Behind The Black – Robert Zimmerman
New data supports theory of dark matter, but suggests inexplicably that it acts differently depending on the galaxy’s mass
Luxembourg capsule startup Space Cargo signs partnership deal with French startup
Ispace signs deals with companies in India and Japan
Astrobotic’s Griffin lunar lander delayed again
Two more launches, by China and SpaceX respectively
Japan launches a new upgraded version of its HTV cargo freighter
Nova Scotia spaceport wins $10 million credit line from Canadian government
SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites, sets new annual launch record
October 24, 2025 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Deconstructed – How the bathyscaphe Trieste was the first to reach the ocean’s deepest point
October 24, 2025 Quick space links
Two lawsuits filed against NASA at its Marshall Space Flight Center
SpaceX launches communications satellite for the Spanish government
Eivør & Danish National Symphony Orchestra – Trøllabundin
October 23, 2025 Quick space links
China launches a “communication technology test” satellite
Weird “What the heck?!” pedestal crater on Mars
European companies Airbus, Leonardo, and Thales merge their satellite divisions
Betelgeuse’s long predicted companion star confirmed
The second known asteroid discovered orbiting closer to the Sun than Venus
Lockheed Martin invests in rotating detonation rocket engine startup Venus Aerospace
Hungary becomes the 57th nation to sign the Artemis Accords
October 22, 2025 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
The Guys Downstairs – How Long Has This Been Going On
What bad news is NASA hiding about the heat shield it will use on the next Orion/SLS manned mission around the Moon?
October 22, 2025 Quick space links
A somewhat typical volcanic vent on Mars
Duffy’s shiny object worked
SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites
Debby Boone – You Light Up My Life
October 21, 2025 Quick space links
Small fresh impact on Mars’ youngest major lava flow
October 17, 2025 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Fake blather from NASA administrator Sean Duffy to hide more Artemis delays
The 5.6.7.8s – I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield
October 20, 2025 Quick space links
The “No Kings” demonstrations this past weekend showed the future belongs to the right
Was it a piece of space junk that broke a United plane windshield in flight last week?
Debris from suspected Chinese rocket discovered in western Australia
South Korea issues launch license to Korean rocket startup Innospace
The three launches completed today including two major new achievements
Oman streamlines in launch license regulations
Foundations – Build Me Up Buttercup
October 17, 2025 Quick space links
Meandering channel in Mars’ southern cratered highlands
If there is any microbiology on Mars, new research says it will be found in the red planet’s ample ice
China launches 18 satellites
JD ‘FollowCam’ – Just “wing” it!
October 16, 2025 Quick space links
Layers of Martian ash
ESA awards contract to Italian company to provide an ocean landing platform
South African red tape will likely delay Starlink there for years to come
Scientists find that three normally incompatible substances can interact in the alien conditions on Titan
Thailand studying feasibility of establishing its own commercial spaceport
Three launches since yesterday
Indian rocket startup Skyroot hires Exolaunch to handle satellite integration and deployment
October 15, 2025 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Alexis Dahl – How to ship 800 billion pounds of rock fast
October 15, 2025 Quick space links
Peeling brain terrain in Martian crater
New Morgan Stanley report reflects Wall Street’s generally optimistic view of Rocket Lab
Orbital tug startup Impulse Space to develop its own unmanned lunar lander
Space Force approves Vandenberg environmental assessment, allowing SpaceX’s to launch as much as 100 times annually
Lena Haarberg – Fall Into You
October 14, 2025 Quick space links
The hurricane season in 2024 confounded the predictions again
Three launches in the past day
PLD issues detailed update on its preparations for first launch in 2026
Swarm satellite constellation detects changes in the Earth’s magnetic field during the past decade
Eleventh Starship/Superheavy a complete success
I love love love my toy chicken!!!
