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Space Exploration News 31 August 2025 - 18 September 2025

6,000 Alien Planets & a Healing Ozone Layer: Biggest Science News (Sept 17-18, 2025)

6,000 Alien Planets & a Healing Ozone Layer: Biggest Science News (Sept 17-18, 2025)

Key Facts Space Exploration: 6,000 New Worlds & Starship Progress In a milestone for astronomy, NASA confirmed the 6,000th exoplanet – planets orbiting other stars – in its records this week. The official tally of alien worlds crossed the 6k mark after only ~30 years of exoplanet hunting, reflecting an exponential discovery rate space.com. “We’re entering the next great chapter of exploration – worlds beyond our imagination,” a NASA video proclaimed space.com. NASA noted that because new planets are added on a rolling basis by scientists worldwide, “no single planet is considered the 6,000th entry… There are more than 8,000
Cosmic Revelations: Space Launch Frenzy, Mars Life Hints & Asteroid Near-Miss – This Week’s Space Highlights

Cosmic Revelations: Space Launch Frenzy, Mars Life Hints & Asteroid Near-Miss – This Week’s Space Highlights

New Cargo Ships and Space Station Updates First “Cygnus XL” arrives after scare: A tense 48 hours at the ISS ended in relief as Northrop Grumman’s upsized Cygnus XL freighter resolved its in-orbit propulsion glitch and received a “go” for final approach nasa.gov. The cargo ship’s main engine had shut off early during two orbit-raising burns on Sept. 16, delaying an arrival originally set for Sept. 17 space.com. Engineers quickly developed alternate maneuvers, and NASA astronaut Jonny Kim captured Cygnus with Canadarm2 early on Sept. 18, allowing the spacecraft to be installed on the station as planned nasa.gov. NASA noted all other systems performed normally
18 September 2025
Tech Shockwaves: Gadgets, Breaches, and a New Space Race Unfold

Tech Shockwaves: Gadgets, Breaches, and a New Space Race Unfold

Key Facts Consumer Tech & Gadgets Apple’s iPhone 17 Launch: Apple’s latest iPhones officially hit shelves on Friday, and the tech giant is smoothing out last-minute wrinkles. Reviewers discovered a camera flaw in the iPhone 17 Pro and new iPhone Air (a 6.1-inch ultra-thin model replacing the former Plus) – in rare cases, photos taken under intense LED concert lighting showed black boxes and squiggly artifacts macrumors.com macrumors.com. Apple acknowledged the issue (caused by extremely bright LED panels confounding the camera sensor) and confirmed it has a fix underway in an upcoming iOS update macrumors.com macrumors.com. Despite this quirk, early
Mysterious Comet SWAN R2: New Interstellar Visitor or Oort Cloud Wanderer?

Mysterious Comet SWAN R2: New Interstellar Visitor or Oort Cloud Wanderer?

Discovery of Comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN) Comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN) was spotted in early September 2025 in a rather unconventional way – by searching for faint glows in SOHO satellite images. The SOHO spacecraft’s SWAN instrument scans the entire sky in ultraviolet light, primarily to track solar wind interaction with hydrogen. Astrophotographers and amateur astronomers often comb through these SWAN images for telltale moving smudges that betray new comets. On 11 September 2025, Ukrainian amateur Vladimir Bezugly noticed such a moving fuzzball in SWAN’s data Universetoday. Within hours it was confirmed by others and reported, earning the provisional label “SWAN25B”
NASA’s “Astronaut Avatars” – Tiny Organ Chips Poised to Protect Artemis II Crew’s Health

NASA’s “Astronaut Avatars” – Tiny Organ Chips Poised to Protect Artemis II Crew’s Health

What Are NASA’s “Avatars for Astronaut Health”? NASA’s “Avatars for Astronaut Health” is a bold initiative to send small living models of astronauts’ organs into deep space. These “avatars” aren’t robots or holograms – they are organ-on-a-chip devices containing real human cells, designed to mimic the functions of human tissues Nasa. For Artemis II, NASA will load chips with cells donated by the four crew members themselves, essentially creating miniaturized versions of their organ tissue that can be studied in parallel with the crew Nasa Nasa. The goal is to see how these cells respond to deep space conditions – such
16 September 2025
Space Race Showdown, Mars Surprises & a New ‘Mini-Moon’ – Global Space News (Sept 15–16, 2025)

