Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter during the week of Feb 9, 2026:

Human Space Exploration

• NASA picks Vast for sixth private space station mission;
• NASA loading liquid hydrogen aboard Artemis II rocket in unannounced test;
• Replacement space station crew takes off on eight-month mission;
• Why are the launch windows for NASA’s Artemis II Moon mission so short?;
• China showcases new Moon ship and reusable rocket in one extraordinary test;
• NASA chief: Artemis Moon landing is litmus test for ‘American exceptionalism’;
• Germany funds 78-million-euro human exploration control center;
• A city on the Moon: Why SpaceX shifted its focus away from Mars;
• Musk clips his Mars settlement ambition, aims for the Moon instead;
• Weather delays NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 flight to the International Space Station;
• SpaceX’s next astronaut launch for NASA is officially on for February 11 as FAA clears Falcon 9 rocket to fly again;

Space Science

• Asteroid samples NASA brought to Earth suggest life’s building blocks may be widespread in the universe;
• Space Station research contributes to Artemis II;
• Mars’ ‘young’ volcanoes prove more complex than scientists once thought;
• How are gas giant exoplanets born? James Webb Space Telescope provides new clues;
• Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS survived its flyby of the sun and gave up some secrets in the process;
• Venus may have an underground tunneling system carved by volcano eruptions;
• James Webb Space Telescope finds precursors to ‘building blocks of life’ in nearby galaxy;
• Does dark matter actually exist? New theory says it could be gravity behaving strangely;
• SpaceX Crew-12 will study how microgravity affects the human body;

Opinion

• Soft power and the race to the Moon: Why cislunar norms are the next hill to hold
  Geopolitics is shifting from Earth orbit to cislunar space, where early movers can shape the norms, standards and infrastructure that will govern deep-space operations and long-term lunar activity. The U.S. holds a unique soft-power advantage through NASA’s Artemis Program and the Artemis Accords, which promote transparency, interoperability and cooperative frameworks that encourage partners to build within a U.S.-led ecosystem rather than compete outside it. To sustain this leadership, Congress must treat cislunar governance as a strategic priority by funding domain awareness, interoperable communications and navigation, predictable deconfliction mechanisms and sustainability practices that make responsible behavior the global default. 

Other News

• ULA’s Vulcan gets USSF payloads to orbit despite another SRB anomaly
  Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman;
• Axiom Space raises $350 million backed by Donald Trump Jr.’s firm, Qatar fund
  Coalition Member in the News – Axiom Space;
• Hydrogen leaks, a problem since the shuttle era, under scrutiny in SLS delay;
• NASA Administrator eyes greater collaboration with Pentagon;
• Vulcan Centaur rocket launches ‘neighborhood watch’ satellites for the U.S. military
  Coalition Member in the News – Northrop Grumman;
• ULA sets sights on ramping up launch cadence in 2026
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• An emotional countdown to the maiden launch of the Ariane 64, Europe’s most powerful rocket;
• As China and the U.S. vie for the Moon, private companies are locked in their own space race;
• Isaacman wants to restore NASA’s core competencies;

Major Space-Related Activities for the Week

• SpacePolicyOnline.com (2/8): After a bit of a dynamic schedule, NASA’s Crew-12 is planned to lift off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Wednesday at 6:01 a.m. ET, with two NASA astronauts, a European Space Agency astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut to restore staffing aboard the ISS to seven personnel. The count dropped to one from NASA and two from Russia on January 14, when the four NASA Crew-11 members made an expedited departure from the orbital laboratory to address a medical concern. NASA YouTube is providing live Crew-12 launch and docking coverage as well as coverage of a pre-launch news briefing on Monday at 11 a.m. ET.
• The Maryland Space Business Roundtable is hosting a briefing by former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, an Artemis advocate, on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter:
Don’t miss the latest developments in space policy, science, and exploration with Deep Space Extra, delivered directly to your inbox from Monday to Friday.