Astronomy news

• Making history! China lands rocket during an orbital launch for 1st time ever (video)

  10-07-2026 08:55 via space.com
  
  China just notched a huge spaceflight milestone.The nation has recovered a rocket during an orbital launch for the first time ever, pulling off the feat during the Long March 10B's maiden liftoff on Friday (July 10). And that recovery was unique: The rocket's first stage nestled softly into a net-like structure carried by a ship at sea."This mission marks my country's first successful controlled recovery of a launch vehicle and the world's first network-based recovery of a launch vehicle," the C
  
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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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• Don't miss out on 'The Ark' Season 3 — get a year-long Peacock TV deal for just over $9 a month

  10-07-2026 11:17 via space.com
  
  We've found an incredible streaming deal for you. Peacock TV has cut a year-long Premium subscription plan from $131.88 to just $109.99. It's 12 months for the price of 10, and the lowest price we've seen since Black Friday last year.Get Peacock TV for just $9.16 a month when you sign up for a one-year plan.Peacock TV also hosts the SYFY channel, and sci-fi fans can stream hit series like Resident Alien and Battlestar Galactica. There are also exciting new additions, including Season 2 of The Un
  
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• Making history! China lands rocket during an orbital launch for 1st time ever

  10-07-2026 08:55 via space.com
  
  China just notched a huge spaceflight milestone.The nation has recovered a rocket during an orbital launch for the first time ever, pulling off the feat during the Long March 10B's maiden liftoff on Friday (July 10). And that recovery was unique: The rocket's first stage nestled softly into a net-like structure carried by a ship at sea."This mission marks my country's first successful controlled recovery of a launch vehicle and the world's first network-based recovery of a launch vehicle," the C
  
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• Wally Funk, trailblazing pilot and astronaut, passes away at 87

  10-07-2026 00:00 via space.com
  
  Wally Funk, who flew to space at 82 after a lifetime of flying and fighting for women in aviation and aerospace, has passed away at age 87. Born in Texas in 1939, Funk was determined to take to the skies, flying as a teenager and becoming a professional aviator at the tender age of 20. Her dreams extended even beyond Earth, and in 1961 she joined the "Mercury 13" group of women who completed the testing given to NASA's male Apollo astronauts. But Funk was the only Mercury 13 alum to ever reach s
  
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• Wally Funk, trailblazing pilot and astronaut, dies at 87

  10-07-2026 00:00 via space.com
  
  Wally Funk, who flew to space at 82 after a lifetime of flying and fighting for women in aviation and aerospace, has passed away at age 87. Born in Texas in 1939, Funk was determined to take to the skies, flying as a teenager and becoming a professional aviator at the tender age of 20. Her dreams extended even beyond Earth, and in 1961 she joined the "Mercury 13" group of women who completed the testing given to NASA's male Apollo astronauts. But Funk was the only Mercury 13 alum to ever reach s
  
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• Scientists have discovered the oldest quasar ever seen, and it shines with the light of a trillion suns

  09-07-2026 23:00 via space.com
  
  Using the European Space Agency's Euclid space telescope, astronomers have discovered a treasure trove of 31 black-hole-powered quasars in the early universe. The most impressive of these new discoveries is the most ancient and distant quasar ever seen, shining with the light of a trillion suns just 670 million years after the Big Bang.Quasars occur when supermassive black holes with masses millions or even billions of times that of the sun are surrounded by swirling disks of matter called accre
  
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• SpaceX wants to launch 100,000 Starlink satellites to orbit

  09-07-2026 21:28 via space.com
  
  SpaceX is nothing if not ambitious.Elon Musk's company just filed an application with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to operate a 100,000-member constellation of "Gen3" satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO).This will presumably be an updated version of SpaceX's Starlink broadband network, according to astronomer and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell, who reported the news via X today (July 9).SpaceX have filed for a 100,00 satellite "Gen3 NGSO" system. Presumably Starlink Gen3,
  
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• 'Reckless' space-based data centers lack environmental review, drawing criticism

  09-07-2026 20:00 via space.com
  
  Environmental and scientific organizations are banding together to demand federal environmental reviews of space-based data center projects, which plan to put more than a million new satellites in Earth orbit over the coming years. Over the last few months, a number of different companies have requested licenses from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch data centers into space. SpaceX's proposal alone requests licenses for up to one million satellites in low Earth orbit (LE
  
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• 'Silo' season 3 showrunner Graham Yost explains the time jumps and turning half of the show into a political thriller (interview)

  09-07-2026 19:00 via space.com
  
  Apple TV’s riveting sci-fi series, "Silo," is stretching its narrative legs for its third and penultimate season. Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) deals with amnesia after her fiery return to Silo 18, satisfying secrets are revealed, and we strap in for temporal jumps 352 years back to the "Before Times" to figure out how the apocalypse arrived."We rolled the dice a bit and hoped it would work and weren’t entirely sure, but felt it would," Executive Producer and Showrunner Graham Yost tel
  
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• Could evidence of life on Mars be hiding in clay? Europe wants to send a rover to check

  09-07-2026 17:00 via space.com
  
  Is there life on Mars … in clay? Scientists think that the minerals in clay could be the key to finding signs of ancient life on the Red Planet. The European Space Agency is still working toward launching its ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover to Mars to search for signs of life. And, according to a statement from the space agency, the rover is now aiming to land at Oxia Planum, a depression on the Martian surfacewhere it's thought that water was once plentiful. There, scientists think that
  
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• Take a trip to the turquoise waters of the Bahamas (from space) | Space photo of the day for July 9, 2026

  09-07-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  Sandbars and waves of rippling sand dunes can be seen from space amongst the turquoise ocean in the Bahamas.(Image credit: NASA/Chris Williams)If you look at this picture for too long, you might start to hear the waves lapping up against the shore or feel a salty breeze in the air. You might not have a trip to the Bahamas planned, but you can always enjoy its beauty in this spectacular summertime snapshot captured by NASA astronaut Chris Williams from aboard the International Space Station. What
  
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• The US wants to build offshore rocket launch sites. Critics say 'our coasts deserve better'

  09-07-2026 15:00 via space.com
  
  The United States government is looking into launching commercial rockets from sea-based launch sites, but some ocean advocacy experts say the move is part of a larger trend of allowing the spaceflight industry to use the ocean as a dumping ground.The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Tuesday (July 7) announced a Request for Information (RFI) to look into launching rockets and recovering spacecraft from the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), a region of the United States that extends
  
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• China announces plan to build early-warning system for dangerous asteroids

  09-07-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  China has announced that it wants to develop a "space-ground" asteroid early-warning network, while providing few details on what it could look like. But recent papers and presentations to the United Nations provide clues as to what the country has in mind for planetary defense.The China National Space Administration (CNSA) made the announcement on June 30 — International Asteroid Day — stating plans to construct a coordinated ground-and-space monitoring system for near-Earth asteroi
  
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• Staffing the moon base: How many astronauts should live in NASA's lunar outpost?

  09-07-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  The success of NASA's future moon base depends in large part on mission design, which should allow astronauts to work together well in a way independent from psychological training, a new study asserts.The goal of the study was to identify "specific conditions" for mission success and to look for any "red flags" that may stand in the way, lead investigator Anamaria Berea, a computational social scientist at George Mason University (GMU), told Space.com via email. (The first author of the PLOS ON
  
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