Outer space
Void between celestial bodies
Follow Outer space on Notably News to receive short updates to your email — rarely!
We include updates on Extraterrestrial life, Voyager Golden Record, Interstellar medium, Kármán line, List of orbits, Astronaut ranks and positions, Comparison of orbital launch systems, King of the Universe, Meteor air burst, Apollo 15 postal covers incident, Comparison of orbital rocket engines, List of lunar eclipses in the 21st century, List of objects at Lagrange points, Intracluster medium, Gemini 6A, List of rovers on extraterrestrial bodies ... and more.
2025 |
Government space agencies
Korea establishes KASA with an initial budget of $726 million
|
April 7 2025 |
Government space agencies
NASA maintains its position as the top-funded government space agency with a budget of $25,400 million in 2025
|
2025 |
Objects at Lagrange points
Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) planned for launch at the end of the year to the Sun-Earth L1 Lagrange point.
|
2025 |
Orbital launch systems
First planned launch of Ariane 6 A64, a new European expendable launch vehicle by ArianeGroup, scheduled to launch from French Guiana Space Center.
|
2025 |
Orbital launch systems
First projected flight of Blue Whale 1, a partially reusable rocket from Perigee Aerospace in South Korea, planned to launch from sea platform or Esrange.
|
2025 |
Orbital launch systems
Multiple new orbital launch systems are expected to have their first flights, including Agnibaan (India), Antares 330 (US), Ariane 6 A64 (Europe), Aventura 1 (Argentina), Blue Whale 1 (Korea), Daytona (US), Epsilon S (Japan), Eris Block 1 (Australia), Gravity-2 (China), Hanbit-Nano HyPER and LiMER (South Korea), H3-24L and H3-30S (Japan), Nebula-1 (China), Neutron (US/NZ), Pallas-1 (China), Prime (UK), RFA One, Sirius 1 (France), Skyrora XL (UK), Soyuz-5 (Kazakhstan), Spectrum (Germany), Starship Block 2 (US), Tianlong-3 (China), and Zephyr (France), Zero (Japan).
|
2025 |
Private spaceflight companies
Sierra Space's Dream Chaser Cargo System is planned to become operational, with anticipated launches using Atlas V or Vulcan launch systems.
|
2025 |
Orbital launch systems
Ongoing launch operations for Soyuz-2.1b with Fregat upper stage targeting various orbits including Sun-synchronous and heliocentric orbits
|
March 14 2025 |
Lunar eclipses in the 21st century
A total lunar eclipse occurs, with the eclipse visible and lasting 218 minutes, characterized by a gamma of 0.348 and a magnitude of 2.286.
|
2025 |
Orbital propellant depot
An intervehicular propellant transfer demonstration mission is planned, which is critical for landing a crew on the Moon with the Starship HLS vehicle.
|
2025 |
Rovers on extraterrestrial bodies
Canada's STELLS proposes the MPR-1 rover for potential mining rover power supply research, targeting a crater location.
|
2025 |
Orbital launch systems
New Glenn rocket planned for launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) and Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in the United States
|
2025 |
Orbital launch systems
Starship Block 1/2 rocket planned for launch from Starbase in the United States
|
2025 |
Orbital launch systems
First planned flight of Neutron rocket by Rocket Lab from United States' MARS launch site.
|
2025 |
Orbital launch systems
First anticipated flight of Agnibaan launch vehicle by AgniKul Cosmos from India's SDSC launch site.
|
2025 |
Orbital launch systems
First anticipated launch of Spectrum rocket by Isar Aerospace from France's Guiana Space Center or Norway's Andøya Space Center.
|
2024 |
Government space agencies
European Space Agency (ESA) ranks third in global space agency funding with $7,790 million budget
|
2024 |
Outline of space exploration
Europa Clipper mission is planned to launch by NASA to explore Jupiter's moon Europa, searching for potential habitability and signs of life.
|
2024 |
Orbital launch systems
Planned continued launches of Soyuz-2.1a and Soyuz-2.1b with various upper stages from multiple spaceports
|
2024 |
Orbital propellant depot
During Starship's third integrated flight, intravehicular propellant transfer in orbit was successfully demonstrated.
|
2024 |
Rovers on extraterrestrial bodies
Ingenuity helicopter completed its mission on Mars after multiple successful powered flights, concluding its groundbreaking technological demonstration.
|
2024 |
Orbital launch systems
New-type satellite carrier rocket launched from Sohae in North Korea
|
2024 |
Orbital launch systems
Angara A5 / Orion rocket launched from Plesetsk and Vostochny spaceports in Russia
|
2024 |
Orbital launch systems
KAIROS rocket launched from Spaceport Kii in Japan
|
2024 |
Orbital launch systems
First flight of multiple rocket launch systems including Ariane 6 A62, Ceres-1S, Kuaizhou 1A Pro, Long March 6C, Long March 12, Vulcan Centaur VC2, and Zhuque-2E, demonstrating ongoing expansion and development of orbital launch capabilities across different countries and manufacturers.
