Space Explored

Earth’s orbit is getting more crowded by the week, and NASA is no longer just talking about the problem. It’s working with industry to build the infrastructure to manage it. From its support of the Department of Commerce’s satellite tracking system to a growing roster of commercial partners developing technologies to clean up debris and dodge collisions, the agency’s approach to sustainability ha…

NASA has a new idea for a lunar rover, but the vehicle itself is already familiar. During a June 30 Moon Base update, the agency unveiled PROMISE – the Polar Rover for Observation, Mapping, and In-Situ Exploration. The proposed rover mission began life as an Earth-based engineering testbed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, and is being studied to see if it can be modifie…

In the last decade, SpaceX has transitioned from just a commercial launch company to a full-scale aerospace contractor for hire. From its early NASA contracts to being the sole supplier of crewed access to space, we are now seeing it take a grasp on the defense market.

Blue Origin suffered a major blow last month when its New Glenn rocket experienced a catastrophic anomaly during a static fire test at Launch Complex 36 on Florida’s Space Coast. The test was being conducted without its mission payload attached – a batch of Amazon LEO internet satellites that had been scheduled for launch in early June.

Sometime this year, SpaceX will officially hit the public market as what is the largest IPO in history . The company hopes to raise $75 million through share sales and continue to grow its valuation. But why does SpaceX think it’s worth so much?

In the month of April, the US launched 18 rockets into space. Nearly all of them were successful. While the vast majority were for SpaceX Falcon 9s launching the company’s Starlink satellites, it was still a diverse set of rockets, including NASA’s Space Launch System, Blue Origin’s New Glenn, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, and ULA’s Atlas V.

Later today, NASA is set to launch its Artemis 2 mission around the Moon. This is the first crewed mission to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. The launch will be live streamed from various sources, including official and unofficial streams. Here’s your guide for how to find all of today’s and future coverage.

Seth Kurkowski
4/1/2026

NASA’s Artemis 2 mission to the Moon is set to launch as soon as later tonight, and it will be the most influential mission to space in recent history. But why? This will not be our first time going to the Moon, and they aren’t even landing. So why is Artemis 2 so important?

research.ioresearch.io

Sign up to keep scrolling

Create your feed subscriptions, save articles, keep scrolling.

Already have an account?