Deep Space Extra

Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter during the week of October 11, 2026:

Human Space Exploration

• SpaceX Cargo Dragon delivers more than 6,000 pounds of supplies to the ISS;
• How NASA partners with universities to innovate space exploration;
• Artemis III SLS teams prepare short stack for pad tanking test;
• Watch SpaceX deliver more than 6,000 pounds of cargo to the ISS today;
• Mini organs launching to space may help future astronauts and humans on Earth stay healthy;
• Next Artemis mission on track for 2027, but anything can happen, astronaut says;
• SpaceX launches NASA science and cargo to the International Space Station;
• NASA issues long-awaited call to industry for private space stations
  Coalition Member in the News – Axiom Space;
• CRS-35 set to launch to ISS with final iROSA arrays, experiments, and other items
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• Honda wants to put a robotic lab assistant on future commercial space stations
  Coalition Member in the News – Axiom Space;

Space Science

• Rocketdyne selected to provide propulsion for first privately funded full-scale space science mission
  Coalition Member in the News – Rocketdyne;
• JAXA’S MMX Mars mission readies for launch with two NASA instruments;
• Things are finally looking up for NASA’s first missions to Venus in a generation;
• AFRL partners with Virgin Galactic to gather data on space weather;
• A trip to Mars could break your heart – literally;
• Scientists discover that some of the universe’s biggest explosions may have never happened at all;
• A star exploded 850 years ago. Somehow, it’s still alive;
• The Sun has a new life expectancy, and it’s a billion times shorter;
• JAXA’s MMX mission will include the first wheeled rover to drive in ultra-low gravity;
• Variable clouds of water detected outside the solar system for the first time;
• A faint glow from the early universe could help solve the mystery of dark energy;
• ESA’s Hera mission targets binary asteroid pair in November;
• NASA may already have proof life once existed on another planet. Scientists might never get to find out
  Coalition Member in the News – Lockheed Martin;
• NASA’s Perseverance sets off-world record for total distance driven;
• Moon rovers in the fast lane;
• Italy explores building an artificial gravity research platform in orbit;
• NASA advances LISA mission contributions with new test telescope
  Coalition Member in the News – L3Harris Technologies;

Opinion

• After the ISS: What happens when humanity loses its shared home in space?
  A look into the history of the 15-nation ISS and its long-term continuous human presence prior to its planned deorbit at the end of 2030 raises a question. Has its presence been fully acknowledged, and can plans for its successors match up? Alex Kennedy, founder of the New Horizon publication, offers an assessment in an op-ed.

Other News

• How head of Army’s space command became a ‘huge believer’ on high-altitude surveillance balloons;
• The great Halley’s Comet disappointment of 1986 and the discoveries that changed astronomy forever;
• NASA names astronaut Christina Koch acting deputy chief engineer;
• Private Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft departs the International Space Station after 6-month stay (video)
  Coalition Member in the News – Northrop Grumman;

Major Space-Related Activities for the Week

• The 35th NASA contracted SpaceX resupply mission to the seven-person ISS is planned for launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Tuesday at 6:33 a.m. EDT, with a cargo that includes the seventh and eighth Roll Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs) for installation to boost solar power generation as NASA prepares the ISS for a safe deorbit by the end of 2030. Rendezvous and docking to the ISS is planned for Thursday at 11 a.m. EDT.
• The four NASA Crew-12 mission participants that returned to Earth on October 8 after a 237-day mission are to participate in a post mission news briefing on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. EDT.
• On Thursday, NASA has scheduled an audio media telecon to explain its role in the Japan Aerospace Exploration’s Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, which is preparing for an October 19 launch. MMX is to explore the Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos, and obtain and return to Earth surface samples from Phobos. The NASA briefings will have virtual access at www.nasa.gov/nasalive.
• The U.S. House and Senate remain in recess except for pro forma sessions until after the November 3 midterm elections.

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