Space — August 2026

Roman telescope launches, Trump calls to celebrate

NASA's dark-energy telescope launched Sunday despite past budget threats, and Trump called in to celebrate its liftoff.

NASA's Roman telescope set to launch on Falcon Heavy

NASA's next big space telescope, built to study dark energy, is set to lift off from Florida atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket Sunday morning.

Trump signs order to create a US Space Academy

The executive order creates a commission to design the nation's first Space Academy, training people for NASA and the new Space Force.

Navy SEAL-turned-astronaut Jonny Kim leaves NASA

Jonny Kim, a doctor and former Navy SEAL, is leaving NASA after nearly a decade to return to active-duty military service.

Roman Space Telescope reaches SpaceX hangar for launch

NASA's next big observatory is now mated to its Falcon Heavy rocket, five days ahead of its planned Aug. 30 launch.

NASA's Pandora satellite starts studying alien worlds

The small satellite is now observing planets outside our solar system and the stars they orbit.

NASA sets Aug. 30 launch for Roman Telescope

The next-generation observatory built to probe dark energy launches on a Falcon Heavy, if Sunday's target date holds.

China postpones Chang'e-7 moon launch before liftoff

A storm near the launch site forced China to pull its most ambitious lunar mission with no new date set.

Trump to award Artemis II crew Space Medal of Honor

The four astronauts who flew around the moon on Artemis II will receive the nation's highest space honor at a Houston ceremony on Aug. 28.

Trump signs policy targeting 1,000 rocket launches a year

A new White House policy aims to grow U.S. rocket launches and reentries to over 1,000 a year by 2030.

China's Chang'e-7 launches for the moon's south pole

The uncrewed mission carries a lander, rover, and hopping probe to hunt for water ice, launching as soon as Aug. 24.

LandSpace becomes China's first private rocket landing

The Zhuque-3 rocket landed its booster using legs Wednesday, a first for any private Chinese company.

First French woman spacewalks, ISS antenna waits

Sophie Adenot became the first French woman to spacewalk, but she and NASA's Anil Menon ran out of time to finish the repair.

China launches two rockets after Long March blast

Six days after a Long March 7A exploded on liftoff, China launched two more rockets back to back to prove its program still works.

SpaceX launches two rockets 38 minutes apart, a record

One rocket lifted off from Florida, the next from California, beating SpaceX's own record by 27 minutes.

SpaceX closes $60B deal to buy AI coding startup Cursor

The rocket company, now public under its official name Space Exploration Technologies, folded the coding startup into its xAI division.

US adds a second Space Force sensor to Japan's satellites

A U.S. Space Force sensor rode into orbit on Japan's newest navigation satellite, completing a five-year plan to watch space together.

Virgin Galactic delays new spaceship's flights to 2027

Cash is running low, and assembly delays push the company's next commercial flights from this year to February 2027.

NASA astronaut Mike Fincke retires after 30 years

Fincke flew four missions to orbit, months after a medical issue cut short his final flight.

Japan's H3 rocket succeeds after its last flight failed

The rocket put a new navigation satellite into orbit, seven months after a similar H3 launch ended in failure.

China's Long March 7A rocket explodes after liftoff

The rocket carrying a communications satellite broke apart less than 90 seconds into flight over Hainan.

NASA buys Voyager 2 another year with a power trick

A maneuver nicknamed the 'Big Bang' frees up power so Voyager 2 can keep three science instruments running in interstellar space.

China's Landspace tries again to catch a falling rocket

Zhuque-3's first catch attempt ended in an explosion. Landspace goes again Monday, chasing SpaceX's reusable-rocket lead.

Blue Origin traces New Glenn explosion to one bad valve

CEO Dave Limp says a faulty oxygen valve caused the May 28 pad explosion that destroyed a rocket and damaged Blue Origin's launch site.

SpaceX rocket crashes into the moon near Einstein Crater

A discarded Falcon 9 rocket stage hit the moon Aug. 5, and two lunar orbiters are racing to photograph the new crater.

SpaceX plans to catch Starship's ship for the first time

Elon Musk says the next Starship flight, as soon as this month, will try landing the rocket's upper stage for the first time.

SpaceX rocket will hit the moon; NASA wants a fix

A spent Falcon 9 upper stage will slam into the moon Wednesday, and NASA and SpaceX are now working to stop the next one.

UK's first orbital rocket launch hits a snag

Rocket Factory Augsburg pulled its rocket off the pad in Scotland after finding an issue during testing.

Space Force pays K2 Space $22.9M to test laser links

K2 Space will fly two laser communication terminals on its own satellites, letting military sensors trade tracking data at the speed of light.

NASA weighs sending a spare Mars rover to the moon

Administrator Jared Isaacman wants to reuse a nuclear-powered test rover for a moon mission, but a new estimate says it could cost over $1 billion.