Space Industry News: Headlines from Across the Industry

36,850 headlines. We show the headline and the publisher's own teaser; the full story is at the source.

NASA Releases Technology Priorities to Energize Space Industry NASA · 20 May 2026 NASA released the 2026 Civil Space Shortfall Ranking list on Wednesday, which integrates more than 400 responses from stakeholders including industry organizations, government agencies, and academia. Shortfalls refer to...
Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 29 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Spaceflight Now · 20 May 2026 The Starlink 10-31 mission will be the 58th Falcon 9 launch so far in 2026. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled during a window that opens at 5:26 a.m. EDT (0926 UTC).
Inflight call with ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot ESA · 20 May 2026 On 20 May, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot conducted an in-flight call with selected media representatives live aboard the International Space Station. During the discussion, Sophie shared insights into life and research in...
Hyguane: towards low-carbon hydrogen for Europe’s Spaceport ESA · 20 May 2026 From the ESA Blogs.
I Am Artemis: Tim Goddard NASA · 20 May 2026 Listen to this audio excerpt from Tim Goddard, NASA open water lead: At the end of their mission around the Moon, NASA’s Artemis II astronauts were recovered from their Orion spacecraft by a team of U.S. Navy divers and...
Orbital Data Centers: Power and Thermal Management for Scalable Architectures SpaceNews · 20 May 2026 As orbital data centers move from concept to reality, scalable power generation and efficient thermal management are emerging as critical enabling technologies. A new whitepaper from Redwire examines how power generation...
Russia's plan to advertise on rockets and spacecraft takes off Ars Technica · 20 May 2026 We now pause for a word from our sponsors.
Starfighters turns Texas facility toward microgravity flight testing SpaceNews · 20 May 2026 Starfighters Space, which is developing F-104 supersonic jets for satellite air-launch, is turning its Texas facility into a staging ground for microgravity flight testing in response to NASA’s call for information on co...
Report finds U.S. space supply chains rely heavily on Chinese manufacturing SpaceNews · 20 May 2026 Altana’s report also highlights reliance on Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturing alongside upstream Chinese and Russian exposure
The cardinality wall: The hidden data bottleneck for LEO constellations SpaceNews · 20 May 2026 The satellite industry is entering an era defined by scale. Thousands of spacecraft are operating simultaneously in low Earth orbit (LEO), powering everything from global broadband networks to national security […]
Greenlight for next two ESA Scout missions ESA · 20 May 2026 The European Space Agency is expanding its growing fleet of Earth-observing science Scout missions with the selection of two new satellites: Hibidis and SOVA-S.
NASA’s Fermi Glimpses Power Source of Supercharged Supernovae NASA · 20 May 2026 An international team studying data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope concludes the mission detected a rare, unusually luminous supernova. The researchers say it likely received its power-up from a supermagneti...
The Exploration Company Completes Nyx Test Model Vibration Testing European Spaceflight · 20 May 2026 The Exploration Company has completed a series of vibration tests on a Nyx Structural Test Model (STM) to assess how the capsule will perform during launch conditions. Nyx is a modular space capsule designed to initially...
Isaacman expects Chinese crewed mission around the moon in 2027 SpaceNews · 20 May 2026 The head of NASA says he expects China to perform a crewed flight around the moon in 2027, ratcheting up perceptions of a space race between China and the U.S.
Fire Chars Santa Rosa Island NASA · 20 May 2026 The blaze spread across the southern side of the second-largest island in California’s Channel Islands National Park.
Isaacman: Chinese Taikonauts Likely to Fly Around Moon in 2027 SpacePolicyOnline.com · 20 May 2026 NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman asserted today that next year Chinese taikonauts “likely” will fly around the Moon and the United States no longer will hold the distinction as the only
Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket launch from Vandenberg SFB Spaceflight Now · 20 May 2026 SpaceX’s 45th Starlink mission of the year will see the company add another 24 broadband internet satellites into low Earth orbit. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 7:46 p.m. PDT (10:46 p.m. EDT / 024...
Launch Preview: Falcon 9, Electron, and Vega C launch missions alongside Starship Flight 12 NASASpaceflight · 19 May 2026 Six launches are scheduled worldwide during the next week, with the 12th flight of SpaceX’s…
NASA’s Psyche Mission Images Mars’ Huygens Crater NASA · 19 May 2026 Description Captured by the multispectral imager instrument on NASA’s Psyche mission, this is an enhanced-color view of the large double-ring crater Huygens (upper left; about 290 miles, or 470 kilometers, in diameter) a...
NASA’s Psyche Mission Spies Mars’ Wind-Blown Craters During Close Approach NASA · 19 May 2026 Description This view of the Martian surface, captured by NASA’s Psyche spacecraft on May 15, 2026, shows streaks that have formed due to wind blowing over impact craters in the Syrtis Major region. The image scale is ne...
