July 6, 2026

NASA’s TESS Mission Finds Planetary System in New Way (Source: NASA)
For the first time, NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) mission has identified a planet orbiting a distant star thanks to ripples in space-time. Unlike the star-hugging transiting planets TESS regularly reveals, the newfound world is a super-Jupiter orbiting far from its host star. Astronomers found the first hint of the planet, called Gaia23bra b, in 2023 using ESA's (European Space Agency) now-retired Gaia space telescope.

Gaia’s alert system flagged a star that brightened — something that can happen when a foreground star passes in front of a more distant one and magnifies its light through gravitational microlensing. Researchers later looked back through archived TESS data and found TESS had caught it too. (7/1)

SES Falls as Barclays Flags 2026 Growth Risks and Starlink Threat (Source: Investing.com)
SES shares fell over 2% on Monday after Barclays downgraded the stock to “underweight” from “equal weight” rating and lowered its price target to €7.05 from €7.75. The broker cited three reasons for the downgrade. First, it said significant underlying improvement is required in several areas in 2026 to deliver consensus forecasts, which it called "possible but uncertain."

Second, Barclays said it is 5% below 2028 consensus on revenue and 3% below on adjusted EBITDA, driven by "fears around competition in particular." Third, the broker said it expects more focus on where Starlink and Amazon LEO satellite constellations can hurt incumbent operators as Starlink "continues to demonstrate strong growth." (7/6)

Space Travel’s Heavyweights Ponder a Future with Antimatter Rockets (Source: The Hill)
Recently, two of the powerful men on the planet where space policy is concerned had an exchange on the social media platform X about antimatter. The exchange is another example of how what was once science fiction is becoming reality. While the name antimatter invokes countless references in science fiction, it is a real thing. Antimatter is the mirror twin of matter, having the same mass but having opposite properties such as electric charges.

The reason that antimatter could become the ultimate spacecraft propellant is that when matter and antimatter collide, they are both transformed 100 percent into energy. Even a nuclear bomb converts only a small amount of its mass into an explosion that can wipe out a city. An antimatter rocket, one that uses the explosion caused by the fusion of matter and antimatter, would be orders of magnitude more efficient that a chemical or even a nuclear rocket. (7/5)

The Investors Scrambling to Keep SpaceX - and Elon Musk - Out of Their Portfolios (Source: Bloomberg)
Christopher Bejnar has spent the last couple of months combing through the fine print of exchange-traded funds, emailing financial advisers and moving money into European stocks – all to keep SpaceX out of his $1 million portfolio.

As Elon Musk’s newest public company heads into Nasdaq’s stock indexes this week, the 46-year-old software engineer in Philadelphia is making sure that none of his money is backing the Tesla and SpaceX founder who recently became the world’s first trillionaire. To stay away, Bejnar said he’s moved $50,000 into European index funds and bought shares of Rocket Lab Corp, a SpaceX rival. (7/6)

AI, Ex-Soviet Engineers, and the Holy Grail of Rocketry: Inside the Bold Bet to Rival SpaceX (Source: Fast Company)
Aerospace startup Aspire is designing a fully reusable rocket that could make launches cheaper. It might just beat Elon Musk at his own game. “The engine that we have now could have probably taken seven years and up to half a billion dollars,” said Stan Rudenko. “In our collaboration, it basically took half a year . . . and we already have a first version."

Rudenko is the CEO of Aspire Space Technologies, and the collaboration he’s talking about is with Leap 71, a Dubai-based computational engineering startup. They have formed an almost sci-fi alliance: A team staffed by the legends of the Soviet space program—engineers who built the Energia rocket and the fully autonomous Buran space shuttle—is joining forces with an autonomous AI software system and HBD, a Shanghai-based large-format metal additive manufacturer.

