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NASA launches Artemis-II

Last week, NASA successfully launched its Artemis-II crewed lunar mission. The four astronauts will reach the moon on April 6th for a flyby and will return on April 10th. This paves the way for future Artemis missions. Artemis-III will also be a flyby, while Artemis-IV will land humans on the moon. The last time humans went near the moon was the Apollo-17 mission in 1972.

Saudi Arabia launches its first space weather satellite

Recently, Saudi Arabia successfully launched its SWC-1 (Shams) satellite into space. It was launched on the same rocket as Artemis-II, but is not related to the moon mission. The satellite aims to study space weather like Earth’s magnetic field, solar radiation and more. This is Saudi Arabia’s first dedicated space weather satellite.

SpaceX postpones 12th Starship test flight

Recently, SpaceX postponed the 12th test flight of its powerful Starship rocket from April to mid-May. The Starship rocket is the most powerful ever, over 122 meters tall (40 stories) and aims to be fully reusable. It will be used for interplanetary and moon missions, though it is still currently in development.

Tianlong-3 rocket explodes after launch

Last week, Chineese private firm Space Pioneer’s Tianlong-3 rocket failed during a launch. The exact cause of the failure is being investigated. Like SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket, Tianglong-3 also has landing legs and fins that help its first stage land vertically on the pad, making the rocket partially reusable. The rocket will play a key role in building China’s Qianfan satellite constellation for internet services.

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NASA begins development of nuclear-powered SR-1 Freedom spacecraft

Last week, NASA announced that it has begun development of its revolutionary new Space Reactor-1 Freedom interplanetary spacecraft. Many previous missions, such as Voyager-1, Voyager-2, and Cassini, have used RTGs (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators), which generate electricity from the natural decay of radioactive isotopes. However, RTGs are not nuclear reactors and function more as passive energy sources.

A few spacecraft—especially several launched by the Soviet Union before the 1980s—did use active nuclear reactors to generate electricity. What makes the proposed SR-1 Freedom unique is that, unlike all the examples above that use nuclear energy only to generate electricity for onboard instruments, it uses a nuclear reactor for interplanetary propulsion.

It does this by using electricity from a nuclear reactor to power ion thrusters, which provide continuous acceleration. While ion thrusters are already widely used, this would be the first time they are powered by a nuclear reactor in space.

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SpaceX launches 10,000th Starlink satellite

Last week, SpaceX launched its 10,000th Starlink satellite as part of its megaconstellation, which provides high-speed internet access around the world. It aims to have a total of 40,000 satellites in the future.

Artemis mission rocket returns to launchpad before launch

NASA’s plans to launch the Artemis-2 crewed moon mission on March 6th were delayed after a helium leak in the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket forced them to cancel the launch and recall the rocket for repairs. The rocket was again rolled back onto the launch pad last week after an issue with the valves was fixed. NASA is targeting 1st April for the launch now. The Artemis 2 mission is intended to send astronauts into an orbit around the moon and return them to Earth, but not land yet. The landing is to be part of later missions.

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NASA begins building Dragonfly Rotorcraft for Titan mission

Recently, NASA has started building its Dragonfly craft that will be used on its mission to explore Saturn’s moon, Titan. Dragonfly is a rotorcraft similar to the Ingenuity Mars helicopter, except it has eight rotors instead of one and is several times larger — about the size of a car. This design will help it easily fly over the oceans of Titan to collect data. While the small Ingenuity helicopter was merely a technology demonstration, it far exceeded expectations, paving the way for future rotorcraft missions.

Recently, ESA lost contact with one of the two satellites part of the Proba-3 mission after an anomaly caused the spacecraft to lose orientation. The mission has two spacecraft — one designed to block most of the Sun’s rays from reaching the second, creating an artificial solar eclipse for the second spacecraft. Thus mimicking a solar eclipse, enabling it to study the sun’s corona. Losing contact with any one satellite would jeopardise the entire mission. Scientists are working to solve this issue.

Scientists find the brightest, most distant megamaser ever

When two galaxies collide violently, a lot of gasses are compressed, which makes some particular molecules called Hydroxyl molecules get excited and release large amounts of microwave radiation. As these microwaves hit other hydroxyl molecules, they in turn release even more radiation. This creates a massive laser-like beam of radiation called a megamaser. Scientists working with the MeerKAT telescope have recently discovered a hydroxyl megamaser originating from a galaxy collision about 9 billion light-years from Earth. It is the farthest and most powerful megamaser observed so far.

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PSLV rocket fails during launch

Last week, 16 satellites were lost after ISRO’s PSLV rocket failed during launch. The mission named PSLV-C62 failed because of an anomaly in the third stage, where the rocket went off its path. This is the second consecutive failure of the PSLV rocket, with a launch in May 2025, suffering from similar issues. To know more about rocket staging, click here.

