Outer Space Today

Elon Musk has implemented structural protections at SpaceX that prevent the board from removing him as CEO, while tying a potential trillion-dollar compensation package to the company's ability to establish a self-sustaining colony on Mars. The move, confirmed Friday on X, marks the first public disclosure of governance

The world's first space-based neutrino detector reached orbital altitude in May 2026, marking a fundamental shift in how scientists observe some of the universe's most energetic events. The observatory will capture neutrinos -- ghostly particles that pass through virtually all matter -- from a vantage point

SpaceX confirmed on May 13 that its Starlink satellite internet system is operational aboard Air Force One, providing high-speed connectivity to the presidential aircraft during transpacific flights. The confirmation came from Elon Musk in response to imagery showing him aboard the plane alongside President Trump and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang

NASA's Psyche spacecraft will execute a high-risk gravity assist flyby of Mars on May 15, 2026, passing within 2,800 miles of the planet's surface -- a margin so tight it will thread between the orbits of both Martian moons. The maneuver is essential to redirect

NASA has inserted an uncrewed test mission into its Artemis sequence, now targeting late 2027, to validate rendezvous and docking procedures between the Orion spacecraft and commercial lunar landers before risking astronauts near the Moon. The space agency characterized the mission as "one of the most highly complex missions

Delta Air Lines has rejected a proposed partnership with SpaceX's Starlink internet service, unable to reach agreement on who would operate and manage the satellite network aboard its aircraft. The impasse reveals SpaceX's rigid approach to commercial partnerships -- take the service as standardized, or don&

The U.S. military has begun a new wargaming series centered on a worst-case scenario: a nuclear weapon detonating in low-Earth orbit. The exercise simulates the cascading effects of such an event, which Pentagon officials say would render portions of LEO unusable for up to a year through radiation and

Blue Origin may need to seek external funding to sustain its ambitious launch cadence, marking a potential shift in the company's financial model after years of relying entirely on Jeff Bezos's personal wealth. The revelation signals that even Bezos's substantial resources may not be

Mark Pathy, a private astronaut and Montreal-based entrepreneur, is directing $15 million toward establishing a dedicated space research and education institute at Concordia University. The Mark Pathy Space Institute will operate within the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science, positioning Concordia as a hub for Canadian space sector

Google and SpaceX are in active discussions to deploy data centers in orbit, targeting artificial intelligence compute as the initial use case. The talks signal that major cloud providers are seriously weighing space-based infrastructure despite today's prohibitive costs -- a shift that could reshape where and how the

The U.S. Space Force has awarded up to $3.2 billion in contracts to launch hardware development for space-based interceptors -- orbital weapons designed to destroy missiles before they reach Earth. The move marks the formal start of the Pentagon's "Golden Dome" architecture, a Trump

SpaceX has set May 19 as the target launch date for Starship Version 3, the most substantially redesigned iteration of its super-heavy launch system yet. The flight will also mark the operational debut of Launch Pad 2 at Starbase in South Texas, a facility the company has spent two years

Varda Space Industries has signed an agreement with a major U.S. pharmaceutical company to produce drugs in microgravity, marking the first commercial validation that orbital manufacturing can generate real business value rather than remain a scientific curiosity. The undisclosed partner will use Varda's spacecraft -- which can

Florida-based Star Catcher Industries has secured $65 million in Series A funding to deploy a constellation of satellites that beam power to other spacecraft via laser -- a foundational step toward the first functioning orbital power grid. The oversubscribed round, led by B Capital, drew investor interest exceeding $90 million,

Anduril Industries has won a U.S. Army contract to build a prototype command-and-control system that will fuse data from multiple incompatible missile defense networks into a single operating picture for commanders. The win removes Lockheed Martin, the incumbent provider of Army air defense C2 systems, from the role --

MDA Space has completed construction of a new manufacturing facility in Montreal, doubling its satellite production footprint in under two years and positioning itself as a prime contractor for large-scale constellation programs. The 185,000-square-foot facility represents a strategic pivot toward high-volume manufacturing for mega-constellations rather than the company'

After five years of observation, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument has completed the largest three-dimensional map of the universe ever constructed -- and the early findings suggest the force driving cosmic expansion may not be constant, challenging a cornerstone assumption of modern physics. The discovery could reshape how scientists understand