Astronomy news

• Launch your sci-fi binge with these top streaming deals I found during Prime Day

  24-06-2026 18:56 via space.com
  
  Not found what you want this Prime Day? That's where our round-up of the best summer streaming deals comes in, from HBO Max to Paramount Plus and beyond. Admittedly, a couple of these deals may put a few pennies in Jeff's pocket, but take advantage of these deals and you can shut out Prime Day and lose yourself in a world of sci-fi and superheroes. Save 50% on a combined six-month Disney Plus and Hulu bundle, netting you access to the whole Star Wars library,Marvel Cinematic Universes, every Ali
  
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• NASA begins stacking rocket ahead of 2027 Artemis III astronaut launch (photos)

  13-07-2026 18:43 via space.com
  
  The assembly of NASA's next Artemis rocket is well underway, with the recent arrival of one of the launch vehicle's solid fuel booster sections to the agency's integration facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The bottom segment of the left-hand solid rocket booster (SRB) that will help launch Artemis III was transported to KSC's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) this week, according to a NASA social media post. It's one of two SRBs that will be affixed to either side of NASA's Space Launch
  
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• SpaceX targets July 16 for Starship Flight 13, reveals what went wrong on previous launch

  13-07-2026 18:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX is targeting this week for the next launch of its massive Starship vehicle.Following engine tests on both Starship stages in the last two weeks — igniting all six Raptor 3s on the "Ship" upper stage and all 33 Raptor 3s on the "Super Heavy" first stage — SpaceX is proceeding with the launch of Starship Flight 13, which is scheduled for no earlier than Thursday (July 16), according to a July 11 SpaceX social media post.It will be the second launch for Starship "Version 3" (V3),
  
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• "The Ninth Jedi" is a bold new Star Wars anime project hitting Disney+ next month, and it looks sick! (trailer)

  13-07-2026 17:00 via space.com
  
  Disney+’s imaginative anime anthology series, "Star Wars: Visions", is getting a standalone expansion next month with "Star Wars: Visions Presents –The Ninth Jedi".This 8-episode limited series is a continuation of the saga of Lah Kara, Margrave Juro, and their ragtag crew in the search for her kidnapped father. "Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi" debuts on Disney+ on Aug. 5, 2026.Fans were first introduced to the intriguing story in "Star Wars: Visions" Volume 1&rsq
  
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• "The Ninth Jedi" is a bold new Star Wars anime project hitting Disney+ next month, and it looks sick!

  13-07-2026 17:00 via space.com
  
  Disney+’s imaginative anime anthology series, "Star Wars: Visions", is getting a standalone expansion next month with "Star Wars: Visions Presents –The Ninth Jedi".This 8-episode limited series is a continuation of the saga of Lah Kara, Margrave Juro, and their ragtag crew in the search for her kidnapped father. "Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi" debuts on Disney+ on Aug. 5, 2026.Fans were first introduced to the intriguing story in "Star Wars: Visions" Volume 1&rsq
  
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• Extremely Large Telescope reaches a major milestone | Space photo of the day for July 13, 2026

  13-07-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  ESO's Extremely Large Telescope shows off its impressive size after reaching a new milestone.(Image credit: ESO/Cimolai)The Extremely Large Telescope just passed a serious milestone while coming together. But it's not done yet; the immense telescope is about to get even larger.What is it?The European Organization for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO)'s Extremely Large Telescope is under construction on a mountaintop in Chile. In this new photo, we can really get an idea of t
  
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• Getting Vikram-1 to orbit: Inside Skyroot Aerospace's coming bid to make spaceflight history

  13-07-2026 15:00 via space.com
  
  HYDERABAD, India — When Space.com visited Skyroot Aerospace's Max-Q campus here in February, the company's first orbital rocket, Vikram-1, was still coming together.Inside the company's 55,000-square-foot (5,110 square meters) rocket factory, engineers sat before computer screens, running critical simulations and systems checks on Vikram-1's Orbit Adjustment Module, the liquid-fueled upper stage that stands at the center of the room and will guide the rocket's final maneuvers in space. Unl
  
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• Space junk debris cloud discovered in high-traffic orbit 'is a potential minefield' for the costliest satellites

