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NASA’s Wideband Technology Demo Proves Space Missions are Free to Roam
Just like your cellphone stays connected by roaming between networks, NASA’s Polylingual Experimental Terminal, or PExT, technology demonstration is proving space missions can do the same by switching seamlessly between government and commercial communications networks.
NASA missions rely on critical data to navigate, monitor spacecraft health, and transmit scientific information back to Earth, and this game-changing technology could provide multiple benefits to government and commercial missions by enabling more reliable communications with fewer data interruptions.
“This mission has reshaped what’s possible for NASA and the U.S. satellite communications industry,” said Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator for the agency’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “PExT demonstrated that interoperability between government and commercial networks is possible near-Earth, and we’re not stopping there. The success of our commercial space partnerships is clear, and we’ll continue to carry that momentum forward as we expand these capabilities to the Moon and Mars.”
This mission has reshaped what’s possible for NASA and the U.S. satellite communications industry.Kevin Coggins
Deputy Associate Administrator for SCaN
Wideband technology enables data exchange across a broad range of frequencies, helping bridge government and commercial networks as NASA advances commercialization of space communications. By providing interoperability between government and commercial assets, this technology unlocks new advantages not currently available to agency missions.
As commercial providers continue to advance their technology and add new capabilities to their networks, missions equipped with wideband terminals can integrate these enhancements even after launch and during active operations. The technology also supports NASA’s network integrity by allowing missions to seamlessly switch back and forth between providers if one network faces critical disruptions that would otherwise interfere with timely communications.
An artist’s concept of the BARD mission in space. NASA/Dave Ryan“Today, we take seamless cellphone roaming for granted, but in the early days of mobile phones, our devices only worked on one network,” said Greg Heckler, SCaN’s capability development lead at NASA Headquarters. “Our spaceflight missions faced similar limitations—until now. These revolutionary tests prove wideband terminals can connect spacecraft to multiple networks, a huge benefit for early adopter missions transitioning to commercial services in the 2030s.”
On July 23, the communications demo launched into low Earth orbit aboard the York Space Systems’ BARD mission. Designed by Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, the compact wideband terminal communicates over a broad range of the Ka-band frequency, which is commonly used by NASA missions and commercial providers. After completing a series of tests that proved the BARD spacecraft and the demonstration payload were functioning as expected, testing kicked off with NASA’s TDRS (Tracking and Data Relay Satellite) fleet and commercial satellite networks operated by SES Space & Defense and Viasat.
During each demonstration, the terminal completed critical space communications and navigation operations, ranging from real-time spacecraft tracking and mission commands to high-rate data delivery. By showcasing end-to-end services between the BARD spacecraft, multiple commercial satellites, and mission control on Earth, the wideband terminal showed future NASA missions could become interoperable with government and commercial infrastructure.
An artist’s concept of the Polylingual Experimental Terminal transmitting data in space.NASA/Morgan JohnsonDue to the flexibility of wideband technology and the innovative nature of this mission, NASA recently extended the Polylingual Experiment Terminal demonstration for an additional 12 months of testing. Extended mission operations will include new direct-to-Earth tests with the Swedish Space Corporation, scheduled to begin in early 2026.
This technology demonstration will continue testing spaceflight communications capabilities through April 2027. By 2031, NASA plans to purchase satellite relay services for science missions in low Earth orbit from one or more U.S. companies.
To learn more about this wideband technology demonstration visit:
The Polylingual Experimental Terminal technology demonstration is funded and managed by NASA’s SCaN Program within the Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. York Space Systems provided the host spacecraft. Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory developed the demonstration payload. Commercial satellite relay demonstrations were conducted in partnership with SES Space & Defense and Viasat.
An artist’s concept of the BARD mission in space. NASA/Dave Ryan Share Details Last Updated Dec 19, 2025 Related Terms Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASACommunicating with Missions
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Water Droplet Science
NASA astronaut Don Pettit demonstrates electrostatic forces using charged water droplets and a knitting needle made of Teflon. This series of overlapping frames from Feb. 19, 2025, displays the unique attraction-repulsion properties of Teflon and charged droplets, similar to how charged particles from the Sun behave when they come in contact with Earth’s magnetic field. Highly energetic particles from space that collide with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere create the aurora borealis.
Explore more of what Pettit has coined “science of opportunity.”
