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The U.N. General Assembly, endorsed the "Equal Earth" map projection, adopting the "Correct the Map" resolution by an overwhelming majority of 164 to 1, on September 4, addressing the challenge of flattening three-dimensional worlds into two dimensions.

The 1569 Mercator projection, designed in what is now Germany for navigation, preserves angles but distorts area. Equal Earth preserves country and continent sizes, curving its north-south lines and compressing latitude poleward. "Every projection chooses what to preserve," said Jue Wang of Washington University in St. Louis.

Extraterrestrial mapping, dating to a 1609 lunar map, relies on stitched telescope and spacecraft imagery, coordinated since 1979 by the International Astronomical Union's cartographic coordinates working group. No solar-system body is a perfect sphere, so projections don't carry between worlds; Earth's continents and oceans, addressed by the "orange-peel" Goode homolosine projection, contrast with other worlds' rock-and-ice surfaces, except volcanic Io and liquid-sculpted Titan. Each world needs its longitude reference, as Artemis targets the lunar south pole rather than Apollo's equatorial sites; projections poor at depicting poles may need reconsideration. Extraterrestrial mapping, Fortezzo said, has "no feelings involved." United States was the only country to have voted against the resolution.

21 September, 2026

California-based AstroForge plans to fly a spacecraft that will receive no ground commands after separation, the California asteroid-mining.

AstroForge’s Autonomy-1 will launch in early 2027 on Stoke Space's Nova Pathfinder, the reusable-rocket developer's first orbital flight. The Earth-orbit mission will be run by Solo, an AstroForge intelligence model that sits atop the company's deterministic, physics-based flight software and makes real-time decisions, including diagnosing anomalies. Solo, an AI that lets the spacecraft operate without ground commands, will ingest data, flagging problems and deciding next steps. Telemetry and science data will flow one way, to the ground.

Solo will get a smaller-scale test in "shadow mode," making decisions without acting on them, on a separate AstroForge mission, DeepSpace-2, which launches this year on a SpaceX Falcon 9 alongside Intuitive Machines' third lunar lander. DeepSpace-2 will fly unguided for a week on verified physics models. Developing Solo involved thermal testing, an anechoic chamber, thruster hot-fire tests and mathematicians and physicists.

AstroForge says human oversight and ground operations account for nearly one-third of its mission costs, and doesn't scale to future fleets. Spacecraft autonomy has some historical precedent. NASA's Deep Space 1 flew a "Remote Agent" AI three decades ago, and OSIRIS-REx's landing and sampling were autonomous. Autonomy-1 will carry COMPASS, a NASA heliophysics instrument. AstroForge, founded in 2022 to mine asteroids, has flown two missions that both failed: 2023's Brokkr-1 and 2025's Odin.

21 September, 2026

A new study using NASA’s Perseverance rover data shows that Jezero Crater’s Margin Unit, on Mars, has preserved evidence of three distinct episodes of water activity that altered rock at the edge of the crater, revealing a far more complex hydrologic history than expected. expecting lakeshore sedimentary rock but found igneous rock. Its SuperCam laser analyzed more than 185 bedrock targets.

NASA's Perseverance reached the Margin Unit in 2023. Published in Communications Earth & Environment, the analysis finds that the unit, initially thought to contain lake‑formed sedimentary rocks, consists instead of igneous material altered repeatedly by groundwater, lake water and later hot hydrothermal fluids. SuperCam observations of more than 185 targets identified carbonate‑filled fractures, silica‑rich lakebed alterations, and calcium‑sulfate and fluorite veins linked to heated fluids. Star‑forming rings or arcs were not part of this study and instead, researchers reconstructed a sequence showing the Margin Unit as a crossroads for groundwater, surface water and hydrothermal systems, offering new insight into early Mars’ evolving environment and habitability. Dates, however, remain unknown.

On Earth, such reactions release hydrogen some microbes eat and minerals that preserve traces of life. Lead author Candice Bedford of Purdue said the results apply beyond Jezero, which sits in one of Mars' largest carbonate exposures.

23 September, 2026

Earth’s magnetic field may influence cellular energy production, physical performance and lifespan, according to a University of Nottingham study published in Aging. Researchers used magnetic shielding to reduce the field around fruit flies and found sharply different effects depending on mitochondrial health. Flies with a Pink1 mutation linked to early‑onset Parkinson’s lived about 20% longer but showed reduced physical performance, while healthy flies had shorter lifespans but improved movement. Flies were tracked for 70 days in the near-zero field.