  13-07-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  Tiny pieces of space junk only 2 inches (5 centimeters) in size are cluttering a valuable orbital region where some of the costliest satellites reside, a new study has found.Researchers from the University of Warwick in the U.K. found that the geostationary orbit — a region of space at the altitude of 22,000 miles (36,000 kilometers) — is full of dangerous, previously unseen bits of space junk that could destroy satellites.The geostationary orbit is quite unique. Satellites at this a
  
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• The FCC just gave Reflect Orbital permission to launch its 1st space mirror to orbit. Tens of thousands more could follow

  13-07-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  The first of perhaps tens of thousands of sunlight-directing space mirrors just got cleared for liftoff.California-based startup Reflect Orbital just got a license from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch and operate its first demonstration satellite, a spacecraft that will unfurl a reflective surface that measures about 60 feet (18 meters) on a side.That satellite, called Eärendil-1 is targeted to fly later this year. And it could be the first of many: Reflect Orbita
  
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• Reflect Orbital just got permission to launch its 1st space mirror to orbit. Tens of thousands more could follow

  13-07-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  The first of perhaps tens of thousands of sunlight-directing space mirrors just got cleared for liftoff.California-based startup Reflect Orbital just got a license from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch and operate its first demonstration satellite, a spacecraft that will unfurl a reflective surface that measures about 60 feet (18 meters) on a side.That satellite, called Eärendil-1 is targeted to fly later this year. And it could be the first of many: Reflect Orbita
  
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• Why space games still struggle with the scale of the universe

  12-07-2026 18:00 via space.com
  
  Space is incomprehensibly vast. So huge that the human mind struggles to even conceptualize it. The observable universe spans roughly 93 billion light-years. Even our own humble galaxy, the Milky Way — a few tiny stitches of the universal canvas — stretches across 100,000 light-years and contains hundreds of billions of stars.It's no wonder, then, that space video games struggle so mightily with anything approaching a "realistic" interpretation of those incredible distances, especial
  
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• 149 million views! Artemis II moon mission breaks NASA's streaming record

  12-07-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  Nearly 150 million people shared in the "moon joy" of Artemis II on NASA channels, setting a new agency record in the process.NASA numbers indicate that 149.4 million people used agency platforms in March and April to follow the four astronauts of Artemis II as they prepped for their mission, lifted off aboard the Space Launch System rocket, flew by the moon and finally splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. The viewership figure includes the mission's 24/7 livestreams of mission activities and vie
  
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• Space medicine breakthrough? Kidney and liver tissue bioprinted off Earth for 1st time ever

  12-07-2026 14:05 via space.com
  
  A company just produced kidney and liver tissue in space for the first time, using a method called bioprinting, which 3D-prints living tissue. The announcement comes from California-based Auxilium Biotechnologies, whose AMP-1 orbital bioprinter made the breakthrough. The bioprinter used cell and tissue designs from the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine in North Carolina."The ability to manufacture multiple tissue types alongside clinically relevant medical products highlights both
  
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• 1 month until the total solar eclipse 2026 — Here's what you need to know

  12-07-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  One month from today, millions will turn their eyes to the skies for one of the most anticipated skywatching events of the year: the total solar eclipse on Aug. 12, 2026.The eclipse will sweep across parts of Greenland, Iceland and Spain, briefly turning day into night for those lucky enough to be within the narrow path of totality. It's been a long time coming for European skywatchers, as the event marks Europe's first total solar eclipse since 1999.Where can I see the total solar eclipse?If yo
  
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• Your lost dog can now call home with the world's 1st satellite-connected dog collar

  11-07-2026 18:00 via space.com
  
  Imagine you're on a hike in a remote mountain range. Your hyperactive dog catches the scent of a deer and, powered by his hunter's instinct, disappears in the forest. He has a GPS tracker in his collar that can send his coordinates via the cellular network. But where you are, there is no mobile coverage. You keep whistling and calling but to no avail: your dog is nowhere to be seen. That exact scenario prompted technologist Jonathan Bensamoun to develop what he describes as the world's first sat
  
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• This Week In Space podcast: Episode 218 — Which Way to the Moonbase?

