Los Angeles CA (SPX) Oct 01, 2025
Momentus Inc. has signed a contract to launch a demonstration mission for Pulsar Fusion's next-generation Hall Effect Thruster (HET) propulsion system. The U.S.-based satellite services provider will integrate Pulsar's technology aboard its Vigoride orbital service vehicle, with launch scheduled for late 2026. The mission is designed to provide Pulsar with an in-orbit platform to validate

Paris, France (SPX) Sep 30, 2025
ESA has signed a contract with Avio to develop a demonstration mission for a reusable rocket upper stage, marking a step toward fully reusable European launch systems. The program will define system requirements, explore disruptive solutions, and deliver preliminary designs for both flight and ground infrastructure. The initiative builds on previous industrial work and aims to reduce risks

Austin TX (SPX) Oct 01, 2025
In the 17th century, astronomers Christiaan Huygens and Giovanni Cassini trained their telescopes on Saturn and uncovered a startling truth: the planet's luminous bands were not solid appendages, but vast, separate rings composed of countless nested arcs. Centuries later, NASA's Cassini-Huygens (Cassini) probe carried the exploration of Saturn even further. Beginning in 2005, it sent back

Tucson AZ (SPX) Sep 30, 2025
Growing evidence suggests that a subsurface ocean lurks beneath the icy surface of Uranus' moon Ariel, but new research, published in Icarus, characterizes the possible evolution of this ocean, and found that it may have once been over 100 miles (170 kilometers) deep. For perspective, the Pacific Ocean averages 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) deep. "Ariel is pretty unique in terms of icy moons,"

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 30, 2025
Honda Motor Co. and Astrobotic Technology have entered a joint development agreement to investigate scalable lunar power solutions that combine Honda's regenerative fuel cell (RFC) system with Astrobotic's Vertical Solar Array Technology (VSAT) and LunaGrid service. The collaboration aims to deliver continuous and reliable power for extended lunar surface operations, particularly during the two-

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 30, 2025
A Chinese-led research team has identified 41 new landslides on the Moon since 2009, concluding that endogenic moonquakes, not fresh impacts, are the primary trigger. The finding redefines understanding of active surface processes and highlights geohazard risks for future lunar bases. For decades, scientists debated whether lunar landslides stem mainly from internal seismic activity, impac

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 30, 2025
When Apollo 17 astronauts returned with lunar rock sample 76535, they unknowingly carried back a fragment that would continue to puzzle scientists for decades. The rock formed nearly 50 kilometers below the Moon's surface yet shows little evidence of the violent shocks expected from such depths. Many researchers assumed it was excavated by the colossal impact that created the South Pole-Ai

Huntsville AL (SPX) Sep 30, 2025
One year after winning second place in NASA's Break the Ice Lunar Challenge, members of the small business Starpath visited NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, as part of their prize opportunity to test their upgraded lunar regolith excavation and transportation rover in the center's 20-foot thermal vacuum chamber. The technology startup headquartered in Hawthorne,

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Sep 30, 2025
Chinese researchers have proposed that surplus argon-40 detected in lunar soil may originate from a stream of particles escaping Earth's atmosphere, a process they describe as Earth wind. The work, led by the Northwest Institute of Eco-environment and Resources (NIEER) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was published in the planetary science journal Icarus. Argon, a noble gas found in

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Oct 01, 2025
Blue Origin has announced Project Oasis, a multi-phase campaign to identify and utilize lunar resources. The first mission, Oasis-1, will work with Luxembourg partners to produce the most detailed orbital maps yet of water ice, Helium-3, radionuclides, rare earth elements, and precious metals across the lunar surface. Oasis-1 will use neutron spectroscopy at ultra-low orbital altitudes to