Psyche’s High-Resolution View of Mars’ South Pole NASA · 19 May 2026 Description This is the highest-resolution view of the water ice-rich south polar cap of Mars captured by NASA’s Psyche mission after it made its close approach with the planet for a gravity assist. The image scale is ar...
SDA director Sandhoo takes on broader Space Force missile warning portfolio SpaceNews · 19 May 2026 The Pentagon is realigning the Space Development Agency’s satellite programs under new acquisition structure
NASA’s Psyche Mission Sees Mars’ South Pole After Flyby NASA · 19 May 2026 Description This is Psyche’s first view of a nearly “full Mars” seen shortly after the spacecraft’s closest approach to the planet on May 15, 2026. The view extends from the south polar cap northwards to the Valles Marin...
NASA’s Psyche Mission Images the Crescent of Mars NASA · 19 May 2026 Description This view of a crescent Mars was captured on May 15, 2026, at about 5:03 a.m. PDT by NASA’s Psyche mission as it approached the planet for a gravity assist. Captured by the spacecraft’s multispectral imager i...
NASA’s Psyche Mission Aces Mars Flyby, Targets Metal-Rich Asteroid NASA · 19 May 2026 NASA’s Psyche spacecraft completed its close approach of Mars on May 15, coming within 2,864 miles (4,609 kilometers) of the planet’s surface. This flyby used a gravity assist from Mars to provide a critical boost in spe...
Moon-Venus Conjunction NASA · 19 May 2026 The Moon and Venus, center, are seen in conjunction above the Washington Monument, Monday, May 18, 2026, as viewed from the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters Building in Washington. The Moon and Venus look close together...
Johnson’s Cindy Evans Prepares Artemis Teams for Lunar Science NASA · 19 May 2026 NASA’s Artemis II crew had many technical and operational responsibilities during their historic mission to the Moon, but they also served an important role as scientific ambassadors to Earth’s nearest neighbor. On their...
Startup challenging satellite industry’s multi-orbit playbook SpaceNews · 19 May 2026 Contrivian argues that stitching together GEO, MEO and LEO satellites creates networking problems, and that LEO constellations alone can provide both resilience and speed
“Autonomous Human Spaceflight is Not a Luxury,” Says ESA Chief European Spaceflight · 19 May 2026 In an 18 May opinion piece, European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Josef Aschbacher argued that Europe must develop an independent human spaceflight capability. Prior to 2022, ESA astronauts were transported to the...
Portal Space taps Quindar for ground mission support of its maneuvering spacecraft SpaceNews · 19 May 2026 Portal is preparing to launch maneuverable spacecraft aimed at the military market
NASA’s New Shock Detectives Project Invites Volunteers to Help Study Solar Wind NASA · 19 May 2026 NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission has collected more than ten years of data from this zone – more than scientists can analyze alone. As Shock Detectives, you’ll help sort the chaotic from peaceful regions of...
Vast Space seeks to diversify by building satellites as well as space stations Ars Technica · 19 May 2026 "Every single successful space company is diversified in its products."
Vast announces line of high-power satellite buses SpaceNews · 19 May 2026 Commercial space station developer Vast is moving into satellite manufacturing with a line of high-power satellite buses.
Lynk and Anterix get FCC nod to test satellite D2D for private utility networks SpaceNews · 19 May 2026 Lynk Global has secured regulatory approval to test how its direct-to-device satellites could extend private utility networks using terrestrial spectrum from Anterix in the United States.
Anderson confirmed as NASA deputy administrator SpaceNews · 19 May 2026 The U.S. Senate confirmed Matt Anderson on May 18 as NASA’s deputy administrator, the second-in-command of the space agency.
Smile launch highlights ESA · 19 May 2026 ESA’s Smile satellite launched aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The rocket lifted off on at 04:52 BST / 05:52 CEST (00:52 local time) on 19 May 2026.
ESA-China SMILE mission lifts off to deliver first global images of Earth’s magnetosphere SpaceNews · 19 May 2026 The SMILE mission developed jointly by the European Space Agency and China has reached orbit after more than a decade of preparations and cooperation.
Smile lifts off on quest to reveal Earth’s invisible shield against the solar wind ESA · 19 May 2026 The Smile spacecraft lifted off on a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana at 04:52 BST / 05:52 CEST (00:52 local time) on 19 May 2026. The launch marks the beginning of an ambitious mission to better un...
Farming in Ancient Lake Agassiz NASA · 19 May 2026 The glacial lake left a layer of silt and clay in southeastern Manitoba, creating fertile farmland that was divided during 19th-century land surveys and is still farmed today.
Anderson Confirmed as Deputy NASA Administrator SpacePolicyOnline.com · 19 May 2026 This evening the Senate confirmed Matthew “Matt” Anderson to be NASA Deputy Administrator. His nomination was one of 49 considered together under Senate rules that were revised last year to

Launch and satellite data: Jonathan McDowell's GCAT (CC BY 4.0) and CelesTrak. Rockets, spacecraft and agencies: Launch Library 2 by The Space Devs and Wikidata. News headlines link to their publishers via the Spaceflight News API and RSS feeds. Records come from several sources and are matched automatically, so treat the directory as a research aid, not an authority. How the data is built and checked.