Tag: lunar exploration
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NASA Simplifies Axiom Lunar Suit to Keep 2028 Artemis Landing on Schedule
NASA is developing a simplified version of Axiom Space’s lunar spacesuit to reduce schedule risk ahead of the first Artemis crewed landing, now planned for early 2028. Reportedly known internally as the “sortie suit,” the configuration would remove or defer some of the mass, complexity and long-duration capabilities included in the original Axiom Extravehicular Mobility…
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China Advances Tianwen-3 Mars Sample Return Mission Into Prototype Development
China’s Tianwen-3 Mars sample return mission has entered prototype development, with two Long March 5 launches planned for late 2028 or early 2029 and the return of approximately 500 grams of Martian material targeted for around 2031. If successful, Tianwen-3 could become the first mission to deliver samples from Mars to Earth, while supporting China’s…
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U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Says Military Must Prepare for Contested Cislunar Space
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on September 16, 2026, that U.S. forces must prepare to operate in contested environments extending to cislunar space. Speaking at the Air & Space Forces Association’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, he described the modern battlefield as spanning “from the…
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Both Bound for the Moon: Why Are NASA’s SLS and SpaceX’s Starship So Different?
On one side is the orange-and-white SLS. On the other is Starship, resembling a stainless-steel tower. Both are part of the United States’ architecture for returning humans to the Moon, yet they have almost nothing in common—from their appearance and engines to how they are intended to operate. Their respective roles: SLS Block 1 and…
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NASA and IBM Open-Source Lunar Foundation AI Model to Accelerate Moon Science
NASA and IBM have released the NASA-IBM Lunar Foundation Model, one of the first publicly available foundation models developed specifically for scientific exploration of the Moon. Trained on a large, multi-instrument lunar dataset assembled by researchers from both organizations, the model is designed to extract new insights from decades of observations and support scientific and…
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NASA Moves Artemis II Commander and Pilot to Emeritus Status
NASA will transition Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman and pilot Victor Glover to emeritus status at Johnson Space Center in September, retaining their technical and operational experience as the agency prepares for Artemis III in 2027 and its planned return to the lunar surface with Artemis IV in 2028. The change follows the astronauts’ 10-day…
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NASA Seeks Industry Proposals for Lunar Power, Oxygen and Manufacturing Systems
NASA issued a solicitation on September 8 seeking industry-led proposals to mature five technologies needed for sustained operations at the lunar South Pole, including vertical solar arrays, oxygen production from regolith, radioisotope power, in-space manufacturing and advanced nanomaterials. The initiative is intended to close infrastructure gaps that would otherwise limit the duration and independence of…
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China Launches International Earth-Moon CubeSat Constellation to Support Future Lunar Bases
China has formally launched the International Earth-Moon CubeSat Constellation Big Science Program, which aims to deploy 30 CubeSats across cislunar space in six batches. The preliminary schedule targets the completion of all launches and deployments around 2030. The satellites will conduct space-environment monitoring, gamma-ray burst observations and lunar-resource surveys, generating data intended to support future…
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NASA Funds ‘Slingshot’ Concept to Survey Minerals Across Multiple Worlds
NASA has awarded Phase I funding to Interworld Slingshot Resource Surveys, a SETI Institute-led concept that would use a single 300-kilogram spacecraft to identify minerals on the Moon, a near-Earth asteroid and a Martian moon. The study will assess whether Raman spectroscopy can measure surface composition from 30–50 kilometers away, potentially helping future missions select…
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ESA and ispace-Europe Formalize €65 Million MAGPIE Lunar Ice Rover Mission
The European Space Agency and ispace-Europe have formally signed the implementation agreement for MAGPIE, a commercially led rover mission designed to investigate water ice and subsurface geology near the Moon’s south pole. The Phase 2 agreement was signed on September 1, 2026, during ESA’s Space for Inspiration event in Copenhagen, Denmark. The ceremony followed ESA’s…