Deep Space Extra

Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter during the week of September 20, 2026:

Human Space Exploration

• New videos of NASA’s Artemis II launch show the absolute power of the SLS rocket
  Coalition Members in the News – Amentum, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Rocketdyne;
• NASA chief concerned China may deny access to parts of Moon’s south pole;
• Deep Space Food Challenge: Mars to Table;
• Former NASA chief sounds alarm on China’s lunar “exploration” plans;
• NASA, SpaceX move to final Crew-13 pre-launch prep for October 1 liftoff;
• NASA welcomes Albania as newest Artemis Accords signatory;
• Pakistani astronauts to fly aboard China’s space station soon: senior Chinese astronaut;
• Scientists release details about Moon’s new massive crater;
• China cultivates 14 plant species aboard space station;
• FOX54 exclusive: NASA chief says Artemis III on schedule, talks space-based nuclear reactor and Space Academy;
• NASA awards SpaceX $946 million for 3 more astronaut missions to the ISS
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• Russian Progress spacecraft delivers 3 tons of cargo to the ISS;

Space Science

• NASA announces new space telescope ‘PRIMA’ to launch in 2033;
• Stanford engineers teach spacecraft to “dream” their way to the space station;
• Air, Space Forces pick up research pace for orbital cargo delivery;
• ‘Without a single command from the ground’: Asteroid-mining company to launch world’s 1st autonomous space mission in 2027;
• JUICE mission to swing by Earth on September 28;
• Bennu asteroid samples point to a surprising origin involving Jupiter;
• Astronomers detect radio signals coming from an exoplanet for the first time;
• A rare, distant clump of early galaxies reveals ancient cosmic secrets;
• Spaceflight may harm the reproductive system of astronauts’ kids and grandkids, early mouse study suggests;
• Visions of Moon cities often treat polar ice as a ready-made water supply, but estimates of hundreds of millions of tonnes reveal little about how much is concentrated, accessible and economical to mine the real unsolved problem is extraction, not thirst.;
• The Sun is physically capable of producing a “superflare” according to a new study;
• How supermassive black holes are the architects of entire galaxies;
• After 8 years in space, ‘BepiColombo’ is finally approaching Mercury;
• ‘We are on our way to groundbreaking science’: Stars turn neon-green in first test image from NASA’s Roman telescope Space photo of the week;
• Scientists simulate cosmic crashes to test whether icy moons gain or lose their ability to sustain life;
• In old NASA data, scientists find a surprising new type of cosmic object;

Other News

• NASA administrator downplays proposed cuts during Tucson stop;
• States jockey to land Trump’s new Space Academy;
• NASA chief: I’m only interested in “good deals” from international partners;
• Space investment more than doubled to $23 billion in year to June, report says;
• NASA welcomes Croatia as newest Artemis Accords signatory;
• How the first Latina in space, Ellen Ochoa, charted her way to the stars;
• SpaceX rolls giant Super Heavy booster to pad ahead of Starship’s 1st orbital flight (photos);
• Satellite industry grapples with the end of Falcon 9;
• ISRO and European Space Agency extend space cooperation agreement until 2032;
• What are you most excited for NASA’s Roman Space Telescope to find?;
• Space Force to prototype new software to fuse commercial, military space tracking data;

Major Space-Related Activities for the Week

• Albania is set to sign NASA’s Artemis Accords on Monday in Washington D.C. and will become the 73rd nation to do so. The Accords encourage a peaceful, transparent and prosperous era of future space exploration.
• The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics meets Tuesday through Thursday in Washington D.C. with some virtual access.
• The Payload Space “Off World Summit” is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday in Houston. Topics include the development of commercial successors to the ISS, building a Moon Base and developing nuclear energy beyond Earth.
• SpaceX’s 14th test flight of the Super Heavy/Starship combination has moved from Tuesday to September 28, pending regulatory approval. The 75-minute launch window opens at 8:15 a.m. EDT. Starship, SpaceX’s version of a lunar Human Landing System (HLS), is to enter Earth orbit for the first time.
• The U.S. Senate is in session this week, while the House is in recess except for pro-forma sessions. The federal government is closing in on the October 1 start of the 2027 fiscal year without a budget. However, a continuing resolution (CR) signed into law earlier this month will keep the federal government open through December 11 while holding spending at 2026 levels.

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