orlando, where he accepted the National Space Society’s Wernher von Braun Award, he shared his vision for privately funded robotic science missions developed in partnership with top-tier universities. 

In an era where space exploration is transitioning from fleeting missions to lasting habitation, one question has emerged at the forefront: how do we not just survive, but thrive in environments beyond Earth? According to one company, the answer lies in the intersection of visionary design and advanced digital tools.

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.

On May 20, President Donald Trump formally announced the “Golden Dome,” a sweeping national missile defense initiative designed to shield the United States from the most advanced modern threats, including ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic missiles. The system, drawing structural inspiration from Israel’s Iron Dome, would differ vastly in scale and scope, incorporating next-generation technologies across land, sea, and space to provide a comprehensive, multilayered defensive shield. 

MDA Space, a leading Canadian aerospace company with a legacy in robotic systems, introduced its next-generation robotics platform – MDA Skymaker – at the 2024 Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. Built on the company’s flight-proven Canadarm heritage, Skymaker is a modular suite of robotics technologies designed to support a wide array of commercial and governmental space missions.

Vast Space is accelerating toward its goal of building a thriving commercial presence in low Earth orbit with the announcement of three new research payload partners for its Haven-1 space station. Japan Manned Space Systems Corporation (JAMSS), Interstellar Lab, and Exobiosphere are all expected to deploy experiments aboard the single-module space station, slated to launch no earlier than May 2026 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9.