Deep Space Extra

Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter during the week of Feb 16, 2026:

Human Space Exploration

• Artemis II could launch as soon as March following successful WDR;
• NASA’s new chief rebukes Boeing, space agency over problem-plagued Starliner mission that left astronauts stuck in space for months
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• Flexible force fields can protect our return to the Moon;
• The fuel set to propel NASA’s Moon crew is notorious for leaking. So why use it?
• The Artemis II crew is preparing to return NASA to deep space
  Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, Lockheed Martin;
• NASA hopes fuel leaks are fixed as it launches another countdown test for the Artemis II moonshot;
• The Artemis I Moon mission had a heat shield issue. Here’s why NASA doesn’t think it will happen again on Artemis II
  Coalition Member in the News – Lockheed Martin;
• NASA will conduct second Artemis II WDR on Thursday;
• SpaceX Dragon astronauts make Valentine’s Day docking at space station to boost skeleton crew;
• FAA greenlights new SpaceX Starship trajectories over U.S. mainland;

Space Science

• Hubble telescope discovers rare galaxy that is 99% dark matter;
• NASA’s snowman discovery just got a simple explanation;
• Interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS finally wakes up, spewing organics and water;
• Martian volcanoes could be hiding massive glaciers under a blanket of ash;
• NASA’s next great space telescope is getting ready for launch;
• How Mars’ toxic soil actually makes stronger bricks;
• Scientists discover recent tectonic activity on the Moon;
• A spacecraft flew closer to the Sun than ever and is rewriting a century-old mystery;
• A ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse will dazzle people and penguins in Antarctica;

Other News

• Jacksonville’s Cecil Spaceport expansion could have the First Coast looking like the Space Coast
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• Pentagon seeks commercially built GEO spy satellites;
• Space Force needs 10,000 more Guardians, officials tell Senate;
• Fast five with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman;
• NASA Administrator wants to meet with head of Roscosmos;
• 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

• As NASA addresses the hydrogen leaks that surfaced during the initial Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) that has moved the Artemis II mission launch from February to no earlier than March 6, it plans a second WDR on Thursday, according to a NASA update issued on Monday.
• Connected D.C.-Maryland-Virginia is hosting “spaceNEXT in Tysons Corner, a Washington, D.C. suburb, this Wednesday through Friday to focus on the infrastructure needed to make sustained space operations economically viable. The session includes international as well as NASA and congressional participants.
• The 12th annual IAA Space Traffic Management conference is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas in Austin.
• The Secure World Foundation has a space sustainability webinar planned for Wednesday morning featuring recent research focused on space activities, information sharing and a circular space economy.
• The U.S. House and Senate are in recess this week except for pro forma sessions with Homeland Security in government shutdown.

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