Researchers Lisa Chakrabarti and Jacob Reed traced the effects to mitochondria using respiration measurements and diamond-based quantum sensors. Complex II activity rose in both groups, raising superoxide in healthy flies and appearing to offset the Pink1 defect. The results suggest magnetic‑field strength can alter core metabolic processes, with implications for ageing, neurodegenerative disease and future human missions beyond Earth’s magnetic protection. The authors said hypomagnetic conditions could one day help treat Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Chakrabarti said the work bears on long lunar and Mars missions, where astronauts will leave Earth's field.

25 September, 2026

Two new Science Advances studies strengthen the case for Saturn’s moon Enceladus as a promising site to search for extraterrestrial life.

An analysis led by Freie Universität Berlin’s Frank Postberg shows that ice grains in the moon’s plumes form through slow freezing (and not instantaneous) and fragmentation, separating salts from organics and sodium chloride from sodium carbonate. Cassini data, laboratory experiments and modeling indicate that accelerating to 1,000 km/h, they shatter against ice cracks into micrometer-sized grains, each often holding one concentrated substance. Future spacecraft could analyze these highly concentrated particles individually for biosignatures. that ocean droplets segregate components before shattering into micrometer‑scale fragments at high speed. Postberg said any microbial material could be identified with existing technology, relevant to ESA's planned L4 mission.

A second study, at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, co‑authored by Postberg and Nozair Khawaja, demonstrates that methane‑producing archaea can survive and metabolize under simulated Enceladus ocean conditions, including high pH, low CO₂ and hydrothermal interactions. Methanothermococcus okinawensis grew in simulated low-oxygen, carbonate-rich water at pH 10 to 11, producing methane from hydrogen generated by water-rock reactions and adapting to scarce carbon dioxide. It failed in a standard medium at the same pH. Postberg said the findings do not mean Enceladus hosts life.

Together, the findings refine sampling strategies and expand the potential habitability of Saturn’s moon.

23 September, 2026

A U.S. Chamber of Commerce report on low Earth orbit and national security calls for multiyear space appropriations, a commercial-first approach to remote sensing and study of a strategic reserve of satellite components as the Space Force overhauls how it buys satellites. It cites an August GAO report finding the Pentagon underuses commercial data.

The report argues that proliferated commercial LEO constellations proved their military value in Ukraine's war and should be layered with medium and geosynchronous orbit systems rather than replace them.

Both the U.S. House and Senate drafts of the annual defense policy bill would dissolve the Space Development Agency, which has contracted more than 500 military satellites on commercial timelines, along with the Space Rapid Capabilities Office, and fold their work into the Space Force's new acquisition structure. The Chamber said the merger could either spread SDA's speed across the Space Force or bury it in the slower processes the agency was created to bypass.

The report backs the new National Space Transportation Policy, signed Aug. 20, which sets a goal of more than 1,000 launches and reentries a year by 2030, and asks Congress for a dedicated space infrastructure fund. It cites the Space Force's fiscal 2027 request of $71 billion, including $19 billion for procurement.

24 September, 2026

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said NASA "may have dodged a bullet" when China delayed its Chang'e-7 lunar south pole mission from August, reducing near‑term risk of the two nations targeting the same Shackleton Crater landing zone.

Speaking at the Off World conference in Houston, Isaacman said the mission's rover and hopper could have denied access to sites near Shackleton Crater, where shadowed craters may hold water ice. U.S. officials have raised concerns that China could establish exclusion zones around its landing sites. China gave no detailed reason for the delay. Chang’e‑7, China’s most complex lunar mission to date, includes an orbiter, lander, rover, and hopper aimed at volatile‑rich terrain.

No spacecraft has soft-landed at the lunar poles. Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 1 could carry two NASA probes there as early as spring 2027. NASA plans to test docking in Earth orbit on Artemis III, then land on Artemis IV. NASA is assembling Artemis III hardware for an Earth‑orbit docking test in 2027 ahead of Artemis IV’s landing attempt in 2028, though Artemis III is about three months behind schedule. China continues targeting a crewed lunar landing by 2030.

Isaacman said China landing first would shape global perceptions of U.S. and lead nations to question U.S. security guarantees.

20 September, 2026

The United States, Denmark and Greenland signed an agreement expanding U.S. military access to Greenland, including for President Donald Trump's Golden Dome missile defense system, the White House said. It will take effect after Danish and Greenlandic parliamentary approval. The new defense agreement establishing expanded U.S. security authorities in Greenland, would end months of tension over President Donald Trump’s threats to seize the territory.

The deal allows the U.S. to modernize and expand Pituffik Space Base and provides for new defense areas at Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig, subject to mutually agreed arrangements. Contracts for the sites are to go to Greenlandic suppliers where feasible.