Image credit: NASA/Don Pettit
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Hubble Glimpses Galactic Gas Making a Getaway
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Hubble Glimpses Galactic Gas Making a Getaway This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the galaxy NGC 4388, a member of the Virgo galaxy cluster. ESA/Hubble & NASA, S. Veilleux, J. Wang, J. GreeneA sideways spiral galaxy shines in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. Located about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo (the Maiden), NGC 4388 is a resident of the Virgo galaxy cluster. This enormous cluster of galaxies contains more than a thousand members and is the nearest large galaxy cluster to the Milky Way.
NGC 4388 appears to tilt at an extreme angle relative to our point of view, giving us a nearly edge-on prospect of the galaxy. This perspective reveals a curious feature that wasn’t visible in a previous Hubble image of this galaxy released in 2016: a plume of gas from the galaxy’s nucleus, here seen billowing out from the galaxy’s disk toward the lower-right corner of the image. But where did this outflow come from, and why does it glow?
The answer likely lies in the vast stretches of space that separate the galaxies of the Virgo cluster. Though the space between galaxies appears empty, this space is occupied by hot wisps of gas called the intracluster medium. As NGC 4388 moves within the Virgo cluster, it plunges through the intracluster medium. Pressure from hot intracluster gas whisks away gas from within NGC 4388’s disk, causing it to trail behind as NGC 4388 moves.
The source of the ionizing energy that causes this gas cloud to glow is more uncertain. Researchers suspect that some of the energy comes from the center of the galaxy, where a supermassive black hole spins gas around it into a superheated disk. The blazing radiation from this disk might ionize the gas closest to the galaxy, while shock waves might be responsible for ionizing filaments of gas farther out.
This image incorporates new data, including several additional wavelengths of light, that bring the ionized gas cloud into view. The image holds data from several observing programs that aim to illuminate galaxies with active black holes at their centers.
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Betelgeuse and the Crab Nebula: Stellar Death and Rebirth
NASA, ESA, G. Dubner (IAFE, CONICET-University of Buenos Aires) et al.; A. Loll et al.; T. Temim et al.; F. Seward et al.; VLA/NRAO/AUI/NSF; Chandra/CXC; Spitzer/JPL-Caltech; XMM-Newton/ESA; and Hubble/STScI
What happens when a star dies? In 2019, Betelgeuse dimmed in brightness, sparking speculation that it may soon explode as a supernova. While it likely won’t explode quite yet, we can preview its fate by observing the nearby Crab Nebula.
A view of the constellations Orion and Taurus, along with notable features: Betelgeuse in Orion, and Aldebaran and the Crab Nebula in Taurus. Stellarium WebBetelgeuse is easy to find as the red-hued shoulder star of Orion. A variable star, Betelgeuse, usually competes with the brilliant blue-white Rigel for the position of the brightest star in Orion. Betelgeuse is a young star, estimated to be a few million years old, but due to its giant size, it leads a fast and furious life. This massive star, known as a supergiant, exhausted the hydrogen fuel in its core and began to fuse helium instead, which caused the outer layers of the star to cool and swell dramatically in size. Betelgeuse is one of the few stars for which we have any detailed surface observations, due to its vast size – somewhere between the diameters of the orbits of Mars and Jupiter – and its relatively close distance of about 642 light-years. Betelgeuse is also a “runaway star,” with its remarkable speed possibly triggered by a merger with a smaller companion star. If that is the case, Betelgeuse may actually have millions of years left! So, Betelgeuse may not explode soon after all, or it might explode tomorrow! We have much more to learn about this intriguing star.
This image of the Crab Nebula combines data from five different telescopes: The Very Large Array (radio) in red; Spitzer Space Telescope (infrared) in yellow; Hubble Space Telescope (visible) in green; XMM-Newton (ultraviolet) in blue; and Chandra X-ray Observatory (X-ray) in purple. It is known as the expanding gaseous remnant from a star that self-detonated as a supernova, briefly shining as brightly as 400 million suns. NASA, ESA, G. Dubner (IAFE, CONICET-University of Buenos Aires) et al.; A. Loll et al.; T. Temim et al.; F. Seward et al.; VLA/NRAO/AUI/NSF; Chandra/CXC; Spitzer/JPL-Caltech; XMM-Newton/ESA; and Hubble/STScIThe Crab Nebula (M1) is relatively close to Betelgeuse in the sky, in the nearby constellation of Taurus. Its ghostly, spidery gas clouds result from a massive explosion; a supernova observed by astronomers in 1054! A backyard telescope allows you to see some details. Still, only advanced telescopes reveal the rapidly spinning neutron star found in its center: the last stellar remnant from that cataclysmic event. These gas clouds were created during the giant star’s violent demise and expand ever outward to enrich the universe with heavy elements like silicon, iron, and nickel. These element-rich clouds are like a cosmic fertilizer, making rocky planets like our own Earth possible. Supernovae also send out powerful shock waves that help trigger star formation. In fact, if it weren’t for a long-ago supernova, our solar system – along with all of us – wouldn’t exist! You can learn much more about the Crab Nebula in a video from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope: bit.ly/CrabNebulaVisual
Want to know more about the life cycle of stars? Explore stellar evolution with “The Lives of Stars” activity and handout at bit.ly/starlifeanddeath, part of our SUPERNOVA! toolkit.
