Launch · August 19, 2026
Chinese company LandSpace lands Zhuque-3 booster after orbital flight
LandSpace has recovered the first stage of its Zhuque-3 rocket, making it the first commercial Chinese company to land an orbital booster.
This week in space
Issue 2026-W34. Updated August 20, 2026.
Four stories and a dozen briefs, drawn from the newsrooms of NASA, the European Space Agency, and the trade press. Every story lists the dated items it was written from, so any claim in it can be checked against the announcement it came from.
Leading this week
Also this week
Crew · August 18, 2026
Astronauts remove failed station antenna during spacewalk
Expedition 75 crew members uninstalled a faulty space-to-ground antenna outside the International Space Station, though time ran out before installing the replacement.
Discovery · August 17, 2026
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter photos new Moon crater from SpaceX stage
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has imaged a fresh crater created when a discarded Falcon 9 upper stage struck the lunar surface earlier this month.
Milestone · August 5, 2026
Total solar eclipse crosses Greenland, Iceland, and southern Europe
Millions across Europe, Iceland, and Greenland observed the first total solar eclipse visible from mainland Spain in over a century.
Briefs
- Voyager 1 closes in on landmark distance of one light-day from EarthNASA / Science · August 20, 2026
- NASA and Katalyst Space cancel planned orbital reboost of Swift observatoryNASA · August 19, 2026
- NASA study finds human-related microbes could survive at Moon's south poleNASA · August 19, 2026
- Hubble and Gaia data reveal ancient dwarf galaxy merger with early Milky WayESA / Science · August 17, 2026
- Astronomers find closest star to Milky Way's central supermassive black holeArs Technica · August 19, 2026
- SpaceX secures Starship Ship 40 off Christmas Island following ocean landingArs Technica · August 18, 2026
- Firefly Aerospace to test Zeno Power radioisotope heater on lunar landerSpaceNews · August 19, 2026
- HEO partners with Planet to use Earth satellites for imaging other spacecraftSpaceNews · August 17, 2026
- Webb telescope detects dust and water close to Milky Way's central black holeESA · August 11, 2026
- ESA prepares Meteosat Third Generation weather satellite for Ariane 6 launchESA · August 19, 2026
- NASA administrator expresses confidence in 2027 launch for Artemis 3Spaceflight Now · August 14, 2026
- Spaceflight test confirms radiation-blocking vest successfully protects astronautsArs Technica · August 13, 2026
- SpaceX surpasses 11,000 Starlink satellites launched into low Earth orbitSpaceflight Now · August 18, 2026
- Astronaut Mike Fincke retires from NASA after 30-year spaceflight careerSpaceflight Now · August 12, 2026