An unnamed U.S. State Department official said the pact, signed Sept. 22, grants permanent U.S. access, basing and overflight rights, and the U.S. could build structures without Danish or Greenlandic approval. The deal bars adversaries' sensitive investments and non-NATO bases, and would survive Greenlandic independence. That account differs from the White House description of mutually agreed sites.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said it recognizes Danish sovereignty and Greenlanders' right to self-determination, though its full text has not been released. NATO welcomed the agreement.

The agreement underpins Trump’s planned Golden Dome missile‑defense architecture, which is advancing through multiple acquisition efforts, including Space Systems Command’s $3.2 billion Space‑Based Interceptor program and SDA’s Tranche 3 awards to L3Harris and Sierra Space for 36 missile‑tracking satellites.

The Space Force explores commercial docking spacecraft for 14-day rapid responsive launch and reopens its SCAR antenna program to leases, while BAE, L3Harris and Rocket Lab clear missile-tracking design reviews.

20 September, 2026

The Space Force is exploring buying commercial spacecraft able to approach and dock with other satellites and launch within 14 days of tasking, according to a Sept. 18 request for information.

The office running the service's Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS) program said the capability could be needed as soon as fiscal 2029. It did not specify quantities but outlined a 14‑day tasking‑to‑launch goal and emphasized modular payload integration for unpredictable mission needs, where payloads can be swapped at the last minute.

The service's fiscal 2027 request includes $86 million for responsive-space demonstrations and describes a planned "rapid reaction force" of satellites kept ready for launch. The notice follows a series of TacRS demonstrations, including Victus Nox, Victus Diem, and June’s Victus Haze, that validated rapid launch and dynamic satellite engagements. Space Safari is now moving TacRS toward an operational system, with five missions planned: Victus Surgo, Victus Salo 1, Victus Salo 2 and 3, and Victus Sol.

Col. Bryon McClain, an acting Space Force acquisition executive, said Sept. 16 the program is becoming an operational system and the service will say less about future missions.

Separately, the Space Force has restarted its effort to expand the antennas that track and command U.S. government satellites, now seeking commercial systems.

A notice from the Space Force and the Missile Defense Agency reopens the Satellite Communications Augmentation Resource (SCAR) program as a Commercial Solutions Opening, which sets areas of interest rather than detailed requirements. Options include government-owned, contractor-operated systems, exclusive leases and shared "antenna as a service" networks. The notice said the latter two carry cyber risks.

SCAR is seeking commercially available antenna systems and leased satellite‑communications services to augment the Cold War-era Satellite Control Network, whose 19 antennas can each contact only one satellite at a time. The program is pursuing a phased, risk‑informed strategy to broaden industry participation and evaluate commercial command‑and‑control capabilities across antenna technologies, service delivery, and sustainment. Officials outlined three acquisition models,- government‑owned commercial systems, long‑term leases, and antenna‑as‑a‑service, all aimed at expanding capacity beyond the network’s single‑satellite‑contact limitation as spacecraft numbers grow. White papers are due Oct. 15, with multiple vendors expected to advance to a second phase. The effort follows cancellation of a $1.4 billion contract with BlueHalo for 12 phased-array antennas in March, in favor of leveraging mature commercial solutions.

24 September, 2026

Three missile-tracking satellite programs have passed key design reviews for Space Force constellations in low and medium Earth orbit.

BAE Systems said Sept. 21 it completed the critical design review for Epoch 2, a $1.2 billion, 10-satellite MEO constellation, clearing it for production. The first satellite is due in fiscal 2029. Epoch 2 will operate alongside 12 Epoch 1 satellites from Millennium Space Systems and L3Harris, set to begin launching in 2027.

In low Earth orbit, L3Harris and Rocket Lab passed preliminary design reviews for their 18-satellite batches of the Space Development Agency's 72-satellite, $3.5 billion Tranche 3 Tracking Layer, which is scheduled to begin launching in fiscal 2029. Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman build the rest. Both programs are expected to support the Golden Dome missile defense system.

22 September, 2026

North Korea's state news agency said Sept. 22 that the country tested "a new type of weapon" Sept. 20 with leader Kim Jong Un present, without identifying the system. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North fired two short-range ballistic missiles from the Wonsan area off its east coast, flying about 450 and 600 kilometers, respectively.

State media photos showed a screen labeled "Hwasongpho-11Ma-1 flight trajectory," suggesting a newly developed hypersonic missile, Yonhap and NK News reported. The screen showed a 908.2-kilometer flight, a figure experts said Pyongyang may have altered to claim success.