Originally posted by Dave Prosper: February 2020
Last Updated by Kat Troche: December 2025
Space Station Research Supports New FDA-Approved Cancer Therapy
NASA opens the International Space Station for scientists and researchers, inviting them to use the benefits of microgravity for private industry research, technology demonstrations, and more. Today, half of the crew’s time aboard station is devoted to these aims, including medical research that addresses complex health challenges on Earth and prepares astronauts for future deep space missions.
Supported by knowledge gained from space station experiments, researchers at Merck Research Labs received approval in September from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a new injectable version of a medication used to treat several types of early-stage cancers called pembrolizumab, also known by its brand name KEYTRUDA. The development of the injectable formula has been supported by research efforts aboard the space station through the ISS National Laboratory, resulting in reduced treatment times while maintaining its efficacy.
Originally, the treatment was delivered during an in-office visit via infusion therapy into the patient’s veins, a process that could take up to two hours. Initial delivery improvements reduced infusion times to less than 30 minutes every three weeks. The newly approved subcutaneous injectable form takes about one minute every three weeks, promising to reduce cost and significantly reduce treatment time for patients and healthcare providers.
UV imaging of a ground control sample (left) and spaceflight sample (right) from Merck’s research shows the much more uniform size and distribution of crystals grown in microgravity. These results helped researchers to refine ground-based production of uniform crystalline suspensions required for an injectable version of KEYTRUDA.MerckSince 2014, Merck has flown crystal growth experiments to the space station to better understand how crystals form, including the monoclonal antibody used in this cancer treatment. Monoclonal antibodies are lab-made proteins that help the body fight diseases. This research focused on producing crystalline suspensions that dissolve easily in liquid, making it possible to deliver the medication by injection. In microgravity, the absence of gravity’s physical forces allows scientists to grow larger, more uniform, and higher-quality crystals than those grown in ground-based labs, advancing medication development and structural modeling.
Research aboard the space station has provided valuable insights into how gravity influences crystallization, helping to improve drug formulations. The work of NASA and its partners aboard the space station improves lives on Earth, grows a commercial economy in low Earth orbit, and prepares for human exploration of the Moon and Mars.
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Curiosity Blog, Sols 4743-4749: Polygons in the Hollow
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Curiosity Blog, Sols 4743-4749: Polygons in the Hollow NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this close-up image of polygon-shaped features in the “Monte Grande” boxwork hollow. Similar polygonal patterns in various strata were seen previously, elsewhere in Gale Crater. Curiosity captured the image using its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm, on Dec. 11, 2025 — Sol 4745, or Martian day 4,745 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 16:55:37 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSSWritten by Lucy Lim, Planetary Scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Earth Planning Date: Friday, Dec. 12, 2025
The weekend drive starting from the “Nevado Sajama” drill site brought Curiosity back into the “Monte Grande” boxwork hollow. We’ve been in this hollow before for the “Valle de la Luna” drill campaign, but now that the team has seen the results from both the “Valle de la Luna” and “Nevado Sajama” drilled samples, we’ve decided that there’s more work to do here.
Overall science goals here included analysis of the other well-exposed bedrock block in Monte Grande to improve our statistics on the composition of the bedrock in the hollows, and also high-resolution imaging and compositional analysis of portions of the walls of the hollow, other than those that had been covered during the Valle de la Luna campaign. These are part of a systematic mini-campaign to map a transect over the hollow-to-ridge structure from top to bottom at this site.
The post-drive imaging revealed a surprise — Valle de la Luna’s neighboring block was covered with polygons! As it turned out, the rover’s position during our previous visit for the Valle de la Luna drill campaign happened to have stood in the way of imaging of the polygonal features on this block so this was our first good look at them. We have seen broadly similar polygonal patterns in various strata in Gale Crater before — recently in the layered sulfate units (for instance, during Sols 4532-4533 and Sols 4370-4371) but we hadn’t seen them in the bottom of a boxwork hollow. Interestingly, this block looks more rubbly in texture than many of the previously observed polygon-covered blocks.