Artemis-2 rocket arrives at launchpad

On Saturday, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket was rolled out to the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Centre in preparation for Artemis Mission 2. This time, the rocket will carry four astronauts on board as they make the first crewed flight around the moon in more than five decades. The goal of this mission will be to verify human capabilities in deep space and pave the way for a future landing on the moon. The mission is expected to launch on February 6th.

Four astronauts return to Earth after medical evacuation

Last week, four astronauts from Crew-11 onboard the ISS were successfully returned to Earth after one of them fell sick with an undisclosed illness. This marks the first-ever medical evacuation from the ISS. Crew-11 includes two NASA astronauts, one from JAXA, and one from ROSCOSMOS. This marks the first time NASA has conducted a space medical evacuation, meaning that, unlike previous, less severe incidents, the agency has stated that the primary reason for the return is a crew member’s medical condition.

NASA to cancel Mars Sample Return mission

Recently, NASA announced that its Mars Sample Return mission will be cancelled due to budget constraints. While the entire concept of returning samples from Mars has not been pushed out, the mission, as it was planned, will no longer continue. NASA may be open to revisiting the idea and redesigning the mission in the future. This means that all the samples the Perseverance rover has been collecting will not be returned to Earth anytime soon. This has left a lot of scientists disappointed.

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NASA prepares first-ever medical evacuation from the ISS

NASA has announced plans to evacuate an astronaut from the International Space Station after a crew member fell seriously ill with an undisclosed condition. The astronaut’s name has not been released. The agency will return all four members of Crew-11 on Wednesday, January 14, cutting their mission short by about a month. Crew-11 includes two NASA astronauts, one from JAXA, and one from ROSCOSMOS. This marks the first time NASA has conducted a space medical evacuation, meaning that, unlike previous, less severe incidents, the agency has stated that the primary reason for the return is a crew member’s medical condition.

Aditya-L1 makes breakthroughs in studying solar storms

ISRO’s solar observation spacecraft Aditya-L1 recently studied a highly powerful solar storm that occurred in October 2025 and made several breakthrough discoveries in how solar storms affect the Earth’s magnetic field. Solar storms are massive clouds of charged particles ejected by the sun. It has two parts – the main core, a big dense cloud of particles and the turbulent sheath, the chaotic front. Until now, the main core was believed to cause the most damage to the Earth’s magnetic field, but ISRO’s study helped conclude that the turbulent sheath is actually more damaging. It also helped link solar storms to long-term atmospheric loss, rather than just short-term disturbances.

Scientists find fastest spinning large asteroid

Recently, scientists discovered an asteroid named “2025 MN45” about 700 metres in length, found to be spinning so fast that it completes one rotation every 5 minutes. This makes it the fastest asteroid among those larger than 300 metres, classified as ‘Large Asteroids’.

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NASA yet to make contact with MAVEN probe

Since December 4 last year, NASA has been attempting to reestablish communication with its Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) probe, which is orbiting Mars after it lost signal from the craft. Even after a month, scientists have been unable to resolve the issue, leading some to believe that the probe might be dead.

In January, ISRO successfully docked (connected) the two spacecraft: ‘Chaser’ and ‘Target’, part of the SpaDeX experiment in space. This puts India along with Russia, China and the USA as the only countries to achieve space docking before; a capability essential for building space stations and lunar sample return missions, both of which ISRO intends to do in the future. After putting SpaDeX in orbit, the fourth stage of the rocket was converted into an orbiting laboratory called POEM-4. Onboard this lab, ISRO also operated its first-ever robotic arm in space.

China launches its first asteroid sample return mission

This May, China launched its first asteroid sample return mission - Tianwen-2. The mission is headed to the asteroid ‘469219 Kamoʻoalewa’, which actually orbits the Sun but appears to orbit the Earth because it is very close to it. The mission aims to collect 100 g of samples and return by November 2027.

Private Moon landings: one success, three familiar failures

The last year saw multiple private companies attempt lunar landing missions. Intuitive Machines sent two landers – the IM-1 (Odyseus) and the IM-2 (Athena), both of which landed sideways on the moon, causing some inconveniences. Japanese company ispace’s lander (Resilience) unfortunately crashed onto the lunar surface, marking the company’s second failed moon landing. However, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander, launched along with Resilience, landed successfully.

Shubhanshu Shukla becomes first Indian on board ISS

In June, Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla became the first Indian to enter the ISS during the Axiom-4 mission, and only the second Indian in space after Rakesh Sharma. The mission prepares him for India’s Gaganyaan launch in 2027.

