Space Exploration

Vast, builder of private space stations, launches line of high-power satellites

By Mike Wall published 19 May 26

The California startup Vast, which is best known for its space station plans, announced today (May 19) that it's launching a new line of high-power satellites.

NASA satellite will test orbital 'gas station' tech to help astronauts reach the moon and Mars

By Josh Dinner published 19 May 26

You can travel much farther with a full tank.

Scientists just solved a tricky asteroid-hopping spacecraft riddle

By Keith Cooper published 19 May 26

Plotting the optimal trajectory to visit multiple asteroids is a fiendishly difficult take on the Traveling Salesperson problem, but a new mathematical approach has succeeded in solving it.

The UFO files: What did we learn from the Pentagon's 1st big release?

By Leonard David published 19 May 26

On May 8, the Pentagon released its first tranche of "UFO files." Space.com reached out to experts to make sense of this highly anticipated data drop.

Vega C rocket launches European-Chinese space weather satellite to orbit

By Mike Wall last updated 19 May 26

A Vega C rocket launched the European-Chinese SMILE space weather mission to orbit on Monday night (May 18).

This amazing NASA video shows the exact moment the Artemis 2 Orion capsule broke free of its service module, and we can't stop watching it

By Josh Dinner published 18 May 26

A new NASA video shows the Artemis 2 Orion capsule's separation from its service module just before the spacecraft slammed into Earth's atmosphere on April 10, 2026.

Artemis 2 moon astronauts snap gorgeous shot of swirling stars | Space photo of the day for May 18, 2026

By Chelsea Gohd published 18 May 26

What a view from the Orion capsule.

These Apollo 'UFO' images have been public for decades. So why are people talking about them now?

By Mike Wall published 18 May 26

Much of the UFO imagery that the Pentagon released last week was new, but we've known for decades about the odd things that the Apollo astronauts saw on and around the moon.

SpaceX Starlink and other satellite megaconstellations are creating an 'unregulated geoengineering experiment', scientists say

By Tereza Pultarova published 18 May 26

The space industry's plans to launch millions of satellites worry scientists as the rise in high-altitude air pollution threatens to alter Earth's climate.

SpaceX Dragon capsule delivers science and supplies to space station

By Robert Z. Pearlman published 17 May 26

A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft delivered 6,500 pounds of science and supplies to the International Space Station on Sunday, May 17, 2026.