We’re interested in the relationship of the visibly protruding fracture-filling material here to fracture-filling materials seen in previous polygons, and also in the relationship of the polygonal surface on top to the more chaotic-appearing exposures lower on the block, and to the equivalent strata in the nearby wall of the hollow. We therefore planned a super-sized MAHLI mosaic that will support three-dimensional modeling of the upper and lower exposed surfaces of the polygon-bearing block. Several APXS and ChemCam LIBS observations targeted on the polygon centers and polygon ridges were also planned, to measure composition. Meanwhile, Mastcam has been busy planning stereo images of the nearby hollow wall in addition to the various blocks on the hollow floor.
The hollow also included freshly exposed light-toned material from where the rover had driven over and scuffed some bedrock, so another APXS measurement and a ChemCam LIBS went to the scuffed patch to measure the fresh surface.
We’ll be driving on Sol 4748. As we drive we’ll be taking a MARDI “sidewalk” observation, to image the ground beneath the rover as we approach the wall for a closer view, and hopefully some contact science in next week’s plans.
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2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4723-4730: Digging Into Nevado Sajama
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Moon Mascot: NASA Artemis II ZGI Design Challenge
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) A graphic for the Moon Mascot: NASA Artemis II ZGI Design Challenge.FreelancerWhose Moon Mascot design will join the Artemis II astronauts on their historic voyage around the Moon in early 2026?
Between March 7 and Jun. 16, 2025, NASA worked with crowdsourcing company Freelancer to seek design ideas from global creators for a zero gravity indicator that will fly aboard the agency’s Artemis II test flight.
Zero gravity indicators are small, plush items carried aboard spacecraft to provide a visual indication of when the spacecraft and its crew reach space.
For the first eight minutes after liftoff, the crew and their indicator nearby will still be pushed into their seats by gravity, and the force of the climb into space. When the main engines of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket’s core stage cut off, gravity’s restraints are lifted, but the crew will still be strapped safely into their seats – their zero gravity indicator’s ability to float will provide proof that they’ve made it into space.
Artemis II marks the first time that the public has had a hand in creating a crew’s mascot.
The MissionOver the course of about ten days, four astronauts will travel approximately 685,000 miles from Earth, venture around the Moon, and return home. The flight will—for the first time with astronauts—test NASA’s human deep space exploration capabilities, including the agency’s Exploration Ground Systems, SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, and Orion spacecraft.
NASA has a long history of flying zero gravity indicators for human spaceflight missions. Many missions to the International Space Station include a plush item. A plush Snoopy rode inside Orion during NASA’s uncrewed Artemis I mission.
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen will venture around the Moon and back. The mission is the first crewed flight under NASA’s Artemis campaign and is another step toward missions on the lunar surface and helping the agency prepare for future human missions to Mars.
The ContestThe Artemis II astronauts attended SXSW 2025 on March 7, 2025, and sat on a panel to discuss their upcoming mission around the Moon and answer questions from the audience. During the panel, commander Reid Wiseman showed the audience his zero gravity indicator from his Expedition 40 mission to the International Space Station. His zero gravity indicator was a toy giraffe named Giraffiti. Wiseman’s mother gifted Giraffiti to his oldest daughter when she was born. When Wiseman embarked on his first mission to space, his kids gave him Giraffiti to take with him to space.
“This little guy spent every day with me in my crew quarters,” said Wiseman. “It was a connection back home to my kids.”
June 4, 2014NASA Astronaut Reid Wiseman photographed in front of the Cupola windows during his Expedition 40 mission with his zero gravity indicator, Giraffiti.NASA March 7, 2025NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman shows the zero gravity indicator, “Giraffiti” used during his launch to the International Space Station as he and fellow Artemis II astronauts announce that NASA is seeking design ideas from global creators for a zero gravity indicator that will fly aboard the agency’s Artemis II test flight, Friday, March 7, 2025, at SXSW in Austin, Texas.NASA/Bill Ingalls March 7, 2025NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman shows the zero gravity indicator, “Giraffiti” used during his launch to the International Space Station as he and fellow Artemis II astronauts announce that NASA is seeking design ideas from global creators for a zero gravity indicator that will fly aboard the agency’s Artemis II test flight, Friday, March 7, 2025, at SXSW in Austin, Texas.NASA/Bill IngallsThen, Wiseman and the other crew members revealed that they were opening up the opportunities to people of all ages from all over the world to design the zero gravity indicator for the Artemis II mission around the Moon.