Scientists capture two black holes orbiting each other for the first time

In October, scientists managed to successfully capture the first-ever radio image of two black holes orbiting each other. This phenomenon had long been theorised, but until then had never been imaged. This was because the black holes’ gravity bends light around them, making it tricky to capture. The two black holes, located in a system named OJ287, were observed using multiple radio telescopes located on Earth and even one in space. While you cannot take an image of the black holes themselves as they trap all light, you can see the disk of glowing gas called an accretion disk around them.

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ESCAPADE mission launched to study Mars

Last week, NASA’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) spacecraft was launched on its path to Mars by a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket. The mission consists of two spacecraft that will orbit the red planet and study the effect of solar eruptions on Mars’ surface. It will also provide valuable data for future missions.

Chandrayaan-3 propulsion module re-enters moon’s influence

The main function of Chandrayaan-3’s propulsion module was to carry the lander to lunar orbit. After completing its main objective, it still had fuel left, so the SHAPE payload was activated and the module was moved to Earth orbit to observe the Earth. Even though the module orbits Earth, its orbit is so large that it crosses the Moon’s path. Recently, it got close enough to enter the Moon’s gravitational influence again as planned. This kind of event is very rare.

CME detected on another star for the first time

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are large bursts of magnetised plasma from a star. While it is fairly common and well detected from our Sun, it had never been detected on another star until recently. Scientists analysing data from a European network of telescopes called LOFAR, found a CME had been detected from a red dwarf star called StKM 1-1262 in 2016. While there have been signs of CMEs on other stars, this is the first one to be definitively detected.

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3I/ATLAS loses its tail, further baffling scientists

Comet 3I/ATLAS is only the third interstellar object (i.e. an object from outside our solar system) to enter our neighbourhood. It has been of interest lately due to its unusual behaviour. Last week, as the comet approached the sun, it displayed a significant increase in brightness than what was explainable. In recent images, the comet seems to have lost its tail, baffling scientists who predicted a significant increase in outgassing (the process that creates the tail). Some have even pointed out that the comet might be an alien spacecraft.

Chinese astronauts’ return capsule damaged

The return of three Chinese astronauts, part of the Shenzhou-20 crew on the space station Tiangong, has been delayed indefinitely as their return capsule was damaged by space debris hours before departure. Scientists are still analysing the extent of the damage. If the spacecraft is confirmed to be unsafe, it will be ejected and returned to Earth unmanned. In such a case, the astronauts will have to return using the next crew’s module.

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ISRO launches its heaviest satellite

Very recently, ISRO successfully launched its CMS-03 communications satellite, thereby making it the heaviest satellite ever launched from Indian soil. The satellite was put into a GTO (Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit) and will eventually move into geostationary orbit about 36,000 km above the Earth. It is important to keep in mind that the CMS-03, weighing 4,410kg, is not the heaviest satellite ever built by ISRO. That record would go to GSAT-11, which, however, was launched by Arianespace, not ISRO.

Interstellar comet 31/ATLAS’ behaviour stumps scientists

Comet 31/ATLAS has been of interest to scientists and the media recently. It is only the third interstellar object (ie, an object from outside our solar system) to enter our neighbourhood. What made it even more intriguing was its recent behaviour as it approached the sun. The comet seemed to significantly increase in brightness - a phenomenon usually caused by ice subliming into gas due to the Sun’s heat. However, in this case, it seemed to increase in brightness far more rapidly than expected. Scientists are currently unable to explain this. Interestingly enough, an earlier interstellar object, 1I/‘Oumuamua, also remains a mystery because of its strange shape, motion, and lack of a comet tail.

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JAXA launches HTV-X spacecraft to ISS for the first time

Last week, Japan successfully launched its new cargo spacecraft, the HTV-X, to the ISS. The HTV-X is the successor to the HTV spacecraft previously used by JAXA. It now features numerous upgrades, including a smaller size with the same capacity, and can operate independently in space for over a year after separating from the ISS.

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ISRO studies effect of CMEs on moon’s exosphere for the first time

Last week, ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 lunar orbiter studied the exosphere of the moon (its thin atmosphere) and identified how it is affected by the sun. The spacecraft found that Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) —large bursts of magnetised plasma from the Sun—can dislodge particles from the Moon’s surface, adding them to its atmosphere. This is the first time the effect of CMEs on the lunar exosphere is being studied.

SpaceX launches its 10,000th Starlink satellite

Last week, SpaceX successfully launched its 10,000th Starlink internet constellation satellite. It was launched on its Falcon-9 rocket carrying 28 such satellites.

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Scientists capture two black holes orbiting each other for the first time

Last week, scientists managed to successfully capture the first-ever radio image of two black holes orbiting each other. This phenomenon has long been theorised, but until now had never been imaged. This was because the black holes’ gravity bends light around them, making it tricky to capture. The two blackholes, located in a system named OJ287, was observed using multiple radio telescopes located on earth and even one in space. While you cannot take an image of the blackholes themselves as they trap all light, you can see the disk of glowing gas called an accretion disk around them.

