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NASA has signed a contract withVast for the sixth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, with a launch targeted no earlier than summer 2027. The mission is expected to last up to 14 days in orbit and will fly aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft.

As NASA’s Artemis program moves forward, questions occasionally arise about the role of theLunar Gateway, the planned lunar-orbiting station intended to support long-term exploration. It remains part of NASA’s publicly stated architecture, but it is also reasonable to examine what Artemis could look like if that element were delayed, scaled back, or ultimately not flown. 

SpaceX is signaling a recalibration of its near-term priorities, placing renewed emphasis on the Moon as the fastest path toward a self-sustaining off-world settlement, while maintaining Mars as a longer-term objective. The shift is being framed not as a retreat from interplanetary ambition, but as a sequencing decision driven by logistics, cadence, and risk reduction. 

After three decades of discovering exoplanets, astronomers are turning to a harder question: which of those distant worlds might truly be capable of supporting life?NASA has taken an early step toward answering it byselecting industry partners to mature key technologies for the proposed Habitable Worlds Observatory, a next-generation space telescope designed to directly image Earth-like planets orbiting nearby stars.

As theInternational Space Station approaches the end of its operational life later this decade, low Earth orbit is entering a transition that may be just as consequential as the station’s original construction. NASA has made clear that, rather than replacing the ISS with another government-owned outpost, it intends to purchase services from commercially owned space stations, freeing the agency to focus its resources on deep space exploration and the Artemis program.

China’s upcoming Chang’e-7 mission, targeted for launch later this year, is officially framed as a scientific investigation of the Moon’s south pole. But viewed in context, it also represents a calculated step in a rapidly intensifying global race to establish long-term presence at the lunar poles, where science, technology development, and geopolitical competition increasingly intersect.

• Exploration
• Artemis
• NASA
• Donald Trump
• Artemis II
• Congress

How the government shutdown could delay the launch of Artemis 2

Seth KurkowskiNov 2 2025 - 8:36 pm PT

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While the majority of federal employees are furloughed, awaiting a funding bill to be passed by Congress, NASA teams and contractors are still working towards gettingArtemis 2 ready to launch next year. However, that can’t last forever, and an industry official just shared that some parts may begin to grind to a halt.

It’s been nine months into President Trump’s second term, and the government’s most popular and beloved agency is still without proper leadership. Some rumbles have made it sound like that could change soon, but we’re still awaiting official word.

Blue Origin may just have a shot at taking away SpaceX’s prizedArtemis 3 crewed lunar landing, as the company has fallen behind its goals to get an HLS Starship variant ready for a 2027 attempt. Now NASA is looking at new options that may be able to get a lander ready faster.

• Exploration
• Moon
• Tom Mueller
• Impulse Space

SpaceX Employee No. 1 wants to take his company to the Moon… not Mars

Seth KurkowskiOct 15 2025 - 12:30 pm PT

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Tom Mueller, SpaceX Employee Number 1 and founder/CEO of Impulse Space, laid out his plan to bring reliable and multi-ton landing capabilities to the Moon. This would differ from his former employer’s mission of focusing on Mars and viewing the Moon only as a distraction.

The race to return humans to theMoon is not just about planting a flag. At stake is something less visible but far more consequential: who sets the rules, builds the infrastructure, and defines the operating playbook for the next era of space exploration. And the answer could ripple far beyond the Moon, shaping how – and how soon – humans reach Mars. 

With New Shepard back in service, New Glenn preparing for another flight, and lunar systems advancing,Blue Origin heads into late 2025 with progress on multiple fronts. The company is simultaneously running programs in suborbital tourism, orbital launch, propulsion, and lunar vehicle development, together outlining a transportation architecture that spans Earth orbit to cislunar space.

When a spacecraft lands on Mars or slams into an asteroid millions of miles away, chances are it came from one of two labs: theCaltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory or theJohns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. NASA may be the face of American space exploration, but behind that iconic logo are world-class research centers shaping how we reach, explore, and understand the cosmos. JPL and APL are two of the most influential.

Austin, Texas’ ICON is quietly transforming how humanity builds – on Earth and beyond. The construction technology company, known for its innovative 3D‑printed homes, has begun applying its expertise to space. Its advanced robotic systems and signature material, Lavacrete, are being adapted to construct off‑world habitats and infrastructure using local planetary materials.

Vast is working on what might just be the first commercial space station in low Earth orbit. To get the public excited about the station’s launch as soon as one year from now, the company released a VR fly through, led by Vast’s Lead Astronaut, that is available on Meta, Steam, and yes, Apple’s platforms.

iSpace will soon be making its next lunar landing attempt after itsHakuto-R lander took the long way to arrive at the Moon. The lander completed a major milestone this week by entering the Moon’s orbit after a long, multi-month trip.

Friday, President Trump released his “skinny” budget request for the U.S. Government’s Fiscal Year 2026; included forNASA is $18.8 billion in proposed funding. This is down 25% from what the agency received in FY2025. Here’s what programs are safe and in trouble.

Apple TV’sFor All Mankind original series portrayed an alternative timeline of our own: what if the Soviets made it to theMoon first? That simple question, with storytelling rooted in actual science, was supposed to have fun at a time that could have been, but might have actually precluded a real-world reality.

Wednesday morning, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation voted to submitJared Isaacman‘s nomination forNASA Administrator favorably to the full Senate. This is the final step before Isaacman can be confirmed as the new administrator.

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will vote onJared Isaacman‘s confirmation as NASA’s nextAdministrator on Wednesday. Both the Committee’sRepublicans andDemocrats released Isaacman’s written questions, so here’s what he thinks about some of the key issues facingNASA right now.

WithNASA‘s DC headquarters’ lease up in 2028, the space agency is looking for a new home and suitors are already lining up. While it sounds crazy that you would take a government agency out of the political center of the US, some states think it’s possible.

After a seven-month stay in space,NASA astronaut Don Pettit returned Saturday on the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft in Kazakhstan. While in space, Pettit wowed the world with a constant stream of photos taken outside the windows of the ISS. Here are some of our favorites.

Last week,Jared Isaacman sat in front of his first Congressional hearing in what is expected to be his new career asNASA Administrator. On Wednesday, Isaacman sat in front of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee for his confirmation hearing, answering any questions the Senators wished before they voted on giving him the job or not. Here are five things we could expect from potential Administrator Isaacman if he is confirmed.

The Artemis Program political drama continues asJared Isaacman, nominee forNASA Administrator, shares his support for returning to theMoon to build up the capabilities to get toMars. This sounds very similar to NASA’s already-established Moon-to-Mars program, which has been the main talking point over the last eight years when asked about going to Mars. However, this goes against what has been publicly stated about the direction of the nation’s space program.