What better way to fly a mission around the Moon than to invite the public inside NASA’s Orion spacecraft with us and ask for help in designing our zero gravity indicator?Reid Wiseman
NASA Astronaut and Commander of the Artemis II Mission
The Moon Mascot contest was hosted by the freelancing and crowdsourcing company Freelancer on behalf of the agency through the NASA Tournament Lab. The contest lasted about three months and received thousands of submissions from over 50 countries. Over the course of the contest, the agency hosted a Twitch stream on NASA’s Twitch channel to discuss zero gravity indicators and practice creating a design with a live artist. Adobe also released an Adobe Express template to help participants with their designs.
An Adobe Express template for the Moon Mascot competition. Adobe The FinalistsOn Aug. 22, NASA and Freelancer announced the 25 finalists of the contest. These designs – ideas spanning from Moon-related twists on Earthly creatures to creative visions of exploration and discovery – were selected from more than 2,600 submissions from over 50 countries, including from K-12 students. The finalists represent 10 countries including the United States, Canada, Colombia, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Peru, Singapore, and Wales.
Lucas Ye | Mountain View, California“Rise” Kenan Ziyan | Canyon, Texas“Zappy Zebra” Royal School, SKIES Space Club | Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada“Luna the Space Polar Bear” Garden County Schools | Oshkosh, Nebraska“Team GarCo” Richellea Quinn Wijaya | Singapore“Parsec – The Bird That Flew to the Moon” Anzhelika Iudakova | Finland“Big Steps of Little Octopus” Congressional School | Falls Church, Virginia“Astra-Jelly” Congressional School | Falls Church, Virginia“Harper, Chloe, and Mateo’s ZGI” Alexa Pacholyk | Madison, Connecticut“Artemis” Leila Fleury | Rancho Palos Verdes, California“Beeatrice” Oakville Trafalgar School | Oakville, Ontario, Canada“Lepus the Moon Rabbit” Avon High School | Avon, Connecticut“Sal the Salmon” Daniela Colina | Lima, Peru“Corey the Explorer” Caroline Goyer-Desrosiers | St. Eustache, Quebec, Canada“Flying Squirrel Ready for Its Take Off to Space!” Giulia Bona | Berlin, Germany“Art & the Giant” Tabitha Ramsey | Frederick, Maryland“Lunar Crust-acean” Gabriela Hadas | Plano, Texas“Celestial Griffin” Savon Blanchard | Pearland, Texas“Soluna Flier” Ayako Moriyama | Kyoto, Japan“MORU: A Cloud Aglow with Moonlight and Hope” Johanna Beck | McPherson, Kansas“Creation Mythos” Guillaume Truong | Toulouse, France“Space Mola-mola (aka Moon Fish) Plushie” Arianna Robins | Rockledge, Florida“Terra the Titanosaurus” Sandy Moya | Madrid, Colombia“MISI: Guardian of the Journey” Bekah Crowmer | Mooresville, Indiana“Mona the Moon Moth” Courtney John | Llanelli, Wales“Past, Present, Future” The WinnerOnce the crew has selected a final design, NASA’s Thermal Blanket Lab will fabricate it for flight. The indicator will be tethered inside the Orion spacecraft before launch.
The winner of the contest and the design that will accompany the astronauts on their historic mission will be unveiled closer to launch. Launch is currently targeted for early next year, with launch opportunities as soon as February 2026.
About the AuthorThalia K. Patrinos Share Details Last Updated Dec 18, 2025 Related Terms Explore More 9 min read 2025 in Review: Highlights from NASA in Silicon Valley Article 2 days ago 3 min read NASA’s DiskSat Technology Demo Launches to Low Earth Orbit Article 2 days ago 10 min read NASA Langley Research Center: 2025 Year in Review Article 3 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASAMissions
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NASA Announces 2025 International Space Apps Challenge Global Winners
NASA Space Apps announced Thursday 10 winners of the 2025 NASA Space Apps Challenge. During this two-day hackathon, participants gathered at 551 local events across 167 countries and territories to showcase their STEM skills and proposed ways to transform NASA’s open data into actionable tools.
Participants work on their projects at the NASA Space Apps Challenge in Austin, Texas, at one of more than 50 local events held in the United States.NASA Space AppsMore than 114,000 participants came together to address challenges created by NASA subject matter experts. These challenges ranged in complexity and topic, tasking participants with everything from leveraging artificial intelligence, to improving access to NASA research, and developing tools to evaluate air quality.
“The Space Apps Challenge puts NASA’s free and open data into the hands of explorers around the world,” said Karen St. Germain, director, NASA Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “With participants as varied as NASA enthusiasts, future scientists, regional decision-makers and members of the public, this challenge demonstrates the excitement of discovery and the real-world applications of agency data. Space apps also fosters a global community of creative and innovative ideas.”