Space Race Showdown, Mars Surprises & a New ‘Mini-Moon’ – Global Space News (Sept 15–16, 2025)

Key Highlights Launches and Mission Updates China’s latest launch: On Sept. 16, China launched a test satellite for its planned satellite-internet network, using a Long March 2C rocket with a Yuanzheng-1S upper stage english.news.cn. Liftoff from Jiuquan at 9:06 a.m. Beijing time was successful, inserting the tech demo satellite into orbit to advance China’s broadband megaconstellation plans. This marked the 595th flight of China’s Long March rocket family english.news.cn, underscoring China’s rapid launch cadence. The mission highlights Beijing’s push into satellite internet – an area of growing strategic importance as China races to build its own Starlink-like network. SpaceX boosts ISS resupply: Over the weekend,
Mars Rock Sparks Life Clue, Back‑to‑Back Rocket Launches & Space Policy Shakeups – This Week in Space (Sept 9–10, 2025)

Mars Rock Sparks Life Clue, Back‑to‑Back Rocket Launches & Space Policy Shakeups – This Week in Space (Sept 9–10, 2025)

Key Facts: Launches & Satellite Missions SpaceX’s 24-Hour Launch Blitz – and a Scrub: SpaceX lined up two Falcon 9 launches on back-to-back days, showcasing the company’s rapid cadence. In Florida, a Falcon 9 was slated to carry Nusantara Lima, a 4.5-ton Indonesian telecom satellite, to orbit. After stormy weather caused two last-minute scrubs on Sept. 8–9 (with countdowns halted in the final minute) nasaspaceflight.com, teams targeted a Wednesday night launch from Cape Canaveral. The mission aims to deploy Nusantara Lima to a geostationary orbit, replacing a satellite lost in 2020 due to a launch failure nasaspaceflight.com. The well-traveled booster (B1078) is scheduled to land
10 September 2025
Space Sector Frenzy: Launch Scrubs, Surprise Liftoffs & Bold Cosmic Moves Rock Sept 8–9, 2025

Space Sector Frenzy: Launch Scrubs, Surprise Liftoffs & Bold Cosmic Moves Rock Sept 8–9, 2025

Key Facts Rapid-Fire Launches: SpaceX and China Keep Up the Pace SpaceX’s busy week. Elon Musk’s SpaceX saw a flurry of launch activity and a bit of suspense. On Monday Sept. 8, Falcon 9 was minutes from launching the Nusantara Lima satellite (a 4.5-ton Indonesian communications satellite built by Boeing) when storms violated weather rules, forcing a scrub spaceflightnow.com. SpaceX reset for the next evening, and by Sept. 9 conditions improved enough to send Nusantara Lima toward geostationary orbit. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 8:01 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, successfully deploying the satellite after a 27-minute
48 Years in Space: Inside NASA’s Voyager 1 & 2’s Epic Journey Beyond the Solar System (2025 Update)

48 Years in Space: Inside NASA’s Voyager 1 & 2’s Epic Journey Beyond the Solar System (2025 Update)

Key Facts History and Mission Objectives (1977 Launch and Beyond) In the early 1970s, NASA conceived the Voyagers as part of a once-in-176-year alignment allowing a “Grand Tour” of the outer planets. Budget constraints scaled the plan down from four probes to two spacecraft launched in 1977, each initially tasked to explore Jupiter and Saturn science.nasa.gov. The mission plan cleverly allowed for an extended journey: if Voyager 1 successfully completed its Saturn flyby, Voyager 2 would be directed onward to Uranus and Neptune using gravity assists science.nasa.gov. The twin probes – originally called Mariner 11 and Mariner 12 – were rechristened “Voyager” just before launch, reflecting their ambitious
6 September 2025
Starlink Blitz, Spy Sat Scare & Mission Milestones: Space News Roundup (Sept 4–5, 2025)