Hypersonic weapons fly at least five times the speed of sound and can maneuver, making them harder to track and intercept than ballistic missiles on predictable trajectories. Kim called the test "a striking demonstration of ultra-modern defense technology," KCNA said. His daughter Ju-ae attended.

The launches came before the U.N. General Assembly's general debate and a summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington. Yonhap said they appeared aimed at signaling to Washington that Pyongyang won't curb its military buildup.

Space Epoch's funding reaches 2.3 billion yuan for its reusable Yuanxingzhe-1, Australia's HEO raises $25 million for GEO satellite imaging, and ICEYE commits 120 million zlotys to Warsaw.

20 September, 2026

Space Epoch (Arrow Yuan), the private Chinese commercial aerospace startup, completed a B++ funding round, bringing total Series B capital raised to 2.3 billion yuan ($343 million) as it prepares the first flight of its Yuanxingzhe‑1 partially reusable methalox launcher later this year. The round included provincial funds Hangzhou Capital, Huafu Capital and Addor Capital, along with IDG Capital and other private investors. The debut mission aims to place the second stage in orbit and recover the first stage via sea splashdown, following a 2025 hop test, with commercial services targeted for 2027.

Space Epoch reports both stainless‑steel vehicles are deep in production, with Longyun engines delivered and more than 30 hardware tests completed. Recent milestones include welded first‑stage tanks, second‑stage vibration tests and verified propellant lines. The first vehicle finished major tests; a second is in production. The 64-meter, 4.2-meter-wide stainless-steel methane-oxygen rocket uses 10 Jiuzhou Yunjian Longyun engines, nine sea-level and one vacuum-optimized, and can lift 6,500 kilograms to a 1,100-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit.

21 September, 2026

Australian startup HEO closed a $25 million Series B to extend its non-Earth imaging network to geostationary orbit, accelerating plans to provide repeatable GEO coverage in 2027.

The round was led by Beaten Zone Venture Partners with participation from Australia’s National Reconstruction Fund Corporation, DCode Capital, Wunala Capital, and existing investors Airtree and Salus Ventures. HEO currently operates access to 50+ sensors and with the new fund, aims to monitor 90% of on‑orbit objects of interest to Australia and allies, supported by new sensor deployments, additional satellite‑operator partnerships and booked GEO launches beginning this year. HEO has booked two GEO launches, the first before year's end, and plans reliable, repeatable GEO imaging in 2027. Its network includes Planet and BlackSky cameras, a Satellogic satellite bought in January and eight in-house sensors.

The company has tripled revenue since an $8 million 2023 Series A and secured contracts with the U.S. NRO, Australia’s Department of Defence, Japan’s Ministry of Defense and the UK Space Agency. HEO also completed two proximity‑operations missions and expanded operations across five countries. The latest one, a new RPO imaging demonstration, captured maneuver‑phase imagery to support autonomous inspection workflows.

25 September, 2026

Finnish radar-satellite operator ICEYE opened a new Satellite Technology Centre in Warsaw, Poland and plans to invest more than 120 million Polish zloty (€28 million / $31 million) in Poland between 2026 and 2028 to expand research, production and satellite operations. The Polish headquarters consolidates an enlarged Satellite Operations Centre with engineering labs and will add an environmentally controlled assembly and testing hall. Warsaw already manages commissioning, constellation health, early‑orbit operations, mission planning, customer imaging and calibration. They also develop mission-planning software, train system operators and users and work on FPGA radar processing, onboard software, electronics, communications, propulsion and systems engineering. Satellite power-system components are made there. Satellite power-system components are made there.

ICEYE and state defense group PGZ signed a letter of intent in September on a military satellite communications system, and CEO Rafał Modrzewski said concept work has begun. ICEYE delivered MikroSAR to Poland's military within a year of signing. ICEYE says it operates the world's largest synthetic aperture radar constellation and has sold sovereign satellite systems to seven European governments.

Espoo-based ICEYE's Polish unit, founded in 2017, employs 150-plus of its 1,000-plus staff. It recently opened offices in Berlin, Munich, Lisbon, New Delhi, Amsterdam and Seoul, and launched ICEYE India in August.

21 September, 2026

Commercial customers effectively can no longer buy Falcon 9 launches, executives said privately at World Space Business Week in Paris. SpaceX stopped booking rideshares beyond late 2028 or early 2029. SpaceX has not made a phaseout announcement , but its May IPO prospectus said Falcon 9 launches would decline as Starship matures, reserving it for NASA crew and national security flights. Falcon 9 flew 165 times last year. At the All-In Summit, President Gwynne Shotwell said SpaceX would disrupt itself.