The winners were determined from more than 11,500 project submissions and judged by subject matter experts from NASA and agency partners:
Best Use of Science Award: SpaceGenes+
Team Members: Saloni T.
Challenge: Build a Space Biology Knowledge Engine
Country/Territory: Germany
Team SpaceGenes+ created an interactive dashboard designed to help researchers uncover how radiation and microgravity together impact astronaut health at the molecular level. It gives researchers and mission planners an easy way to identify important molecular changes, supporting more effective protection strategies for long-duration spaceflight.
Learn more about SpaceGenes+’ project
Best Use of Data Award: Resonant Exoplanets
Team Members: Adhvaidh S., Gabriel S., Jack A., Sahil S.
Challenge: A World Away: Hunting for Exoplanets with AI
Country/Territory: United States
Team Resonant Exoplanets developed an AI-powered system that ingests large sets of telescope and satellite data, including spectra from missions like the James Webb Space Telescope. This tool automatically analyzes data for exoplanets and detects possible biosignatures, rather than identifying them manually.
Learn more about Resonant Exoplanets’ project
Best Use of Technology Award: Twisters
Team Members: Fernando A., Marcelo T., Mariana D., Regina R., Regina F.
Challenge: Will It Rain on My Parade?
Country/Territory: Mexico
Team Twisters developed SkySense, a web-app platform that uses NASA Earth observation data and AI analysis to provide ultra-local, personalized weather predictions and to analyze weather variables such as rain, wind, temperature, humidity, and visibility, generating real-time risk assessments and suggesting the safest time windows for activities.
Learn more about Twisters’ project
Galactic Impact Award: Astro Sweepers: We Catch What Space Leaves Behind
Team Members: Harshiv T., Pragathy S., Pratik J., Sherlin D., Yousra H., Zienab E.
Challenge: Commercializing Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
Country/Territory: Universal Event
Team Astro Sweepers developed an end-to-end orbital debris compliance and risk intelligence platform that automatically ingests public orbital data to generate Debris Assessment Software reports and compute the Astro Sweepers Risk Index for every resident space object. This project considers the operational, regulatory, and environmental challenges of commercialized space travel.
Learn more about Astro Sweepers’ project
Best Mission Concept Award: PureFlow
Team Members: Esthefany M., João F., Laiza L., Lara D., Pedro H., Thayane D.
Challenge: Your Home in Space: The Habitat Layout Creator
Country/Territory: Brazil
PureFlow developed an interactive systems engineering platform that allows users to design, model in 3D, and validate space habitats, and then test the design against real space-weather threats, such as solar storms. This system considers the critical functions required for living in space, including waste management, power, life support, communications, and more.
Learn more about PureFlows’ project
Most Inspirational Award: Photonics Odyssey
Team Members: Manish D., M. K., Prasanth G., Rajalingam N., Rashi M., Sakthi R.
Challenge: Commercializing Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
Country/Territory: India
Photonics Odyssey reimagined satellite internet as a sovereign national infrastructure rather than a private service, proposing a phased-array antenna approach that reduces ground dependency and expands broadband access to remote regions of India. The concept aims to help connect more than 700 million people who lack access to broadband internet.
Learn more about Photonics Odysseys’ project
Best Use of Storytelling Award: HerCode Space
Team Members: Alice R., Joselyn R., Paula C., Pierina J.
Challenge: Stellar Stories: Space Weather Through the Eyes of Earthlings
Country/Territory: Universal Event
HerCode Space combined NASA data and heliophysics concepts with powerful storytelling and vibrant illustrations to teach kids how space weather affects daily life and why it matters. HerCode Science hopes their story, “A Solar Tale,” can bridge science and imagination, and bring heliophysics to life in classrooms, libraries, and outreach programs.
Learn more about HerCode Spaces’ project
Global Connection Award: Gaia+LEO
Team Members: Adam H., Katia L., Prajwal S., Upendra K.
Challenge: Commercializing Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
Country/Territory: United States
Team Gaia+LEO developed a mixed-integer optimization framework that co-designs orbital and terrestrial data-center networks to support large-scale AI training and climate modeling in orbit. Their goal is to reduce the power, and water demands of Earth-based systems and help accelerate the shift toward space-based, green computing within the emerging orbital economy.
Learn more about Gaia+LEOs’ project
Art & Technology Award: Zumorroda-X
Team Members: Alaa A., Esraa A., Malak S., Mennatulla E.
