Space Exploration 6 January 2026 - 29 June 2026

Astronomers looking into 3I/ATLAS—the third confirmed interstellar object to pass through our solar system—have picked up water carrying a chemical signature unlike anything seen in comets native to this neighborhood. The findings point to an origin in a far colder patch of space than where the Sun and planets formed. For the first time, scientists are working with a sample of matter from beyond our own solar system, all collected via telescope—no probe required. The comet has already faded from view, headed back into interstellar space. What's left are just the archived images taken by NASA, ESA, and a handful of ground telescopes.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida, January 17, 2026, 07:21 EST NASA started moving its Artemis II Moon rocket and Orion spacecraft to the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center on Saturday. The slow, hours-long trek kicks off final tests ahead of the first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years. https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/01/17/nasas-artemis-ii-moon-rocket-on-way-to-launch-pad/

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida, Jan 9, 2026, 19:27 EST SpaceX launched 29 Starlink internet satellites into orbit on Friday on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The first-stage booster landed at sea on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas after stage separation, and SpaceX later confirmed the satellites were deployed. https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/01/08/live-coverage-spacex-to-launch-its-falcon-9-rocket-on-midday-starlink-mission-from-cape-canaveral/

Astronomers scanning interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS for signs of alien technology came up empty, a result that adds weight to the case that the fast-moving visitor is natural, not a spacecraft. That matters now because 3I/ATLAS is only the third object ever confirmed to have entered the solar system from interstellar space, and it is already on its way back out. As it recedes, it will dim and slip beyond the reach of many instruments, leaving researchers with a narrowing window.

NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft caught interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS in ultraviolet light while the object was hidden from Earth-based and near-Earth observatories, the SETI Institute said on Tuesday. It detected hydrogen and oxygen in the comet’s coma — the cloud of gas around its nucleus — pointing to water-ice sublimation, and saw no sign the comet broke apart. Europa Clipper used an ultraviolet spectrograph built for Jupiter’s moon Europa in what SETI described as a rapid repurpose. SETI Institute That matters because 3I/ATLAS is only the third known object seen passing through the solar system from outside it, after 1I/’Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov, NASA says. It was reported on July 1, 2025 by the NASA-funded ATLAS survey in Chile — short for Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System — and it will not come close enough to pose a hazard to Earth. The comet is on a hyperbolic trajectory, meaning it is not bound to the sun, and NASA says it should remain observable from the pre-dawn sky until spring 2026. NASA Science