Sunday afternoon, the second private mission by Axiom to the International Space Station lifted off from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. This marked the first spaceflight of a Saudi female astronaut, the return to space of commander Peggy Whitson, and the start of RTLS landings for crewed Falcon 9 flights.

SpaceX is set to launch its second crewed mission for Axiom Space tomorrow afternoon on a Falcon 9 rocket. This mission will feature a unique Return To Landing Site landing at LZ-1 for the first stage, a first for a crewed mission.

Friday morning, NASA announced that the Blue Origin-led team won NASA’s contract to be the agency’s second Human Landing System for Artemis crewed missions to the Moon. Right now, its first Crewed mission is set to be Artemis 5 in 2029.

According to CNBC, former NASA assistant associate administrator Kathy Lueders is now working for SpaceX. She will now work at the company’s Starbase facility managing something related to SpaceX’s Starship program.

Generally, if you want a 3D mapping of your land, city, or building, you would have to go to solutions with aircraft or drones. However, a new company that came out of stealth mode this month wants to take the power of LiDAR and put it in orbit to 3D map the entire globe.

A company you probably have never heard of before, Vast, is looking to be the first company to launch and operate a private space station in low Earth orbit. The company announced Wednesday plans to leapfrog everyone else in the field in two years.

If you’re ever at Disney’s EPCOT theme park, you might expect to see some NASA-related gear at “Mission: SPACE” or “Spaceship Earth,” but you can actually spot some NASA-developed tech in an unlikely place: The Land Pavilion.

Ten years ago today, Astronaut Chris Hadfield released a cover of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” entirely filmed aboard the International Space Station. He released the song the same day he relinquished command of the International Space Station, and he returned to Earth in a Soyuz capsule the following day.

In an exciting new discovery, NASA’s Perseverance rover has found what appears to be the remains of an ancient riverbed on Mars. Based on evidence seen in the new images, the river could be the deepest and fastest-flowing scientists have seen yet, claims NASA.

The second most prolific US launch provider behind SpaceX has launched four missions so far this year and is set to launch much more with the company ramping up the production of its Electron rocket. The company hasn’t had an official goal like SpaceX going into the year, but after Tuesday’s earnings call, the bar has been set at 15 Electron launches for Rocket Lab.

During Tuesday’s Q1 earnings call, Rocket Lab announced it was getting another NASA launch contract, taking it from another SmallSat launcher due to long delays. That mission is NASA’s first satellite swarm and will test technology for a future constellation.

Sunday evening, on a mission dubbed “Rocket Like a Hurricane,” Rocket Lab lifted off from LC-1B at its private spaceport in New Zealand with two NASA satellites designed to study hurricanes. This is the second launch of NASA’s TROPICS mission but the first with Rocket Lab and the first pair of satellites to reach orbit.

Europe announced a study that would look into building a fully reusable rocket to further compete on the world launch stage — a direct nod to SpaceX’s success developing its Starship rocket and a further move to reusable rockets.

SpaceX is one of the most valued private companies in the world, second probably only to ByteDance (TikTok’s parent company). The rocket launcher is a company many private investors would love to have a piece of. However, SpaceX looks to be no longer looking to raise any funds in the future.

We have an update this week on the current status of Virgin Orbit’s bankruptcy as the company looks to continue operations under a new owner. However, that outcome isn’t guaranteed with its currently approved plan by the courts.

Well, I didn’t expect to see Zune come across the news desk this week. I could probably leave you with the headline, and most of you would be surprised to see the name but not shocked the failed MP3 player can only be used as a PR stunt now.

Anyways, what is the Zune doing in space? Well, there’s both a fictional and non-fictional part to this story.

ESA announced Friday that the radar dish on its Jupiter Icey Moon Explorer (JUICE) mission isn’t deploying as fast as it should be. But have no fear. The mission isn’t in jeopardy yet, and teams have some ideas on how to fix it.

China has announced bold plans for a manned lunar base tucked away in a permanently shadowed area on the Moon, which local media says will begin construction as soon as this decade.

Five environmental and cultural-heritage organizations have sued the FAA for allowing SpaceX’s Starship rocket to launch from Boca Chica Beach in South Texas. The concerns point toward the possibility of harming the wildlife home to many endangered wildlife and restricting the cultural lands of the Comecrudo people.

The International Space Station, a feat of world cooperation, is set to live for a few more years with all its partners agreeing to extend their partnership with NASA. While the world looks to the commercial sector for a successor, the public sector will continue to fund its station until at least 2028.

After almost two years since its last powered flight to space, Virgin Galactic is finally back in the “saddle” with its first unpowered glide, post renovations. Next up, the company plans to do a powered test flight before resuming commercial spaceflights.