Weekly top stories in space exploration, astronomy, and the commercial space sector.
Space
Executive Summary The week of May 3-10, 2026 was unusually dense in narrative threads that connect launch infrastructure, planetary defense, exoplanetary science, and the politics of how the US chooses to fund space science. SpaceX cleared the most consequential remaining hardware milestone before Starship Flight 12 with a full-duration, 33-engine
Space
Executive Summary This week's space dossier captures a transition moment for two major launch programs and a notable convergence around NASA's FY2027 budget fight. Europe's Ariane 64 flew its first night mission on April 30, lofting 32 Amazon Leo satellites in what is also
Space
Executive Summary The week was framed by two events that together change the structure of the launch market: Blue Origin's first reuse of a New Glenn first stage on NG-3 (April 19), and SpaceX absorbing a national-security mission that ULA's Vulcan could not deliver after the
Space
Executive Summary The past week has been one of the most consequential in spaceflight since the Apollo era. The dominant story – NASA's Artemis II mission launching four astronauts on a trajectory around the Moon – represents the first time humans have left low Earth orbit in over fifty years.