Challenge: NASA Farm Navigators: Using NASA Data Exploration in Agriculture
Country/Territory: Egypt
Team Zumorroda-X created mini games that allow players to step into the shoes of a farmer who sets off on an epic journey around the world. Through this game, players can learn how farmers globally adapt to heat waves, flooding, and other environmental challenges.
Learn more about Zumorroda-Xs’ project
Local Impact Award: QUEÑARIS
Team Members: Borax Q., Carlos Y., Marcelo S., Máximo S., Oscar M., Pamela P.
Challenge: BloomWatch: An Earth Observation Application for Global Flowering Phenology
Country/Territory: Peru
Team QUEÑARIS’ project addresses critical water scarcity in Peru’s second-largest city, Arequipa, caused by the degradation of queñua forests, which are vital for water retention. Their platform combines native microorganisms, NASA satellite data, drones, and artificial intelligence to accelerate tree growth, identify the best areas for reforestation, and monitor ecosystem health.
Learn more about QUEÑARIS’ project
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NASA Space Apps is funded by NASA’s Earth Science Division through a contract with Booz Allen Hamilton, Mindgrub, and SecondMuse.
To learn more about what inspired these winning projects, visit:
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Explore More 6 min read NASA International Space Apps Challenge Announces 2024 Global Winners Article 11 months ago 5 min read 2023 NASA International Space Apps Challenge Announces 10 Global WinnersTen teams from around the world have been named the Global Winners of the 2023…
Article 2 years ago Share Details Last Updated Dec 18, 2025 Related TermsNASA Lab Completes Engine Checks on New Aircraft
Justin Hall, left, controls a subscale aircraft as Justin Link holds the aircraft in place during preliminary engine tests on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, at NASA’s Armstong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
Hall, chief pilot at the center’s Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory, and Link, a pilot for small uncrewed aircraft systems, are building the large subscale aircraft to support increasingly complex flight research, offering a more flexible and cost-effective alternative to crewed missions. Once ready, the aircraft will help evaluate new concepts, technologies, and flight controls to support NASA missions on Earth and beyond.
Image Credit: NASA/Christopher LC Clark
NASA’s Hubble Sees Asteroids Colliding at Nearby Star for First Time
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Like a game of cosmic bumper cars, scientists think the early days of our solar system were a time of violent turmoil, with planetesimals, asteroids, and comets smashing together and pelting the Earth, Moon, and the other inner planets with debris. Now, in a historical milestone, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has directly imaged similar catastrophic collisions in a nearby planetary system around another star, Fomalhaut.
“This is certainly the first time I’ve ever seen a point of light appear out of nowhere in an exoplanetary system,” said principal investigator Paul Kalas of the University of California, Berkeley. “It’s absent in all of our previous Hubble images, which means that we just witnessed a violent collision between two massive objects and a huge debris cloud unlike anything in our own solar system today. Amazing!”
Just 25 light-years from Earth, Fomalhaut is one of the brightest stars in the night sky. Located in the constellation Piscis Austrinus, also known as the Southern Fish, it is more massive and brighter than the Sun and is encircled by several belts of dusty debris.
This composite Hubble Space Telescope image shows the debris ring and dust clouds cs1 and cs2 around the star Fomalhaut. Fomalhaut itself is masked out to allow the fainter features to be seen. Its location is marked by the white star.Image: NASA, ESA, Paul Kalas (UC Berkeley); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)In 2008, scientists used Hubble to discover a candidate planet around Fomalhaut, making it the first stellar system with a possible planet found using visible light. That object, called Fomalhaut b, now appears to be a dust cloud masquerading as a planet—the result of colliding planetesimals. While searching for Fomalhaut b in recent Hubble observations, scientists were surprised to find a second point of light at a similar location around the star. They call this object “circumstellar source 2” or “cs2” while the first object is now known as “cs1.”
Tackling Mysteries of Colliding PlanetesimalsWhy astronomers are seeing both of these debris clouds so physically close to each other is a mystery. If the collisions between asteroids and planetesimals were random, cs1 and cs2 should appear by chance at unrelated locations. Yet, they are positioned intriguingly near each other along the inner portion of Fomalhaut’s outer debris disk.
Another mystery is why scientists have witnessed these two events within such a short timeframe. “Previous theory suggested that there should be one collision every 100,000 years, or longer. Here, in 20 years, we’ve seen two,” explained Kalas. “If you had a movie of the last 3,000 years, and it was sped up so that every year was a fraction of a second, imagine how many flashes you’d see over that time. Fomalhaut’s planetary system would be sparkling with these collisions.”