Starlink Blitz, Spy Sat Scare & Mission Milestones: Space News Roundup (Sept 4–5, 2025)

Government & Private Spaceflight Developments NASA & SpaceX – New Boosts and Milestones: In a notable first for ISS operations, SpaceX’s CRS-33 Dragon cargo ship successfully executed a reboost of the International Space Station on Sept. 3 nasa.gov. Firing new thrusters in its trunk for over five minutes, the uncrewed Dragon raised the ISS orbit by about a mile – inaugurating a capability that will be used periodically through fall 2025 to help maintain the station’s altitude nasa.gov nasa.gov. This test comes as NASA seeks alternatives to rely less on Russia’s Progress vehicles for station-keeping. Meanwhile, SpaceX is poised for a
Space Race Heats Up: Starlink Milestone, Venus Flyby & Solar Storms Mark a Stellar Weekend

Space Race Heats Up: Starlink Milestone, Venus Flyby & Solar Storms Mark a Stellar Weekend

Key Facts Satellite Launch Highlights Starlink Launch Surge: SpaceX punctuated the end of August with a sunrise Falcon 9 launch on Aug. 31, carrying 28 Starlink V2 Mini satellites to low Earth orbit spaceflightnow.com. Liftoff occurred at 7:49 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral’s SLC-40, and about 8½ minutes later the veteran booster (B1077, now with 23 flights) nailed a landing on the Just Read the Instructions droneship spaceflightnow.com spaceflightnow.com. This mission – Starlink Group 10-14 – was SpaceX’s 9th Starlink launch of the month and 108th flight of 2025, extending the company’s record-breaking cadence spaceflightnow.com spaceflightnow.com. All told, over 1,900 Starlink satellites have been
Space Weekend Thrills: Starship’s Historic Flight, Secret Spaceplane Soars & Cosmic Breakthroughs

Space Weekend Thrills: Starship’s Historic Flight, Secret Spaceplane Soars & Cosmic Breakthroughs

Key Facts Full Report SpaceX Soars: Starship’s Triumph and More Starship’s First Orbital Success: SpaceX’s Starship finally broke its streak of test failures in spectacular fashion. On Aug. 26, the 403-foot reusable rocket system completed its tenth test flight and achieved several firsts. After launching from Starbase, Texas, the Starship upper stage reached space and successfully deployed payloads – ejecting 8 dummy Starlink satellites about 30 minutes into flight from its innovative internal dispenser reuters.com. This marked the first-ever satellite deployment by Starship, turning the page on a series of early-flight mishaps that had plagued the program. The mission then

Stock Market Today

Walmart stock jumps to $131 as traders brace for CPI and Feb. 19 earnings

Walmart stock jumps to $131 as traders brace for CPI and Feb. 19 earnings

7 February 2026
Walmart shares rose 3.3% Friday to $131.18, up 10% since Jan. 30, as the Dow closed above 50,000 for the first time. The retailer’s market value crossed $1 trillion this week. Investors await January inflation data on Feb. 13 and Walmart’s quarterly results on Feb. 19 for signs of continued momentum.
Caterpillar stock price jumps 7% to $726 as Dow cracks 50,000 — what matters next week

Caterpillar stock price jumps 7% to $726 as Dow cracks 50,000 — what matters next week

7 February 2026
Caterpillar shares surged 7.1% to $726.20 Friday, driving the Dow above 50,000 for the first time. The move erased recent losses and followed insider selling by Group President Bob De Lange earlier in the week. Deere and CNH Industrial also gained as investors rotated into industrial stocks. Markets await next week’s U.S. jobs and inflation data.
Amazon stock slides as $200B AI spending plan meets cautious profit outlook

Amazon stock slides as $200B AI spending plan meets cautious profit outlook

7 February 2026
Amazon shares fell 9% Friday after the company announced plans for $200 billion in 2026 capital spending, mainly for AWS and AI, and issued a first-quarter profit outlook below estimates. The stock drop could erase $200 billion in market value. Fourth-quarter net sales rose 14% to $213.4 billion, while free cash flow declined due to higher spending on AI infrastructure.
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