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Firefly booster explodes during test

Recently, during a ground test by Firefly Aerospace of its small Alpha rocket’s booster, the booster exploded on the site. This was a test for the company’s upcoming Flight 7. No one was hurt in the incident. Firefly’s Alpha rocket is still under development.

ESA’s Gaia discovers wave-like motion in the Milky Way

Last week, ESA’s Gaia space telescope discovered that stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way, have been moving together in a wave-like motion. These large ‘ripples’ behave similarly to water in a pond and cause stars to shift up and down in different parts of the galaxy. While the stars themselves stay in their regular orbits, the wave-movement propagates through the galaxy. There may be multiple reasons for this, including past collisions with other galaxies.

Perseverance rover detects promising hint of past life on Mars

Last week, NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars detected vivianite and greigite, two substances commonly formed due to certain redox reactions on Earth. Such reactions are vital for all life processes, like photosynthesis and respiration, and are also found in microbes in deep-sea vents. This does not confirm whether life did exist on Mars, but it is an important clue.

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Scientists find one of the fastest growing black holes ever

Recently Scientists analysing data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory observed that a quasar named RACS J0320-35 was emitting an extremely large amount of X-rays; more than any other black-hole formed during its time. A quasar is the entire system of a black hole and the gas surrounding it. This shows that the black hole, located 12.8 billion light years from Earth is one of the fastest growing black holes ever discovered, consuming upto the mass of 3,000 suns a year.

Bion-M No. 2 returns to Earth with live mice, flies and more

Last week, Russia’s Bion-M No. 2 biosatellite carrying 75 mice, about 1,500 fruit flies, plant seeds and other organisms landed back on Earth after spending 30 days in orbit. The mission aimed to study the effects of microgravity on animals, the radiation safety of new spacecraft etc to develop better life support systems for human spaceflight. The spacecraft’s hull also contained embedded microbes to test if they could survive the heat of reentry. This was done to gain insight on weather life may have been introduced to Earth from outer space.

NASA’s IMAP launched to study space weather

Space weather consists of phenomena like Solar Flares (sudden bursts), Solar Wind (a stream of charged particles), CMEs (Large ejections of plasma) etc all originating from the sun. Such events can cause severe damage to infrastructure on Earth and satellites in orbit. This is why studying them and predicting them is important. Last week, NASA’s 2 IMAP space probes were successfully launched into space and on their way to the Lagrange Point 1 (similar to Aditya-L1) to study and predict such sace weather phenomena.

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NISAR satellite launched

Recently, ISRO’s GSLV Mk II rocket successfully put the NISAR satellite in orbit 745 kilometres above the Earth. NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, as the name suggests, is an extremely advanced weather satellite built by the Indian and American space agencies. It is a cutting-edge satellite that uses 2 frequencies of radar at the same time for seeing through clouds and vegetation with very high precision.

Agnikul develops world’s largest single-piece rocket engine

Recently, Indian space startup Agnikul Cosmos announced that it had successfully built the world's largest 3D-printed, single-piece rocket engine. The engine is more than a meter long and is built from Inconel, an extremely strong alloy. This is a huge development as 3D printing will significantly lower the cost for rocket manufacturing, and a single-piece design ensures a lower chance of failure.

Scientists find largest reliably measured blackhole

Last week, scientists spotted a new black-hole 5 billion light-years from Earth in the Cosmic Horseshoe system. They measured the mass of this blackhole to be 36 billion times that of our sun by measuring how the blackhole bends light around it. This technique is called gravitational lensing and is a highly accurate method of finding a body’s mass. This makes the blackhole the largest reliably measured blackhole discovered. The title for the largest blackhole still goes to Ton 618, which has 66 billion times the mass of our sun, but it has been measured using indirect methods.

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NISAR satellite ready for launch

The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, as the name suggests, is a weather satellite built by the Indian and American space agencies. It is a cutting-edge satellite that uses 2 frequencies of radar at the same time for seeing through clouds and vegetation with very high precision. NISAR will be launched on July 30 this month.

Uranus might have its own heat

Recently, a study by Oxford University revealed that Uranus might be warmer than previously expected. Researchers used modern computation to analyse data from the Voyager-2 spacecraft, which passed by Uranus in 1986. The new estimates show that Uranus is emitting more heat than it receives from the sun, suggesting that the planet might have its own heat.

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Shubhanshu Shukla returns to Earth

Recently, the first Indian astronaut to enter the ISS successfully returned to Earth after an 18-day stay in the space station. Shukla is only the 2nd indian astronaut to go to space. The first one was Rakesh Sharma in 1984. Shukla will also be flying on India’s Gaganyaan mission planned for 2027.