Blue Origin’s powerful New Glenn rocket exploded during testing Thursday night, May 28, blasting flames and debris high into the sky in a display visible across wide swaths of Florida. Continue ReadingIncredible videos show Blue Origin rocket explosion could be seen from hundreds of miles away→

SpaceX launched 29 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Friday (May 29), about 12 hours after Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded on a different pad at the site. Continue ReadingSpaceX launches 29 Starlink satellites from Florida just hours after Blue Origin rocket explosion (video)→

Welcome to Edition 8.43 of the Rocket Report! A disclaimer: No one yet fully appreciates the ramifications of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket explosion Thursday night on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. What we know as of this writing is that much of Blue’s sole orbital-class launch pad has been destroyed, and the New Glenn rocket will be grounded for an extended period of time. It is too soon for any hot takes, at least until the Sun rises at the Cape on Friday morning. One thing I am sure of is that we will be writing about Continue ReadingRocket Report: A dark day for Blue Origin; Pentagon eyes new launch site→

Even the satellites are seeing red. Continue ReadingRecord-breaking Europe heat wave from space | Space photo of the day for May 29, 2026→

When it comes to understanding Earth and our changing environment, space is the place. Not only does it give us an overall holistic view of the planet below, but satellite-based imagery can transcend national boundaries and give us an understanding of key changes that often go unseen at ground level. Now, the European Space Agency (ESA) has chosen two new missions to address key questions in Earth environmental science: Hibidis and SOVA-S.

Maverick director Nicolas Roeg delivered a surreal sci-fi classic in 1976 that still resonates today. Continue Reading‘The Man Who Fell To Earth’ at 50: Was David Bowie’s strange stranded alien his best role ever?→

Astronomers have discovered the first evidence that tiny red dwarf stars can devour their own planets. Continue ReadingRed dwarf stars are cosmic killers that eat their own planets→

New research suggests the moons of Jupiter and Uranus may hint that our planetary neighborhood once had a third ice giant. Continue ReadingA ‘lost planet’ may have given Jupiter and Uranus their moons→

Every byte of data a spacecraft collects, every image, every reading, every scientific measurement has to survive one of the most hostile environments imaginable. Space is awash with radiation, and that radiation is the silent enemy of conventional data storage. Now, a team of researchers have built a new kind of memory chip that doesn’t just tolerate radiation, it laughs in its face. Using a quirk of physics called ferroelectricity, this technology can withstand radiation levels equivalent to 100 million X-rays, and it could transform how we store data on missions heading deeper into the Solar System than we’ve ever ventured before.

We live in a golden age of astronomical imaging. Telescopes are capturing billions of galaxy images, painting the universe in breathtaking detail. But there’s a problem, and it’s a big one. A photograph tells you what something looks like but it doesn’t tell you what it’s made of, how fast it’s moving, or how far away it really is. For that, you need spectroscopy. And right now, astronomy has a catastrophic imbalance, billions of images and nowhere near enough spectra to match them. A new telescope currently under construction in the mountains of western China is about to change that quite dramatically.

Researchers at the University of Alabama in Huntsville have found a new way to measure the mass of neighbouring galaxies using pulsars. Using the universe’s most precise natural clocks it’s possible to detect tiny gravitational disturbances rippling through the Milky Way. By analysing 54 millisecond pulsars, the team directly measured the gravitational pull of both the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy, including their dark matter. The same technique could eventually map dark matter across the entire Galaxy bringing us closer to understanding what it actually is.

Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded on the pad at Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station as the result of an anomaly during a static fire test on Thursday, May 28. The test was in preparation for a planned launch as soon as June 4. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Thursday night, in a major Continue ReadingBlue Origin’s New Glenn rocket explodes during prelaunch testing at Cape Canaveral→

Blue Origin’s fourth New Glenn rocket exploded during a prelaunch engine test on Thursday night (May 28). It could be a big setback for the company and for NASA’s moon ambitions. Continue ReadingBlue Origin’s New Glenn rocket explodes in massive fireball during prelaunch test→