The University of Southern California Rocket Propulsion Lab (USCRPL) — which in 2019 became the first student organization ever to launch a rocket to space — sent its Aftershock II vehicle 470,400 feet (89.09 miles, or 143.38 kilometers) above Earth last month. That smashed the amateur altitude record of 380,000 feet (71.97 miles, or 115.82 km), which was set in 2004 by the Civilian Space Exploration Team.

Our galaxy’s two closest neighbors are two dwarf galaxies known as the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Being much smaller in mass (the LMC is 10% the mass of the Milky Way, for instance), these nearby galaxies are largely at the gravitational whim of ours.

TAMPA, Fla. — AST SpaceMobile said Nov. 14 it has booked rockets from Blue Origin and others to deploy enough satellites between 2025 and 2026 to provide full text, voice, and 5G data services to standard mobile phones across the United States and other key markets.

WASHINGTON — Impulse Space has purchased three Falcon 9 launches for its Helios transfer vehicle for missions starting in 2026, including one for the Space Force.

Washington, D.C – The Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) announced the addition of its newest Associate Member, Aetherflux, a new aerospace company focused on building a commercial space-based solar power business. Aetherflux is joining CSF to help better interact with Congress and the Executive Branches as the company works to make space solar power a reality. 

WASHINGTON — Intuitive Machines suggested the need for “reformulation” of NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration campaign to accommodate budget issues and delays.

Enough commercial activity is heading to the moon in the next few months to create a traffic jam. Firefly Aerospace, ispace and Intuitive Machines are all launching commercial lunar lander missions by early 2025, all on Falcon 9 rockets. That surge of missions makes it uncertain who exactly will be launching when. At a meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group in Houston Oct. 29, Firefly’s Joseph Marlin declined to offer a more specific launch date for its Blue Ghost 1 lander than some time in the fourth quarter of this year. “SpaceX is still sorting out its schedule,” he said.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration is moving ahead with a long-awaited committee to evaluate ways to improve launch licensing regulations as one executive calls for far greater changes.

BERLIN — The Exploration Company has raised $160 million to support the company’s development of a cargo spacecraft to support future commercial space stations.

On Nov. 6, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe passed within 234 miles (376 kilometers) of Venus’ surface. The purpose of this close flyby was to accomplish a gravity-assist maneuver, in which the probe would steal some of Venus’ momentum to change the spacecraft’s orbit and bring itself even closer to the sun.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying ISRO’s GSAT-N2 communications satellite is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today during a two-hour window that opens at 1:31 p.m. EST (1831 GMT). If it goes at the beginning of that window, it will be the third launch in 27 hours for Elon Musk’s company.

Seeds flown to space last year will be planted on Earth this spring as part of a cultural and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) study.

WASHINGTON — Northrop Grumman’s SpaceLogistics subsidiary is eyeing a 2026 launch for its next-generation satellite servicing vehicle, the Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV). Equipped with robotic arms developed by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), the MRV aims to extend the lifespan of satellites in geostationary orbit more than 22,500 miles above Earth.

SAN FRANCISCO – The San Antonio-based Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) won a $60 million contract to build three coronagraphs for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Forty years ago, the United States government made a decision that transformed the modern world: it opened the Global Positioning System (GPS) to civilian use. What began as a military technology became the foundation for countless innovations that we now take for granted — from turn-by-turn navigation to precision farming to emergency response systems. Today, GPS contributes hundreds of billions of dollars annually to the global economy while maintaining America’s technological leadership.

HELSINKI — A cargo spacecraft has arrived at China’s Tiangong space station, delivering supplies, experiments and equipment to support crewed missions.