January 16, 2026

Meet SpaceX’s Alumni Founders (Source: Forbes)
Former SpaceX propulsion CTO Thomas Mueller’s space startup reached unicorn status this year thanks to $525 million in funding since 2021. It’s just one of 141 other startups founded by SpaceX alumni. Click here. (1/5)

Simulation Suggests Jupiter Holds 1.5 Times More Oxygen Than the Sun (Source: Phys.org)
Spectacular clouds swirl across the surface of Jupiter. These clouds contain water, just like Earth's, but are much denser on the gas giant—so thick that no spacecraft has been able to measure exactly what lies beneath. A new study has given us a deeper look at the planet by creating the most complete model to date of Jupiter's atmosphere. Among other things, the analysis addresses a longstanding question about how much oxygen the gas giant contains: It estimates that Jupiter has about one and a half times more oxygen than the sun. (1/14)

Musk Announces Plans to Reach Mars in 2026 — Starship’s New Mission Will Bring a ‘Mankind’s Ambassador’ but it Won’t be a Human (Source: EcoPortal)
Elon Musk remains set on reaching the surface of Mars in 2026. For this year’s mission to Mars, human astronauts will not be essential. he short-term mission that will occur this year will be a robotic ambassador mission. The initial mission will not carry human astronauts, but a non-human payload that is set to represent Earth on Mars. (1/14)

Spaceflight Causes Astronauts' Brains to Shift Inside Their Skulls (Source: Space.com)
Spaceflight doesn't just change your perspective — it shifts the actual position of your brain inside your skull, a new study reports. MRI scans of the brains of 26 astronauts and 24 non-astronaut participants were viewed to determine what, if any, impacts prolonged spaceflight has on one of our body's most important organs. The study showed a consistent pattern of the brain shifting backward and upward, and rotating upward, after time in microgravity, with some positional changes still detectable months after astronauts return to Earth. (1/13)

Winning the Return to the Moon: Land First, Adapt Later (Source: Space Geotech)
When time is the scarcest resource, you accept uncertainty in exchange for presence. You trade perfect knowledge for positional advantage. That is how frontier programs operate: arrive, learn fast, and compound capability. The technical mistake is not accepting risk. The mistake is accepting unbounded risk; risk that silently propagates across missions and hardens into permanent constraints.

A first landing can succeed even with imperfect site knowledge. The real question begins immediately afterward: Can you land again nearby, place the next asset, and keep building without resetting the risk posture of the campaign? Click here. (1/14)

Space Force Defines New Service Dress Uniform, Sets Transition Policies (Source: USSF)
The U.S. Space Force released updated dress and appearance guidance Jan. 13, formally introducing the design of its new service dress uniform and outlining the transition plan for the force. The policy, detailed in SPFI 36-2903, is a significant step in establishing the service's unique culture and visual identity. The new service dress is designed to replace the modified Air Force uniform that Guardians have worn since the service's inception. (1/13)

Cyberthieves Hit European Space Agency, Stealing Hundreds of Gigabytes of Data (Source: Space.com)
The European Space Agency (ESA) is recovering from a string of cyberattacks that leaked hundreds of gigabytes of potentially sensitive data onto dark web forums. The agency responded by launching a criminal investigation against the unknown hackers. But a leading space cybersecurity researcher warns that many such attacks have previously gone unnoticed and that sensitive data including email credentials of ESA, and also NASA, employees are frequently offered for sale on dark web forums.

ESA got some coal in its stocking this past Christmas. On Boxing Day, reports emerged of a trove of data containing the agency's proprietary software, authorization credentials, access tokens and sensitive project documentation being publicly accessible online. A hacker operating under the code name 888 dumped his cyber loot of more than 200 gigabytes on a dark web forum. (1/14)

Satellites Help Map Antarctica's Subglacial Surface like Never Before (Source: Space.com)
One of the least-mapped planetary surfaces in our solar system is closer to home than you might expect: the continent of Antarctica. While Antarctica's icy surface is fairly well-studied, its subglacial bedrock landscape — located up to 3 miles (4.8 km) beneath the ice — is more difficult to discern. Current methods of mapping require expensive ground-based and airborne surveys, and such activities are few and far between.

To create the most detailed map of Antarctica's subglacial topography yet, a team of researchers applied a modeling technique known as Ice Flow Perturbation Analysis (IFPA). IFPA uses detailed satellite observations of the ice surface and the physics of ice flow to infer the topography that exists below the ice. (1/15)

Eutelsat Awards MaiaSpace Multi-Launch Contract for OneWeb Satellites (Source: European Spaceflight)
French rocket builder MaiaSpace has signed an agreement with Eutelsat to perform multiple launches to support the expansion of the company’s OneWeb satellite constellation. MaiaSpace was founded in 2022 as a wholly owned subsidiary of ArianeGroup. The company is developing a two-stage, partially reusable launch vehicle called Maia, designed to deliver up to 4,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit when flown in its expendable configuration with the optional kick stage. (1/15)

Arianespace: 7-8 Ariane 6 Missions in 2026, Including 2-3 Amazon Leo Launches Starting in February (Source: Space Intel Report)
This year should be the first since 2021 when Arianespace can look at the future without getting a pit in its stomach. Its Ariane 6 vehicle, after a not completely successful inaugural flight in late 2024, posted four success in 2025. The company is now poised to ramp production and compete in the market after managing the retirement of Ariane 5, the end of the use of Russia’s Soyuz and delays of Ariane 6. Arianespace plans 7-8 Ariane 6 flights this year. (1/15)

Vyoma’s First Space Domain Awareness Satellite, ‘Flamingo-1’, has Launched to Orbit (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Vyoma has launched its surveillance satellite, Flamingo-1, into orbit to bolster the company's in-orbit surveillance of debris objects and enable real-time space surveillance and traffic management of orbits around Earth. Flamingo-1, featuring an optical sensor for space-based space surveillance will strengthen SDA efforts directly from orbit. The advanced optical instrument will detect, track and characterize space objects. (1/15)

Portal Space Selects ‘Space Armor’ Debris Shield for 2026 Mission (Source: Space News)
Portal Space Systems, a defense-focused space startup developing long-endurance maneuvering satellites for national security missions, has selected a new protective material made by Atomic-6 for a mission scheduled to launch in October 2026. (1/15)