Space

Artemis II astronauts follow Apollo, name lunar features after loved ones

Lunar love knows no bounds. Now hurtling home from the moon, the Artemis II astronauts took a poignant page from Apollo 8 earlier this week, proposing deeply personal names for a pair of lunar craters. Commander Reid Wiseman and his crew asked permission to name one small, fresh crater after their capsule called Integrity and another after his late wife, Carroll. Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen made the request right before Monday's lunar fly-around. Wiseman was too emotional to talk. Carroll Wiseman, a neonatal nurse, died of cancer in 2020. "Just for me personally, that was kind of the pinnacle moment of the mission for me," Wiseman said from space Wednesday night. During Apollo 8 in 1968, astronaut Jim Lovell bestowed his wife's name upon a prominent lunar peak: Mount Marilyn. It was humanity's first trip to the moon and she anxiously awaited his return back home in Houston. The three Americans and one Canadian of Artemis II are the first lunar visitors since Apollo 17 closed

Nasa's Artemis II crew heads back to Earth after record trip around Moon

At their nearest distance to the moon, the Artemis II's Lockheed Martin Corp.-built Orion capsule came within an estimated 4,067 miles of the lunar surface, according to calculations by Nasa

Artemis II mission: In lunar glow, India's space supply chain may take off

Though not directly part of Artemis II, India features via global suppliers with strong local presence, underlining its rising role as a sourcing and manufacturing hub in aerospace

Isro invites Indian researchers to study data from Aditya-L1 mission

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced on Thursday that it is inviting proposals from the Indian solar physics community to access data from the Aditya-L1 mission, the first space-based Indian mission to study the Sun. This is the second such formal call from ISRO for Indian scientists to access the Aditya-L1 mission data; the first call was made in January. "At present, there are over 27 TB of data in the public domain, and several important scientific results have been published in international peer-reviewed journals. To further maximise the scientific return from this unique mission, the ISRO has released the second Announcement of Opportunity (AO) inviting proposals from the Indian solar physics community for Aditya-L1 observation time," the ISRO said in a statement. Proposals can be submitted by Indian scientists and researchers based at institutes, universities, or colleges in India. The applicants should be involved in research in the area of solar science a

Nasa's moon-bound astronauts reach stable orbit, begin Artemis II mission

Named after Apollo's twin, Artemis aims for a sustained human presence on the Moon; Nasa plans a $30-billion, decade-long effort to build a lunar base for astronauts to live and work

Govt taps space startups to develop 'bodyguard' satellites amid tensions

Discussions between government bodies and startups are in advanced stages and the private companies are aiming to launch their first test satellite in the first half of this year

Time, space, experience: Travel diaries now seek the truly exotic

An excursion to the White Continent or a secret ski party, travel diaries now seek the exotic

Blue Origin CEO vows all-in effort to beat rival SpaceX in moon race

As part of the lunar push, Blue Origin is shifting employees from its New Shepard space tourism programmes to focus on efforts to head back to the moon

Avantel wins ₹122.58 cr antenna order from ISRO arm NewSpace India

Avantel Ltd secures a ₹122.58 crore order from NewSpace India Limited for supply, installation and commissioning of S/X-band antennas, to be completed by August 2027

Bezos' Blue Origin to halt space tourism flights to focus on moon mission

Blue Origin holds a $3.4 billion contract with Nasa to develop its Blue Moon lander, designed to shuttle astronauts to and from the moon, with a landing originally targeted for 2029

Pixxel-led group wins India's first private national EO satellite project

Pixxel-led consortium will design, build, own and operate India's first privately led national Earth Observation system under a public-private partnership, deploying 12 satellites over five years

Nasa astronaut Sunita Williams retires after stellar 27-year career

Nasa astronaut Sunita Williams, a record-holder with 608 days in space and nine spacewalks, has retired after 27 years, capping a career marked by leadership, endurance and historic missions

Space industry seeks PLI, tax sops and procurement push in Budget

India's space industry has sought PLI incentives, tax holidays and a strong government procurement push in the Budget to spur private investment and global competitiveness

GalaxEye gears up for Mission Drishti, plans 10 satellite constellations

Space start-up Galaxeye is set to launch its first-of-a-kind satellite that would generate images of the earth fusing data from optical and radar sensors, which have applications in sectors ranging from defence to agriculture. The start-up plans to launch "Mission Drishti", a multi-sensory earth observation satellite, in the first quarter of this year and scale it up to a constellation of 10 satellites by 2030. "Mission Drishti represents a global first: a single satellite platform that has integrated radar sensing and optical imaging, while also standing as India's largest privately developed satellite," Suyash Singh, co-founder and CEO of GalaxEye, told PTI. GalaxEye plans to deploy two more satellites by the end of the next few years and six-seven more satellites by the end of the decade, scaling the total satellite constellation to 10 by 2030, enabling near real time data delivery at scale, Singh said. "This dedicated constellation will unlock time sensitive applications across

PSLV suffers stage-3 failure in Isro's first 2026 launch: What went wrong?

PSLV-C62's third-stage malfunction derailed India's first 2026 space mission, with DRDO's Anvesha and multiple co-passenger satellites now presumed lost

Space startup OrbitAid to showcase in-orbit refuelling tech for satellites

A Chennai-based space startup is all set to demonstrate its technology that would allow re-fuelling of satellites orbiting the earth, extending their lifespan and help address the challenges of space debris. OrbitAid Aerospace is set to launch AyulSAT, a dedicated tanker-satellite, onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on Monday to perform internal propellant transfer, power transfer and data transfer using its Standard Interface for Docking and Refuelling Port (SIDRP). "We will first demonstrate transfer of fuel from one tank to another within the satellite," Sakthikumar Ramachandran, founder and CEO, OrbitAID, told PTI. Sakthikumar said AyulSAT will be India's first commercial docking and refuelling interface deployed in-orbit. "We will soon have fuel stations in orbit that will enable life extension of satellites - both in low earth and geo synchronous orbits," he said. Sakthikumar said later this year OrbitAID will launch another satellite -- the designated chaser

Russia plans to build nuclear power plant on Moon within a decade

Roscosmos said the purpose of the plant was to power Russia's lunar programme, including rovers

Nasa chief fuels SpaceX-Blue Origin rivalry as US eyes return to moon

Both SpaceX and Blue Origin hold contracts with Nasa to build lunar landers for the agency's Artemis program

200 milestones behind it in 2025, Isro readies for Gaganyaan tests

From a surge in startups to crewed mission preparations, 2025 marks a transformative year as India eyes $44 billion space economy by 2033