If they pull it off, they could become the most formidable enemy to SpaceX’s quasimonopoly on the commercial space economy. They plan to do it not by copying Elon Musk’s massive Starship, but by resurrecting the decades-old aerospace dream of the aerospike engine. They want to put it on Oryx, a two-stage vehicle that will make space launches cheaper than what’s available today. If it all works and they complete their timeline—from its late 2026 full-scale engine test to its 2031 first flight. (7/6)

‘Flight Originated From the Imagination’: How Artists Have Captured Space Travel (Source: Guardian)
Wearing a shiny silver spacesuit, Alan Shepard clutches his helmet and looks like an archetypal blue-eyed American hero. The 1961 portrait by Bruce Stevenson paid tribute to the first US astronaut in space. It also planted a seed. James Webb, the then administrator of NASA, saw the painting and was inspired to start the space agency’s own art program, believing that artists could bring a unique perspective to exploring the cosmos. From 1962 to 1974 it was led by James Dean, who then became the first art curator at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. (7/6)

NASA Chief Says Agency Aiding Blue Origin Explosion Inquiry: ‘We Can’t Slow Down’ (Source: Washington Examiner)
NASA is assisting the investigation into Blue Origin’s May rocket explosion, its administrator confirmed Sunday, as the space agency tries to keep up the momentum for its Artemis moon program. Blue Origin’s New Glenn malfunction has threatened NASA's Artemis timeline, as the rocket in question and its payload could be selected for Artemis IV, the first crewed lunar landing since 1972. Jared Isaacman said the space agency is supporting Blue Origin in its investigation and expressed optimism that the company will solve the anomaly responsible for the New Glenn failure. (7/5)

Shetland Spaceport to Spend More Than £100k on Security (Source: The Herald)
Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) has been given permission to launch from the SaxaVord spaceport in Shetland, and a successful launch would be the first time satellites have been carried into space from Scottish, or British, soil. RFA appears to be on the verge of holding its first flight, with SaxaVord spaceport submitting a building warrant application detailing plans for a perimeter fence, which would cost around £120,000.

The application was submitted last week after the launch window began. RFA's maiden mission will carry a 500kg Earth observation satellite for a Scandinavian customer. Residents have been advised to apply for 'local residents passes' during the launch window, with temporary traffic restrictions to be in place for several hours at a time. (7/6)

China's Long March-8A Rocket Launches New Satellite Group (Source: Xinhua)
China sent a new satellite group into space on Sunday on a Long March 8A rocket from a commercial spacecraft launch site in the southern island province of Hainan. The satellite group was launched and entered its preset orbit successfully. (7/5)

NASA Leader Flew His Vintage Jet at DC Air Show Over FAA Objections (Source: Wall Street Journal)
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman flew a vintage jet fighter at the Fourth of July air show over Washington, D.C., despite objections by federal air-safety regulators. The regulator initially denied Isaacman’s request to fly in the Freedom 250 celebration, calling the aircraft too dangerous for densely populated areas. A representative for Isaacman late last month petitioned the FAA to allow four 1970s-built jets to join aircraft flying over the National Mall. (7/5)

Euclid Discovers the Most Ancient Quasar in the Universe (Source: ESA)
The European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope has discovered 31 of the most ancient quasars ever found. Two of these giant and dazzling galaxy cores, powered by gargantuan black holes, are the earliest quasars yet observed in cosmic history. They shone with the light of a trillion Suns back when the Universe was 670 million years old – just 5% of its current age. (7/6)

NASA Astronauts Will Plant Capitol-Flown Flag on Next Moon Landing (Source: Collect Space)
NASA now has the next United States flag to be deployed on the surface of the moon. A member of the last mission to land on the moon, joined by the most recent astronauts to fly there, accepted the red, white and blue banner during a speech by President Donald Trump late night on Saturday (July 4) as part of a "Salute to America" semiquincentennial celebration. (7/5)

