January 25, 2026

China Successfully Conducts First Metal 3D Printing Experiment in Space (Source: Xinhua)
China has successfully conducted its first metal 3D printing experiment in space, a significant leap forward for its in-orbit manufacturing capabilities. The breakthrough experiment was performed by a retrievable scientific payload developed by the Institute of Mechanics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the CAS announced. The pioneering payload hitched a ride to space aboard the Lihong-1 Y1 suborbital vehicle, a commercial recoverable spacecraft developed by the Chinese aerospace enterprise CAS Space for space tourism. (1/25)

Astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg Named Australian of the Year for 2026 (Source: The Guardian)
As a girl, Katherine Bennell-Pegg would lie on the dry grass in her backyard, gazing up at the stars and dreaming about one day reaching them. While she’s yet to enter space, the now-41-year-old is closer than most could ever hope for. The first Australian astronaut to train under their own flag, Bennell-Pegg has been awarded one of the nation’s highest honors – Australian of the Year. (1/25)

Amazon Leo Satellites are Bright Enough to Disrupt Astronomical Research (Source: Space.com)
The satellites in Amazon's new internet-beaming megaconstellation in low Earth orbit (LEO) are bright enough to disrupt astronomical research, a study has found. The study — which was posted on the online repository Arxiv on Jan. 12 but has not yet been peer-reviewed — analyzed nearly 2,000 observations of Amazon Leo satellites. It concluded that the spacecraft exceed the brightness limit recommended by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) that aims to ensure harmless coexistence of satellite megaconstellation with astronomical research. (1/25)

SpaceX Launches Sunday Starlink Mission From California (Source: Spaceflight Now)
SpaceX launched 25 of its Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites from California on Sunday morning. The Starlink 17-20 mission sent the broadband satellites into a polar low Earth orbit. The Falcon 9 rocket flew on a southerly trajectory upon leaving Vandenberg Space Force Base. (1/25)

RFA Awarded ESA Flight Ticket Initiative Launch Contracts (Source: European Spaceflight)
German rocket builder Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) has been awarded launch service contracts for two missions under the Flight Ticket Initiative. The Flight Ticket Initiative is a program run jointly by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Union that provides subsidized launch opportunities for European companies and organizations on small launch vehicles. Under the program, a pool of pre-selected European launch service providers can compete for specific mission orders, with each contract valued at up to €5 million. (1/24)

Radio Telescopes on the Moon Could Let Us Observe Dozens of Black Hole Shadows (Source: Universe Today)
We now have direct images of two supermassive black holes: M87* and Sag A*. The fact that we can capture such images is remarkable, but they might be the only black holes we can observe. That is, unless we take radio astronomy to a whole new level.

It's incredibly difficult to get high-resolution images in radio astronomy. Radio wavelengths are on the order of millimeters or larger, compared to nanometers for visible light. Since the resolution of a telescope depends on the wavelength size, radio telescopes have to be huge. It would take a radio dish nearly 10 kilometers wide to get the resolution of a large optical telescope. This is why we now build radio telescopes as arrays of smaller dishes and use interferometry to create a virtual dish the size of the array. (1/21)

Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger are Turning to Russia to Launch Sahel’s First Shared Telecom Satellite (Source: Business Insider)
Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger are turning to Russia to build the Sahel’s first shared telecom satellite under the Alliance of Sahel States. The project is designed to expand internet and mobile connectivity across remote and underserved areas. It reflects the bloc’s push for digital sovereignty and reduced reliance on Western infrastructure partners. (1/23)

Global Powers Brace for Space Warfare (Source: Axios)
Tomorrow's wars will be fought in the stars above as well as on the ground below. Preparations are happening today. The signs are everywhere: in launch cadence competitiveness, insatiable appetites for overhead imagery, Chinese satellite close-approaches, reported Russian development of nukes for space and the Pentagon's pursuit of a revived and rebranded Star Wars.