  11-07-2026 17:20 via space.com
  
  On Episode 218 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik discuss NASA's new moonbase plans with planetary scientist Dr. Pascal Lee.Starting with Artemis V (so far), the US plans to begin preparations fora permanent base situated in the south polar regions of the moon.Details are somewhat fluid, but one thing stands out: the poles arelikely to be the most challenging places to set up shop in an alreadyhostile environment. Pascal joins us todiscuss moonbase siting options and why the poles m
  
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• Sci-fi action movies were better in the '90s. 'Independence Day' is full of reasons why

  11-07-2026 17:00 via space.com
  
  We didn't realize it at the time — nobody ever does — but the '90s were a vintage era in Hollywood. It was a time when major studios were happy to take a punt on original scripts, knowing that people would, as often as not, buy theater tickets to watch quality releases. Good movies will always be made, of course — just as even the most golden of ages produce their fair share of stinkers — but this was a time when the Venn diagram circles labelled 'acclaimed' and 'popular'
  
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• White House appoints Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb to lead new UFO study group

  11-07-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb has been appointed as the head of a new White House group to study unidentified anomalous phenomena or UAP, a new catch-all term for UFOs that might appear not just in the air but also in space or underwater. Loeb says the group is focused on evidence, instrumentation, data analysis and collection standards.The move follows recent Trump administration initiatives to bring more transparency to the topic of UFOs, or UAP. The UAP Science Advisory Council, Loeb explai
  
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• SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches for 35th time, hauls Starlink satellites to orbit (video)

  11-07-2026 06:02 via space.com
  
  A SpaceX rocket just inched closer to the record books.A Falcon 9 vehicle lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California tonight (July 10) at 11:01 p.m. EDT (8:01 p.m. local time; 0301 GMT on July 11), carrying 29 of SpaceX's Starlink broadband satellites toward low Earth orbit (LEO).It was the 35th flight for this rocket's first stage, a booster designated B1071. The SpaceX record is 36, set just a few days ago by B1067 on another Starlink mission.A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 29
  
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• SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches for 35th time, hauls Starlink satellites to orbit

  11-07-2026 06:02 via space.com
  
  A SpaceX rocket just inched closer to the record books.A Falcon 9 vehicle lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California tonight (July 10) at 11:01 p.m. EDT (8:01 p.m. local time; 0301 GMT on July 11), carrying 29 of SpaceX's Starlink broadband satellites toward low Earth orbit (LEO).It was the 35th flight for this rocket's first stage, a booster designated B1071. The SpaceX record is 36, set just a few days ago by B1067 on another Starlink mission.Previous Booster B1071 launchesNROL-
  
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• A ravenous black hole in our backyard could be our window into the ancient universe

  10-07-2026 23:00 via space.com
  
  A supermassive black hole at the heart of a nearby galaxy is behaving similarly to black holes that existed just after the Big Bang, voraciously feeding on copious amounts of matter. The relatively close cosmic titan could therefore provide insight into the much more distant universe.Indeed, the intense accretion behavior demonstrated by the supermassive black hole, which sits at the center of the galaxy SDSS J110546.07+145202.4 located 1.8 billion light-years away, is something scientists have
  
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• Launching from 2 continents: Germany's Isar Aerospace leases Canadian pad for $150 million

  10-07-2026 20:00 via space.com
  
  German company Isar Aerospace is expanding its operations overseas after signing an agreement with Canada's Maritime Launch Services for use of its Spaceport Nova Scotia.The deal allows Isar to design and operate the pad infrastructure based on the company's needs, in order to launch its Spectrum rocket. In return, Maritime Launch Services (MLS) will provide the pad and surrounding facilities for vehicle stage and payload integration, testing and a mission control hub for launch operations.The a
  
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• SpaceX ignites all 33 powerful engines on Starship booster test ahead of Flight 13 launch

