WASHINGTON — The House passed a new NASA authorization bill Sept. 23 that would largely keep the agency on course in its human spaceflight and science programs while directing it to prepare several reports.

HELSINKI — China will launch the Tianwen-2 mission to sample a near-Earth asteroid next year, an official with the country’s space agency said Tuesday.

SAN FRANCISCO – Earth observation company Planet unveiled a product Sept. 24 for monitoring global forests.

WASHINGTON — A new U.S. government report highlights mixed progress in the modernization of the Global Positioning System (GPS), citing advancements in satellite and ground equipment upgrades alongside persistent delays in some areas.

The vast distance between Earth and the Red Planet poses a significant challenge, as do the radiation and thermal issues spacecraft will experience on the journey. Still, the prospect of harnessing commercial innovation to reduce the cost of studying Mars is too enticing to ignore.

WASHINGTON — Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft successfully landed in New Mexico early Sept. 7, completing the Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission but without any crew on board.

WASHINGTON — The European Space Agency successfully deorbited the first of four Cluster space science satellites Sept. 8, performing a first-of-its-kind “targeted reentry” over the South Pacific.

WASHINGTON — A multibillion-dollar NASA mission to a potentially habitable moon of Jupiter has been cleared to begin final preparations for an October launch after resolving concerns about electronics on the spacecraft.

Moog Inc. (NYSE: MOG.A and MOG.B), a worldwide designer, manufacturer, and integrator of precision motion control components and systems, announces the development of its newest space computer to support the next-generation of on-orbit computing needs. The innovative Moog Cascade Single Board Computer (SBC) is the latest advancement of high-speed, radiation-hardened space computers for multi-mission, bus/payload applications for all orbital regimes.

HELSINKI — Thailand has signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation on the China-led International Lunar Research Station (ILRS).

As humanity embarks on a new era of space exploration, of establishing permanent human bases on the moon and Mars, sustainability must become the bedrock of our exploration efforts beyond Earth. With the NASA-led Artemis program, private lunar exploration initiatives and the China-led upcoming International Lunar Research Station, our return to the moon and push towards Mars are set to define the 21st century. However, as we chart these new territories, the environments of the moon and Mars are at risk of irreversible alteration by human activity. We must adopt sustainability as a core principle in space exploration to safeguard their pristine environments and, by extension, our own future on Earth.

WASHINGTON — Intuitive Machines says it is organizing a coalition of organizations that will offer to take over a NASA lunar rover mission, launching it on one of the company’s landers.

WASHINGTON — Legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate would create a new center devoted to protecting astronomy from interference caused by satellite constellations even as existing efforts involving organizations and companies make progress.

WASHINGTON — U.S. defense contractor Northrop Grumman plans to lay off 550 full-time employees at its space business facilities in Redondo Beach and Manhattan Beach, California, marking another round of job cuts in the sector.