"There really is a high-stakes competition unfolding in space, and we're seeing China and Russia really deploying significantly more capabilities," said Susanne Hake. "What's notable here is the line between routine activity and nefarious behavior is getting thinner," she said. "Space has no national boundaries, right? So it's inherently a global challenge." (1/23)

NASA Finds Lunar Regolith Limits Meteorites as Source of Earth’s Water (Source: NASA)
A new NASA study of its Apollo lunar soils clarifies the Moon’s record of meteorite impacts and timing of water delivery. These findings place upper bounds on how much water meteorites could have supplied later in Earth’s history. Research has previously shown that meteorites may have been a significant source of Earth’s water as they bombarded our planet early in the solar system’s development.

Researchers used a novel method for analyzing the dusty debris that covers the Moon’s surface called regolith. They learned that even under generous assumptions, meteorite delivery since about four billion years ago could only have supplied a small fraction of Earth’s water. The findings have implications for our understanding of water sources on Earth and the Moon. (1/23)

Israel Can Maintain Military Edge by Expanding Into Space (Source: Jerusalem Post)
Israel’s ability to project power into space reduces some of its vulnerabilities as a small country, say top Israeli sources. As Iran, with Russia’s help, and others develop greater abilities to perform surveillance of Israel’s small physical geographic area, sources said that shifting more capabilities and aspects of its various industries to space can avoid that surveillance.

Likewise, if aspects of intelligence operations are moved into space, it will be more difficult for adversaries to crack into or otherwise access that intelligence, said sources. In addition, it is harder for adversaries to know when Israel may be watching them from space than from drones or other lower flying aircraft or human spies on the ground. (1/20)

Proposed New Mission Will Create Artificial Solar Eclipses in Space (Source: The Conversation)
When a solar storm strikes Earth, it can disrupt technology that’s vital for our daily lives. Solar storms occur when magnetic fields and electrically charged particles collide with the Earth’s magnetic field. This type of event falls into the category known as “space weather”. The Earth is currently experiencing one of the most intense solar storms of the past two decades, reminding us of the need for ways to understand these events.

An international team of researchers (including us) is working on a spacecraft mission that would enable researchers to study the conditions that create solar storms, leading to improved forecasts of space weather. The proposed mission, known as Mesom (Moon-enabled Sun Occultation Mission), aims to create total solar eclipses in space. This would allow researchers to view the Sun’s atmosphere in more detail than ever before. (1/23)

NASA Builds a Satellite to Catch the Explosions That Make Gold and Platinum (Source: IDR)
A small satellite developed by NASA is nearly ready to begin tracking one of the universe’s most powerful and mysterious phenomena. Called StarBurst, the spacecraft is designed to detect the short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) generated by neutron star mergers, cataclysmic cosmic events that not only form black holes, but also give rise to heavy elements like gold and platinum.

StarBurst is part of the NASA Astrophysics Pioneers program, which seeks to demonstrate how low-cost technology can be used for high-value astrophysical research. Once in orbit, it will operate alongside gravitational wave detectors like LIGO, improving the chances of observing these explosive events in multiple forms of energy simultaneously, a key step toward understanding the formation of the universe’s rarest materials. (1/20)

The Hidden Hazard Beneath Flat Lunar Terrain (Source: Space Geotech)
Flat terrain on the Moon is routinely interpreted as mechanically benign. This assumption is embedded, often implicitly, in site selection workflows, landing analyses, and early foundation concepts. It is also wrong. For planned fission microreactors, radiator panels, heat pipes, and shielding geometries are sensitive to small rotations accumulated over time.

Even millimeter-scale differential settlement across a foundation can translate into tilt that degrades thermal efficiency, introduces structural stresses, or violates operational envelopes. The critical point is that these systems are not threatened by bearing failure. They are threatened by progressive, uneven deformation beneath a footprint that spans mechanically incompatible regolith.

Once emplaced, correction options are limited. The failure mode is not abrupt, but cumulative, and therefore easy to underestimate during early design. As for landing pads, these structures are often treated as load-spreading elements designed to reduce bearing pressure and mitigate erosion. This framing misses a more subtle risk. If a pad or prepared surface spans zones with different OCR* values, the response to landing loads and plume-induced stress redistribution will be asymmetric. (1/24)