Another round of layoffs at JPL
Michael Knowles – Celebrating Columbus
Welsh university delivers spectometer for Europe’s Franklin Mars rover
Faced with loss of the federal gravy train, Lowell Observatory makes major changes
Germany’s space agency DLR delivers one prototype leg for Europe’s Callisto grasshopper
Watch the eleventh orbital test flight of SpaceX’s Starship/Superheavy rocket
Rocket Lab gets two-launch contract from Japan’s space agency JAXA
China launches three satellites from ocean platform
October 10, 2025 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Business Insider – The Rise And Fall Of The American Diner
October 10, 2025 Quick space links
New research confirms the steady decline of Martian ice with each glacial cycle
Orbital tug company Momentus gets two NASA contracts
Astronomers take first radio image of the supermassive binary system OJ287
Canadian rocket startup Nordspace signs deal for its mission control center
Is Trump considering re-nominating Jared Isaacman for NASA administrator?
October 8, 2025 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Asleep At The Wheel – Roly Poly
October 9, 2025 Quick space links
Dominion Voting Systems purchased by American company run by Republican election reform activist
Saturn as seen by Cassini in 2004, four months before orbital insertion
Congressional budget action appears to just save two of seventeen on-going NASA missions
New study claims the giant impact that created the Moon’s South Pole-Aitken Basin was oblique, from the south
AST SpaceMobile signs up Verizon to use its constellation for phone-to-satellite service
Prince – Play that funky music
October 8, 2025 Quick space links
Martian winds are faster than expected
Fresh slope streak on Mars
Canadian rocket startup Nordspace obtains expanded ground station contract
Stoke Space said to be raising as much as $500 million in private investment capital
First image from Mars of interstellar Comet 3I/Atlas
SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites, reuses 1st stage for 29th time
Japanese satellite company extends its launch contract with Rocket Lab
Melanie – The Nickel Song
October 7, 2025 Quick space links
Is the fate of the independent live streams in Boca Chica uncertain?
Martian boxwork on the flanks of Mount Sharp
The Juno mission at Jupiter is almost certainly over
SpaceX launches 28 more Starlink satellites
Chuck Mangione Quartet – Land of Make Believe
The left only has a short window remaining to stop its violence before the hammer strikes it hard
October 6, 2025 Quick space links
A galaxy with a starburst ring within its nucleus
ESA looks to global private sector for its next ISS cargo mission
Firefly Aerospace buys defense contractor SciTec
Asleep At The Wheel – Roly Poly
Space Force awards SpaceX and ULA seven launches worth more than a billion dollars
Gilmour to attempt first launch again next year
October 3, 2025 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
David Bull – Taking a close look at an 1896 wood block print
October 3, 2025 Quick space links
SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites
Renée Zellweger – Roxie
October 2, 2025 Quick space links
Distractions
Sunspot update: For one month the Sun does what the scientists predicted!
Satellite propulsion startup Portal successfully tests new and radical thruster design
Update on the plans to observe interstellar Comet 3I/Atlas using interplanetary spacecraft
October 1, 2025 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Shocking Blue – Venus
October 1, 2025 Quick space links
Climategate global-warming activist Michael Mann resigns from PennU after celebrating murder of Charlie Kirk
The growing mystery of the little red dots in the early universe
Analysis of archived Cassini data finds a new slate of carbon-based molecules in the plumes of Enceladus
Astronomers snap picture of a baby exoplanet
International Astronautical Congress meeting in Australia produces several international agreements
Varda signs deal for more capsule landings in Australia
Belgium company joins Starlab space station consortium
Axiom successfully tests two of its lunar spacesuits underwater
Natalia Osipova and Carlos Acosta – Giselle: Act II
September 30, 2025 Quick space links
Inspector General: The state of NASA’s spacesuits on ISS is becoming critical
Next Starship/Superheavy test set for October 13, 2025
Firefly loses first stage for next launch when it explodes during static fire test
China launches two “test satellites”
The Cars – Just What I Needed
September 29, 2025 Quick space links
Study suggests low dose radiation reduces severe knee pain