Latest news on "Space"

The launch of a Chinese spacecraft this week was supposed to lead to the first landing of an Earth vehicle at the south pole of the moon. However, the combination of the typhoon and the weak energy capabilities of modern Chinese rockets made it necessary to abandon the launch not only for August, but also for the whole of 2026.

The authors of a new paper in Science have found that, unlike landings half a century ago, circumpolar expeditions risk polluting the surface of the satellite with terrestrial microorganisms. Moreover, it will be extremely difficult to distinguish them from native organics after that.

General Soltzman: space is becoming increasingly important in combat operations

Competition in space is rapidly gaining momentum. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, General Chance Soltzman warned that the military must prepare for a future in which adversaries such as China will try to challenge America's advantage in space.

SZ: The fight in space is escalating, and satellites have already become weapons

If a conflict breaks out between the powers with space assets, it will certainly lead to a confrontation in outer space. Weapons are already accumulating there, writes SZ. Moreover, in a limited, non-kinetic form, "battles" in space are already underway.

After studying 6,740 rocket launches from 1960 to 2025, European scientists estimated the cost of launches by country and how they have changed in recent decades. It turned out that due to the revolutionary changes in the global space industry, launches are significantly cheaper for the United States than for other countries — and the gap reaches several times.

"Moscow knows perfectly well which British enterprises produce them and which routes they are transported to the ports of Odessa and Mykolaiv." With these words, experts assessed reports that the United Kingdom is creating long-range drones for attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine deep into Russia. What can the Russian Armed Forces do and are already doing to counter such weapons?

A Chinese research group led by scientists from the Institute of Geology of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, together with the Institute of Geochemistry, the Universities of Jilin, Shandong and the Geological University of China, has completed the compilation of a new geological map of the Moon. The scale is 1:5,000,000.

A Russian small CubeSat 16U satellite developed by the Geoscan Group of companies successfully captured the solar eclipse on August 12, 2026 using a domestic Cyclops camera.

Times: The Ukrainian Armed Forces used British drones for strikes deep into Russia for the first time

The Times newspaper found out that over the past six months, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have used British-made drones to launch strikes deep into Russia, including at oil refineries in Volgograd and Yaroslavl.

Le Figaro: Russia is accelerating the creation of a system to replace Starlink

The dependence of the Ukrainian army on the Starlink system and the sentiments of Elon Musk is becoming Kiev's main vulnerability, writes Le Fiagro. Russia has learned a lesson from the current situation and accelerated the creation of its own low-orbit satellite constellation, Rassvet.

A special plastic vest was able to significantly reduce the radiation dose received by the dummy during the Orion spacecraft's test flight to the Moon. In terms of protection, the vest was not inferior to the special anti-radiation shelter inside the ship. In the future, such equipment will protect astronauts from solar flares during flights to the Moon and Mars, minimally hampering their work.

Russia has successfully tested the world's first and smallest radar satellite for obtaining detailed images of the Earth's surface. This revolutionary invention could break the Western world's monopoly on space surveillance and equalize our capabilities without spending huge amounts of money.

Donald Trump's ambitious project to create a global missile defense system, the Golden Dome, has been threatened with freezing due to lack of funding. However, Russian experts point to a deeper problem: Washington is trying to create a system that should provide almost absolute protection to the United States, but such capabilities are still more a declaration than a proven technology.

The Russian Volna-Kupol-Garant electronic warfare system does not affect ground terminals, but directly affects Starlink satellites, creating interference in eight frequency bands. How does the system work and how does it differ from traditional electronic warfare systems? What analogues exist abroad?

A 500-ton unmanned ship is much more than small unmanned boats, the use of which has already become commonplace. The task of creating such a ship is very difficult and ambitious. However, its implementation will radically increase our combat capabilities.

The US Department of War continues to publish documents and videos about the observation of unidentified flying objects. As before, the origin of the objects from the observations is unclear, but it is quite obvious that at least some of them do not relate to natural phenomena known to today's science.

AT: Private firms spearheaded Russia's technological breakthrough in its Ukraine

Russia has already launched the second group of Rassvet satellites. This is a working alternative to Starlink, writes AT. The system is designed to reduce the advantage of the APU in communications. Moscow has also introduced a new means of jamming "Dome". Both innovations are the brainchild of private companies.

Pecan Island near the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana will soon become the property of Elon Musk's company. There will be a new spaceport for Starship, almost 20 times larger than in Boca Chica, where there are already two launch pads.

Russian troops have taken full control of the village of Krasny Kut in the DPR. Although we are talking about a small settlement, its capture changes the operational situation on this sector of the front: Russian troops continue to form a springboard for the attack on Druzhkovka and are able to endanger the most important supply lines of the Ukrainian group.

Former NASA employees stated that the latest test video of the largest spacecraft in history again showed the problems and limitations of its heat shield. From their point of view, any of the existing technologies of this type is too complicated to implement Elon Musk's vision of fast and maintenance-free reusability of Starship.