|
December 21 2024 |
Space burial
Space NTK successfully launched remains samples into Earth orbit using a Falcon 9 rocket.
|
November 21 2024 |
Space warfare
Russia launched a new Oreshkin intermediate-range ballistic missile striking Dnipro, potentially marking the first combat use of a multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV).
|
June 21 2024 |
Active duty United States Space Force general officers
James E. Smith was ranked as Major General and became Vice Director for Joint Force Development at the Joint Staff.
|
June 20 2024 |
Active duty United States Space Force general officers
Devin Pepper was ranked as Major General and appointed Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategy, Plans, and Policy at Allied Command Transformation.
|
June 12 2024 |
Active duty United States Space Force general officers
Robert Schreiner is ranked as Brigadier General and becomes Deputy Director for Operations on the Joint Staff
|
June 11 2024 |
Active duty United States Space Force general officers
Chandler Atwood is ranked as Brigadier General and becomes Vice Commander and Deputy Commanding General (Operations) of Space Operations Command
|
June 7 2024 |
Active duty United States Space Force general officers
Shay Warakomski is ranked as Brigadier General and becomes Assistant Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations, Cyber, and Nuclear
|
June 5 2024 |
Private spaceflight companies
Boeing planned first crewed flight of CST-100 Starliner
|
June 1 2024 |
Rovers on extraterrestrial bodies
Chang'e 6 mission landed Jinchan rover to conduct infrared spectroscopy of the lunar surface and image the lander.
|
May 27 2024 |
Government space agencies
South Korea announced the establishment of Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA), a new national space agency.
|
May 3 2024 |
Objects at Lagrange points
Chang'e 6 Service Module launched, arriving at L2 halo orbit on 9 September 2024.
|
May 3 2024 |
Active duty United States Space Force general officers
Dennis Bythewood was ranked as Major General and assigned as Special Assistant to the Chief of Space Operations.
|
April 2024 |
Space force
People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force Space Systems Department was dissolved, with its space force element becoming the People's Liberation Army Aerospace Force.
|
April 14 2024 |
Space warfare
Iran launched more than 120 ballistic missiles at Israel, marking the first large-scale incident involving a space weapon.
|
February 1 2024 |
Active duty United States Space Force general officers
Brian Denaro is ranked as Brigadier General and becomes Director of Plans and Programs in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Plans, Programs, Requirements, and Analysis
|
February 1 2024 |
Active duty United States Space Force general officers
Matthew Cantore is ranked as Brigadier General and becomes Deputy Commander of Space Training and Readiness Command
|
January 2024 |
Space burial
Elysium Space and Celestis attempt a moon burial mission with Astrobotic Technology, which fails when the spacecraft does not reach the Moon and instead reenters Earth's atmosphere.
|
January 19 2024 |
Rovers on extraterrestrial bodies
SLIM mission successfully landed LEV-1 and LEV-2 (Sora-Q), demonstrating precision landing technology.
|
January 10 2024 |
United States Space Force four-star generals
Stephen N. Whiting receives four-star rank and becomes Commander of U.S. Space Command (CDRUSSPACECOM).
|
January 9 2024 |
Active duty United States Space Force general officers
David N. Miller is ranked as Lieutenant General and becomes Commander of Space Operations Command
|
January 6 2024 |
Objects at Lagrange points
Aditya-L1 successfully inserted into orbit around Sun-Earth L1 point.
|
January 6 2024 |
Objects at Lagrange points
Aditya-L1 enters halo orbit around Lagrange point L1 to study solar atmosphere and solar magnetic storms.
|
2023 |
Government space agencies
China's CNSA becomes the second-highest funded space agency globally with a budget of $18,150 million
|
2023 |
Space programs of the United States
The annual Department of Defense budget request focused on space was $24.5 billion.
|
2023 |
Private spaceflight companies
SpaceX began testing the Starship Super-Heavy reusable super-heavy rocket, with 2 out of 4 test launches completed.
|
We are only showing the most recent entries for this topic. |
This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles List of space programs of the United States, List of active duty United States Space Force general officers, Space warfare, List of United States Space Force four-star generals, List of government space agencies, Outline of space exploration, Orbital propellant depot, Comparison of orbital launch systems, List of rovers on extraterrestrial bodies, List of lunar eclipses in the 21st century, List of objects at Lagrange points, List of private spaceflight companies, Space force & Space burial, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.