Off Planet News

ALTEC and ispace-EUROPE sign lunar rover testing agreement

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +1000

ALTEC and ispace-EUROPE signed an agreement on lunar rover testing, simulation and operator training. Webb imaged the NGC 7129 stellar nursery and a galaxy cluster, while Hubble imaged an out-of-sync galaxy and a nebula. A new arXiv paper reports 3D simulations of Ellis-Bronnikov wormhole pairs, finding only opposite-signed pairs merge.

ALTEC and ispace-EUROPE sign lunar rover testing agreement
Webb and Hubble release images of a stellar nursery, a galaxy cluster and a nebula
Paper reports first 3D numerical-relativity simulations of wormhole binaries
ALMA catches a dying star mid-transformation
Study shortens timeline for the end of some outer planets to about 1 billion years

Blue Origin rebuilds LC-36 for New Glenn return before year-end

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +1000

Four months after the New Glenn pad explosion, Blue Origin is repairing LC-36 with a vertical integration approach. A reanalysis of archival data revealed PSR J0103-72, the slowest radio pulsar in the Small Magellanic Cloud. SpaceX's Michael Nicolls told the International Astronautical Congress that all operators must share satellite trajectory data.

Blue Origin rebuilds LC-36 for New Glenn return before year-end
Slowest Radio Pulsar Found in Small Magellanic Cloud
SpaceX executive urges satellite operators to share orbital data
Honda and Redwire to develop robotic lab support system for space stations

NASA issues call for private space stations to succeed ISS

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +1000

NASA has asked US companies to propose private stations to replace the ISS, with responses due 8 December. Seattle startup Kapta Space has raised $24M to produce radar payloads for classified moving target missions. Follow-up spectroscopy placed radio galaxy TXS 2354+015 at redshift 4.946, nearly 12.5 billion years in the past.

NASA issues call for private space stations to succeed ISS
Kapta Space raises $24M Series A for moving target radar payloads
Astronomers confirm powerful radio galaxy from nearly 12.5 billion years ago
Astrogate Labs and Spacebeam Partner on Optical Links
China Launches 27th Batch of SatNet Satellites

Golbriak Space raises €4M in seed funding

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +1000

Golbriak Space has closed a €4 million seed round to move its Ermes and Ares laser terminals into serial production. NASA has contracted L3Harris to build two ceramic glass telescopes for each of the three LISA spacecraft. Banglalink will offer SpaceX's Starlink Mobile to customers in Bangladesh, the first such launch in South Asia.

Golbriak Space raises €4M in seed funding
L3Harris to build telescopes for ESA's LISA mission
Banglalink to launch Starlink Mobile in Bangladesh
Webb observes extreme debris disks around young stars
Vulcan return to flight targets 29 October with Amazon Leo payload

Amazon builds 1,000th Leo satellite, nears commercial internet service

Fri, 09 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +1000

Amazon has built its 1,000th Leo satellite and says commercial satellite internet service is weeks away. NASA and the Department of Energy signed a memorandum on 8 October to collaborate on space nuclear technologies. SciTec's Air Force contract rises to $31 million with counter-drone sensor feeds added to battle management.

Amazon builds 1,000th Leo satellite, nears commercial internet service
NASA and Energy Department sign agreement on space nuclear power and propulsion
Firefly's SciTec adds $1.5 million to Air Force battle management contract
Exploration Company to test one-tonne ONEIROS lunar hopper in UAE in 2027
VLT astrometry finds sub-Jupiter planet candidate around nearby L dwarf

FAA removes rolling cap on aircraft crossing launch debris hazard zones

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +1000

The FAA dropped the 6,412-aircraft annual limit on transits through outer launch and re-entry hazard areas. South Korea's Nuri rocket flew for the fifth time, delivering five NEONSATs and 10 cubesats to orbit. Northrop Grumman chose ThinKom's multi-orbit ThinAir antennas for the Navy aircraft taking over the TACAMO mission.

FAA removes rolling cap on aircraft crossing launch debris hazard zones
South Korea's Nuri rocket puts 15 satellites in orbit
Northrop Grumman picks ThinKom antennas for Navy E-130J Phoenix II
DoD contracts Kymeta to upgrade Osprey u8 terminal with compute and SDR
ALMA astronomers find exotic methanol in planet-building zones

Francis Halzen wins the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics for IceCube neutrino work

Wed, 07 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +1000

Francis Halzen is the first sole winner of the physics prize since 1992, honoured for founding the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole. Kratos says multiple contracts worth over $100 million combined will fund space and cyber work built on its KnownSpace Network. Open Cosmos aims for more than 96 ConnectedCosmos satellites in orbit by end of 2028 and global coverage by 2030.

Francis Halzen wins the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics for IceCube neutrino work
Kratos reports over $100 million in space and cyber contracts
Open Cosmos targets 192 satellites for ConnectedCosmos LEO constellation
York Space Systems clears design review for Space Force Tetra 3 and 4 missions
HawkEye 360 demonstrates RF detection of satellites from orbit

Milky Way's black hole could be a natural particle accelerator, study finds

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +1000

A new paper says Sagittarius A* could fling protons to energies a thousand times beyond the Large Hadron Collider. SpaceX called off two attempts to launch 21 Space Development Agency satellites. Redwire will build two Roll-Out Solar Array wings for the second module of Axiom's commercial station.

Milky Way's black hole could be a natural particle accelerator, study finds
SpaceX calls off two attempts to launch 21 SDA satellites
Redwire wins solar array contract for Axiom Station's second module
SMILE starts science and returns its first view of the northern aurora
Iron in cosmic rays can trigger cancer in cells it never touches