NASA's Curiosity rover has uncovered new geological evidence pointing to a once-active carbon cycle on ancient Mars, offering a compelling window into the Red Planet's former potential to support life.

After a dramatic fall from its high-flying days as a publicly traded rocket startup, Astra is charting a comeback with a $44 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop its next-generation launch vehicle, Rocket 4. The mobile, two-stage rocket is designed to deliver military cargo across the globe in under an hour—an ambitious goal that, if realized, could transform rapid-response logistics.

Firefly Aerospace has secured a new contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to develop a cutting-edge ceramic matrix composite (CMC) nozzle extension for liquid rocket engines. The contract marks a significant step in advancing next-generation rocket technology aimed at improving performance and reducing costs.

After a series of delays and months of anticipation, Amazon is finally set to take a major step toward building its own satellite-powered internet network. The first 27 operational satellites of Project Kuiper, Amazon’s answer to Starlink, are now scheduled to launch on April 28 at 7:00 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The announcement was made over the weekend by United Launch Alliance (ULA), the aerospace company responsible for carrying out the mission.

SpaceX has completed its third Falcon 9 launch in under 48 hours, sending a diverse array of payloads into a mid-inclination orbit as part of its Bandwagon-3 rideshare mission. The rocket lifted off at 8:48 p.m. EDT Monday (0048 UTC Tuesday) from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

In a historic step for international space cooperation, China will train a Pakistani astronaut for a future mission aboard its Tiangong space station—marking the first time a foreign astronaut will visit the Chinese orbital outpost.

In the early hours of April 21, SpaceX successfully launched its Dragon spacecraft on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS), this time with a cargo load emphasizing crew essentials over scientific experiments.

As India prepares to send astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the Axiom-4 mission, he won’t be travelling alone. Joining him on this historic journey will be a group of nearly indestructible micro-animals—tardigrades, also affectionately known as ‘water bears’.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit, along with Russian cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, safely landed in the steppes of Kazakhstan early Saturday morning, concluding a seven-month stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The landing took place at 6:20 a.m. local time on April 20 (9:20 p.m. EDT April 19), which also marked a personal milestone — Pettit’s 70th birthday.

In a major move to strengthen Texas’s role in the national space sector, the Texas Space Commission has granted over $26 million to five companies as part of its ongoing effort to stimulate growth and innovation in the state’s space industry.

China has successfully deployed the world’s first three-satellite constellation in a distant retrograde orbit (DRO) within the Earth-moon space region, achieving a significant milestone in space science and technology. The breakthrough was confirmed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the developer behind the mission.

After a 14-year hiatus from the West Coast, Northrop Grumman successfully launched a Minotaur 4 rocket from California, marking a major milestone for the veteran launch vehicle. The mission, designated NROL-174, carried multiple classified payloads for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the U.S. agency responsible for national security satellite intelligence.