Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Feb 16, 2026
An unusual high energy outburst captured by the China led Einstein Probe space telescope is offering a rare look at how an intermediate mass black hole may tear apart and consume a white dwarf star. During a routine sky survey on July 2 2025 the mission's Wide field X ray Telescope detected a rapidly varying X ray source that immediately stood out from ordinary cosmic objects and triggered

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 16, 2026
Astronomers have used nearly two decades of infrared and optical observations to watch a massive star in the Andromeda galaxy quietly collapse into a black hole instead of ending its life with a bright supernova explosion. The object, cataloged as M31-2014-DS1, sits about 2.5 million light years from Earth in the neighboring Andromeda galaxy. A typical massive star death produces a powerfu

Paris, France (SPX) Feb 16, 2026
Many students learn memory tricks to remember the order of the Solar System's planets, with rocky worlds close to the Sun and gas giants farther out. Astronomers have now found a nearby planetary system that breaks that familiar pattern. An international team led by Thomas Wilson of the University of Warwick used ESA's Characterising Exoplanet Satellite, Cheops, along with other spac

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Feb 16, 2026
China has launched a Smart Dragon 3 carrier rocket from a sea based platform off the coast of Yangjiang in Guangdong province, placing seven satellites into orbit on Thursday afternoon. Liftoff occurred at 2:37 pm local time from a dedicated launch service ship, after which the solid propellant rocket deployed all seven spacecraft into their preset orbits. The payloads included a rem

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Feb 16, 2026
China has carried out its first maritime recovery of a rocket first-stage booster, retrieving the main stage of a Long March 10 heavy-lift carrier rocket from the South China Sea following a key test flight earlier this week. The China Manned Space Agency reported that the booster was recovered on Friday morning from a designated splashdown zone, marking the first time China has recovered

Hanoi, Vietnam (AFP) Feb 15, 2026
Vietnam has granted a licence to Elon Musk's Starlink to operate its satellite internet services in the communist country, a government agency said. The radio frequency regulator said local unit Starlink Services Vietnam Co. can initially deploy four gateway stations and a maximum of 600,000 terminal devices in Vietnam. The licensing requires Starlink to ensure "no interference with exis

Washington, United States (AFP) Feb 14, 2026
Four astronauts docked at the International Space Station on Saturday for a months-long research mission, replacing a crew forced to return to Earth early over a medical issue. The US space agency's Crew-12 arrived at the orbiting laboratory after a journey of about 34 hours that started with blastoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. "We have bridged the lega

Video: 00:02:44

Watch the docking operations of Crew-12 to the International Space Station (ISS), which took place on 14 February 2026 at 21:15 CET. The docking is followed by the hatch opening and the welcome remarks by the astronauts already present in the ISS.                                        

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot flies as mission specialist. The other Crew-12 members are NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, respectively commander and pilot of the mission, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev, mission specialist.

The French ESA astronaut

The SpaceX Dragon Freedom capsule carrying ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot, NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev, docked with the International Space Station on 14 February, at 20:15 GMT/21:15 CET, marking the official start of ESA’s εpsilon mission.