  10-07-2026 18:13 via space.com
  
  It looks like SpaceX's next Starship flight is on the horizon, and it may lift off sooner than you might think. SpaceX today (July 10) completed a brief static fire of the Starship Super Heavy booster tapped to launch the 13th test flight of the massive, mega-lift vehicle. Booster 20 — the latest Super Heavy to roll off the assembly line —was transported to the pad at SpaceX's Starbase, Texas, facility yesterday (July 9) and hoisted onto its support stand using the launch tower's sta
  
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• SpaceX ignites all 33 powerful engines on Starship booster ahead of Flight 13 launch (video)

  10-07-2026 18:13 via space.com
  
  It looks like SpaceX's next Starship flight is on the horizon, and it may lift off sooner than you might think. SpaceX today (July 10) completed a brief static fire of the Starship Super Heavy booster tapped to launch the 13th test flight of the massive, mega-lift vehicle. Booster 20 — the latest Super Heavy to roll off the assembly line —was transported to the pad at SpaceX's Starbase, Texas, facility yesterday (July 9) and hoisted onto its support stand using the launch tower's sta
  
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• SpaceX ignites all 33 powerful engines on Starship booster ahead of Flight 13 launch

  10-07-2026 18:13 via space.com
  
  It looks like SpaceX's next Starship flight is on the horizon, and it may lift off sooner than you might think. SpaceX today (July 10) completed a brief static fire of the Starship Super Heavy booster tapped to launch the 13th test flight of the massive, mega-lift vehicle. Booster 20 — the latest Super Heavy to roll off the assembly line —was transported to the pad at SpaceX's Starbase, Texas, facility yesterday (July 9) and hoisted onto its support stand using the launch tower's sta
  
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• These rare glowing 'space clouds' are summer's best-kept skywatching secret

  10-07-2026 18:03 via space.com
  
  Should stargazers also be cloudspotters? Everyone knows clouds are the first thing you see as soon as you get under a dark sky or buy a new telescope — it's almost guaranteed! However, by early July, I usually start actively looking for a special kind of noctilucent or "night shining" cloud — and they can be a magnificent sight to rival anything celestial.At its core, the search for these so-called "space clouds" is the flip side of the seemingly never-ending twilight in July in mid-
  
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• SpaceX launch creates colorful 'jellyfish' in the night sky | Space photo of the day for July 10, 2026

  10-07-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  A "space jellyfish" cloud lit up the early morning sky following a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch.(Image credit: SpaceX)Is it a space jellyfish? Is it an alien? No, it's the aftermath of a SpaceX rocket launch! What is it? Have you ever looked up and thought, "Why is there a giant glowing jellyfish cloud in the sky?" If so, chances are that you've seen the remnants of a rocket launch, and not a surprise alien visitor. In the early hours of July 9, SpaceX launched 29 of its Starlink broadband satellites
  
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• The moon, Mars and the Pleiades form a stunning lineup before dawn on July 11. Here's how to see it

  10-07-2026 15:00 via space.com
  
  Before dawn on July 11, early risers will be treated to a striking celestial scene low in the east-northeast sky. A slender waning crescent moon, softly glowing with earthshine, will appear to align with the orange light of Mars, the orange-red star Aldebaran, with the sparkling Pleiades and Hyades star clusters close by. Together, they will form a beautiful morning tableau in Taurus — one well worth setting an alarm to see.First: the moonMost obvious is, of course, the moon, appearing as
  
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• Supreme Court ruling on mail-in ballots ensures astronauts can vote from space  — or anywhere else

  10-07-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  A new ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court protecting voter rights could extend to astronauts living and working in space and training internationally, their families, and the multitude of NASA workers who travel to support their missions. On Monday (June 29), the Supreme Court ruled that mail-in ballots can be counted toward a total vote even if they arrive after election day, as long as they are postmarked by election day. The ruling followed efforts by the Trump Administration to place restrictio
  
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• Astronomers may have heard the 1st 'whispers' of ghost particles created by supernova explosions

  10-07-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  The universe is haunted by "cosmic ghosts" called neutrinos, and new research suggests they may be the "whispers" of stars that died in supernova explosions over the course of billions of years. The discovery is an important step forward in our understanding of the life and death of stars and how they enrich their environments with metals, elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. It could also help better understand how black holes and neutron stars are born when massive stars die.The second m
  
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