Executives questioned whether Starship will serve smallsat rideshares or, with its slot-shaped payload door, traditional satellites. It will be busy with Starlink, Starmind and Artemis missions, and its initial slot-shaped payload door suits SpaceX's flat satellites rather than traditional ones. SpaceX has only hinted at a Starship rideshare program.

Other providers face delays and challenges scaling up. Blue Origin's New Glenn and ULA's Vulcan remain grounded and Blue Origin targets 100-plus yearly New Glenn 9x4 launches. Stoke Space, which raised $1 billion, expects its 15-ton Nova Block 2 in 2029. Arianespace aims for 9-10 Ariane 6 launches in 2027; Avio seeks six, then nine, annual Vega C flights. Isar Aerospace, which first reached orbit Sept. 5, is booked through 2028. Astra's Rocket 4 debuts early next year.

Intuitive Machines, Space Norway and Vantor voiced concern and Exotrail called the shift predictable. Portal Space Systems will fly 10 Kepler satellites on its Falcon 9 through Maverick. D-Orbit's Renato Panesi called 2029 to 2031 risky because new rockets may lack the needed cadence.

23 September, 2026

Vast has formed a Lunar Programs division to support NASA's plans for a permanently crewed Moon Base. Colin Smith, who led Haven-1's development, heads the division. Vast says technology from Haven-1, its planned 2027 commercial space station, will carry over to lunar hardware.

Vast proposes phased roadmap matching NASA's iterative approach: the new division outlined a three‑step lunar architecture (surface access and demonstrations, initial base operations, and long‑duration habitation), built around a power station, a Haven‑derived airlock, and a multi‑module habitat. It would first land a solar power station, then a free-standing airlock to test dust mitigation, suit compatibility and pressure-vessel reliability before a full habitat reaches the surface. The airlock design would later serve as the node linking habitat modules.

Vast also proposes a lunar communications and positioning constellation designed to complement NASA’s planned relay network and reduce reliance on the Deep Space Network. The company says its flight‑proven pressure vessels, life‑support systems, avionics, and operational processes from Haven will form a technology pathway from low‑Earth‑orbit stations to permanent lunar infrastructure.

ClearSpace signs an ESA contract to advance Phoenix, its geostationary satellite life-extension mission, while HawkEye 360 wins about $18 million in Middle East signals intelligence awards.

23 September, 2026

Luxembourg-based in-orbit servicing company, ClearSpace announced that it signed a contract with the European Space Agency for the next phase of Phoenix, a geostationary satellite life-extension mission.

Phoenix would dock a servicing spacecraft to an operating satellite and take over propulsion and attitude control for station-keeping, repositioning and end-of-life operations. The new phase will mature the mission architecture, docking system and rendezvous and proximity operations technologies.

ClearSpace did not disclose the contract's value. The full development program is estimated at about €100 million. ESA is funding the phase through the Industrial Competitiveness line of its ARTES telecommunications program. ClearSpace Luxembourg developed Phoenix's technical foundations with support from the Luxembourg government and Luxembourg Space Agency. ESA's Laurent Jaffart described the technologies as dual-use.

24 September, 2026

HawkEye 360, U.S>-based signals intelligence provider and defense contractor, announced Middle East contracts worth about $18 million combined for its space-based signals intelligence. The awards cover data, analytics and mission support for defense and national security customers, whom the company did not name. It did not disclose the number of contracts, their terms or the countries involved. CEO John Serafini cited growing international demand for commercial signals intelligence.

Astronomers have determined that GJ 3090 b, a sub‑Neptune orbiting a nearby red dwarf, follows a highly misaligned and retrograde orbit, rotating opposite its star. The planet, about 73 light-years away, orbits against its red dwarf star's rotation, a University of Geneva-led team reported Sept. 21 in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Planets form in a disk rotating with their star, so their orbits should align with its equator. Meanwhile, the Psi angle (the small tilt angle between a planet's orbital plane and the equatorial plane of its host star) of our solar system planets are off by 3 to 7 degrees, whereas for GJ 3090 b, it is off by 136 degrees. It is one of the largest known, and found no massive companion capable of tilting the planet’s orbit, a feature present in other extreme‑Psi systems. Only five other known multiplanet systems have planets misaligned by more than 70 degrees, each with a massive star or planet that could explain it.

The planet, 2.2 times Earth's radius and 4.5 times its mass, was discovered by TESS in 2022. Using the Swiss-built NIRPS spectrograph at La Silla Observatory, the team measured the angle and found two more planets. Co-author Vincent Bourrier said the star may have accreted a misaligned, retrograde secondary disk in which the planets formed.

Despatch Out. 👽🛸