China is planning its first mission to impact an asteroid in the name of planetary defense. The mission will serve a dual purpose: One craft will impact the asteroid while its partner observes the space rock to learn more about the solar system and its formation. The China National Space...

Key Highlight Professor Sherif Sedky, CEO of the Egyptian Space Agency (EgSA), welcomed a delegation from Esri North Africa in the Republic of Chad at the agency’s headquarters. Professor Sherif Sedky, the Egyptian Space Agency (EgSA) ‘s chief executive officer (CEO), welcomed a delegation from the...

SpaceX plans to launch 20 more of its Starlink satellites on Thursday night (July 11), including 13 with direct-to-cell capabilities. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to lift off Thursday from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base, during a four-hour window...

SpaceX is gearing up for the fifth test flight of its Starship megarocket, which could take place in the next few weeks. The company just rolled Starship‘s giant first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, out to the launch pad at Starbase, its facility in coastal South Texas. SpaceX documented...

While NASA’s portion of the Mars Sample Return mission sits in budgetary limbo, the European Space Agency (ESA) continues to move forward with its piece of the Red Planet sampling puzzle: the Earth Return Orbiter (ERO). ERO will provide the crucial transport of Mars samples collected by...

SpaceX’s plans to launch its Starship–Super Heavy two-stage rocket 44 times per year from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida have come under fire from its two main rivals: United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. The Starship vehicle is the world’s...

Scientists may have solved a lingering mystery surrounding the ice giant Uranus and its weak radiation belts. It’s possible the belts’ weakness is linked to the planet’s curiously tilted and lopsided magnetic field; the field could be causing “traffic jams” for...

Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket has finally taken flight, carrying the hopes of a continent on its broad back. The Ariane 6 launched for the first time ever today (July 9), lifting off from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, at 3:01 p.m. EDT (1901 GMT). There was a lot riding on...

A sparkling jeweled ring, created through a cosmic phenomenon called gravitational lensing, has been imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope. The new image captures a distant quasar known as RX J1131-1231, which lies about 6 billion light-years from Earth. The powerful gravitational field of a...