News

NASA’s newest astrophysics observatory, SPHEREx, is on its way to study the origins of our universe and the history of galaxies, and to search for the ingredients of life in our galaxy. Short for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer, SPHEREx lifted off at 8:10 p.m. PDT on March 11 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Merging satellite operators SES and Intelsat independently invested in direct-to-device venture Lynk Global without knowing about the other’s decision.

Marking another step towards new insights into Earth’s forests and their role in the carbon cycle, ESA’s groundbreaking Biomass satellite has arrived at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, to be prepared for liftoff on a Vega-C rocket at the end of April.

The European Union is under pressure to step up its tech game and wean itself off a heavy reliance on United States digital infrastructure and services as transatlantic ties hit a new low.

Three European aerospace companies (Airbus, Leonardo and Thales Alenia Space) want to join up to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, setting up an early test of whether Europe is serious about creating global industrial giants or if national interests and the EU’s own competition rulebook will win out.

The U.S. military’s ambitious program to create a constellation of satellites for global communications and missile tracking is poised to begin launching hardware into orbit later this year, the Space Development Agency said March 7.

With a new Memorandum of Intent (MoI) signed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Mobile Satellite Services Association (MSSA), seamless mobile connectivity that extends everywhere from rural areas to bustling cities has just become closer to reality. The collaboration aims to overcome current coverage limitations by seamlessly combining space and terrestrial systems, helping to close the digital divide across Europe.

AST SpaceMobile’s newly announced plan to create a jointly owned European satellite operator for direct-to-smartphone services comes at a pivotal moment in the region’s push for greater space autonomy. The Texas-based low Earth orbit (LEO) operator’s partnership with European telecom giant Vodafone, which was already set to provide the cellular spectrum needed to launch its services in 10 countries, ultimately aims to extend coverage across the entire continent.

Japanese microgravity services startup ElevationSpace has become the first customer in Asia for Germany’s Isar Aerospace, which now only needs a launch license to debut its two-stage Spectrum rocket after clearing tests. ElevationSpace said March 3 it has booked a second-half 2026 launch with Isar Aerospace for AOBA, a 200-kilogram spacecraft designed to test a recoverable platform for space-based experiments and manufacturing.

In an online converstaion, Tess Hatch covers the evolving landscape of space investment and commercialization. Hatch, a former venture investor now in a banking role, discusses the shift in financing for space startups, moving from equity investments to debt financing. She highlights a significant trend where many space companies are now branding themselves as defense tech firms due to updated government contracting methods, making defense-focused business models more attractive to investors.

The company troubleshot several issues but ultimately decided to call off today's (March 3) attempt.

Spire Global established two-way optical communications for the first time between two six-unit cubesats. The cubesats, equipped with an optical communications payload about the size of a tissue box, transmitted data as far as 5,000 kilometers.