Isaacman: China May Land on Moon Before US Does it Again (Source: TASS)
China could land a man on the Moon before American astronauts return to it, said NASA Director Jared Isaacman. "The Chinese will land their taiconauts on the moon. There's no question," he said. "The question is ‘Will the United States return before them, and will we do so in a different way this time? Will we build the base, establish that enduring presence.’ I think the answer is ‘Yes’. "We are very much in a space race right now, and the Chinese are moving at incredible speeds." (7/5)

NASA Tests Advanced New Mars Rover Prototype in the California Desert (Source: Space.com)
A new rover prototype is teaching NASA scientists how to design robots that can think for themselves and navigate terrain that would leave old rovers stuck in the lunar or Martian dust. The Exploration Rover for Navigating Extreme Sloped Terrain (ERNEST), developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, recently completed a 16-mile (26 kilometers) trek through the desert in Southern California. The journey took more than 37 hours of driving time over the course of seven days, and ERNEST completed it almost entirely autonomously, "with minimal intervention" from engineers monitoring the test, according to a JPL statement. (7/5)

Mysterious Debris Found on Queensland Beaches Could be ‘Space Balls’ – and May Contain Toxic Rocket Fuel (Source: The Guardian)
Six pieces of suspected space debris found washed up on north Queensland beaches could be “space balls” that are often left over from rocket launches, according to one expert. The Australian Space Agency confirmed on Sunday it was working to determine the nature and origin of the mysterious objects, which police said were suspected of containing hazardous chemicals. (7/5)

A Rapid Advance to a European Manned Space Launcher (Source: Robert Clark)
Adding a 4th Prometheus engine to Europe's Maia launch vehicle's first stage will allow carriage of 8 tonnes to orbit. Note that the Apollo capsule only massed 6 tons. This means already by 2027 Europe could have its own manned-flight-capable all-liquid launcher. I’m aware that there has been discussion of making the Ariane 6 a manned launcher, but after the Challenger accident the use of large SRBs is less desirable, the SLS notwithstanding. (7/4)

South Korea's LG Innotek Seeks to Provide Satellite Substrates for SpaceX (Source: Maeil Business)
If LG Innotek succeeds in supplying satellite substrates to SpaceX, it will join the supply chain for the rapidly growing Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite market. There is also speculation that the company could connect to the space-based AI data center market that SpaceX is pursuing as a future industry.

However, despite SpaceX's aggressive goals, some analysts say it will take more than 10 years for Starlink and space-based AI data centers to become a reality because of technical and financial burdens. Even if the deal leads to an actual contract, it will take time before it translates into meaningful results in revenue and operating profit. (7/5)

Scientist Who Cleaned Space Toilet on Work Experience Now Leading Mars Exploration Teams (Source: BBC)
Cleaning a space toilet while on work experience was Claire Parfitt's first introduction to a career away from Earth's orbit. But she never imagined her time at the National Space Science Centre in Leicester, when she was 14, would one day see her lead a team exploring future Mars missions.

Parfitt, originally from Nottingham, now works for the European Space Agency's European Space Research and Technology Centre in the Netherlands. The 42-year-old joined the space industry after securing a physics degree and a PhD in spacecraft power systems engineering. (7/5)

Japan's Hayabusa2 Successfully Observes Asteroid Torifune (Source: Jiji)
Japan's Hayabusa2 unmanned probe successfully flew past the asteroid Torifune at close range on Sunday, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said. The probe is in normal condition, JAXA said. According to the plan, Hayabusa2 passed about 800 meters from the center of Torifune at around 6:30 pm Japan time to take pictures of its surface and observe it with an infrared camera and a spectrometer. Torifune is located about 100 million kilometers from Earth. (7/5)

Gaganyaan Mission: ISRO Successfully Conducts First SOLVE Ground Test (Source: The Hindu)
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully carried out the first ground test of the Sub-Orbital Launch Vehicle for Experiments (SOLVE) solid motor at the Static Test Facility, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The SOLVE solid motor is a key component for conducting Gaganyaan Test Missions and the first ground test was carried out on July 3. (7/5)