NASA’s next great observatory is no longer a distant concept sitting quietly in development labs. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is now entering its final stretch toward launch, and across the space community, anticipation around the mission has grown dramatically in recent months.

As NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope advances toward launch, the mission is beginning to transition from a completed observatory into an active scientific program. In recent weeks, the agency has opened the first round of community science proposals for the telescope.

As NASA moves deeper into a new era of space-based astronomy, another flagship observatory is quietly approaching the launch pad. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, designed to survey the universe at a scale no previous space telescope has achieved, has completed assembly and is undergoing final environmental testing ahead of being shipped to Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a planned liftoff as soon as late 2026.

When astronomers talk about the “dark universe,” they’re usually referring to things that can’t be seen directly – dark matter, which makes up most of the universe’s mass, and the earliest stages of galaxy formation. Now, astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have helped confirm the existence of a rare object that connects both ideas: a starless, gas-rich structure dominated by dark matter, known as Cloud-9.

In what was very much a not-normal confirmation process, today marks day one of Jared Isaacman‘s tenure as NASA Administrator. The billionaire and commercial astronaut will now be able to take over the reins and begin managing the largest space agency in the world.

Saturday, Elon Musk made a long post to his social media site, X, discussing a future where AI computation is moved to satellites for quicker relays. In it, he mentioned the upgrade to a “Kardashev II civilization.” What is a type II civilization?

For most of the nation last night, the Northern Lights, or officially named the Aurora Borealis, were visible in an awesome display. This is due to a powerful solar storm coming from our Sun; however, that same storm that’s causing the beautiful nighttime display is also causing issues for the space industry who are trying to get rockets launched.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

Wednesday morning, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation voted to submit Jared Isaacman‘s nomination for NASA Administrator favorably to the full Senate. This is the final step before Isaacman can be confirmed as the new administrator.

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will vote on Jared Isaacman‘s confirmation as NASA’s next Administrator on Wednesday. Both the Committee’s Republicans and Democrats released Isaacman’s written questions, so here’s what he thinks about some of the key issues facing NASA right now.

A new space telescope that is 87% paid for, on schedule, and on budget, could be completely canned if President Trump’s proposed budget makes it law for NASA. That wouldn’t be the only thing of NASA’s that would be going away either.

With NASA‘s DC headquarters’ lease up in 2028, the space agency is looking for a new home and suitors are already lining up. While it sounds crazy that you would take a government agency out of the political center of the US, some states think it’s possible.

Forget laser interlinks, Boeing is working on a new form of in-space communications that may be just as fast and infinitely secure. The company, alongside its partnership with HRL Laboratories, hit a milestone in creating its first satellites for its quantum communications demo in 2026.