Collisions are fundamental to the evolution of planetary systems, but they are rare and difficult to study.
This artist’s concept shows the sequence of events leading up to the creation of dust cloud cs2 around the star Fomalhaut. In Panel 1, the star Fomalhaut appears in the top left corner. Two white dots, located in the bottom right corner, represent the two massive objects in orbit around Fomalhaut. In Panel 2, the objects approach each other. Panel 3 shows the violent collision of these two objects. In Panel 4, the resulting dust cloud cs2 becomes visible and starlight pushes the dust grains away from the star.Artwork: NASA, ESA, STScI, Ralf Crawford (STScI)“The exciting aspect of this observation is that it allows researchers to estimate both the size of the colliding bodies and how many of them there are in the disk, information which is almost impossible to get by any other means,” said co-author Mark Wyatt at the University of Cambridge in England. “Our estimates put the planetesimals that were destroyed to create cs1 and cs2 at just 37 miles or 60 kilometers across, and we infer that there are 300 million such objects orbiting in the Fomalhaut system.”
“The system is a natural laboratory to probe how planetesimals behave when undergoing collisions, which in turn tells us about what they are made of and how they formed,” explained Wyatt.
Cautionary TaleThe transient nature of Fomalhaut cs1 and cs2 poses challenges for future space missions aiming to directly image exoplanets. Such telescopes may mistake dust clouds like cs1 and cs2 for actual planets.
“Fomalhaut cs2 looks exactly like an extrasolar planet reflecting starlight,” said Kalas. “What we learned from studying cs1 is that a large dust cloud can masquerade as a planet for many years. This is a cautionary note for future missions that aim to detect extrasolar planets in reflected light.”
Looking to FutureKalas and his team have been granted Hubble time to monitor cs2 over the next three years. They want to see how it evolves—does it fade, or does it get brighter? Being closer to the dust belt than cs1, the expanding cs2 cloud is more likely to start encountering other material in the belt. This could lead to a sudden avalanche of more dust in the system, which could cause the whole surrounding area to get brighter.
Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; Lead Producer: Paul Morris“We will be tracing cs2 for any changes in its shape, brightness, and orbit over time,” said Kalas, “It’s possible that cs2 will start becoming more oval or cometary in shape as the dust grains are pushed outward by the pressure of starlight.”
The team also will use the NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to observe cs2. Webb’s NIRCam has the ability to provide color information that can reveal the size of the cloud’s dust grains and their composition. It can even determine if the cloud contains water ice.
Hubble and Webb are the only observatories capable of this kind of imaging. While Hubble primarily sees in visible wavelengths, Webb could view cs2 in the infrared. These different, complementary wavelengths are needed to provide a broad multi-spectral investigation and a more complete picture of the mysterious Fomalhaut system and its rapid evolution.
This research appears in the December 18 issue of Science.
The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for over three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA.
Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Related Images, Videos, & Resources Fomalhaut cs2This composite Hubble Space Telescope image shows the debris ring and dust clouds cs1 and cs2 around the star Fomalhaut. Fomalhaut itself is masked out to allow the fainter features to be seen. Its location is marked by the white star.
Fomalhaut cs2 IllustrationThis artist’s concept shows the sequence of events leading up to the creation of dust cloud cs2 around the star Fomalhaut.
Fomalhaut cs2 VideoHubble captured the violent collision of two massive objects around the star Fomalhaut. This extraordinary event is unlike anything in our own present-day solar system. The video shows the sequence of events leading up to the creation of dust cloud cs2 around the star Fomalhaut. …
Hubble Captures Destruction of Worlds VideoNASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured a rare and violent event unfolding around the nearby star Fomalhaut. This discovery sheds light on the chaotic processes that may have shaped our own solar system billions of years ago. With support from both Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers are now closely monitoring the aftermath.
From 2020:Exoplanet Apparently Disappears in Latest Hubble Observations
What astronomers thought was a planet beyond our solar system has now seemingly vanished from sight.
From 2013:Hubble Reveals Rogue Planetary Orbit for Fomalhaut b
Newly released Hubble Space Telescope images of a vast debris disk encircling the nearby star Fomalhaut, and of a mysterious planet circling it, may provide forensic evidence of a titanic planetary disruption in the system.
From 2008:Hubble Directly Observes Planet Orbiting Fomalhaut
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has taken the first visible-light snapshot of a planet circling another star.
From 2005:Elusive Planet Reshapes a Ring Around Neighboring Star
NASA Hubble Space Telescope’s most detailed visible-light image ever taken of a narrow, dusty ring around the nearby star Fomalhaut (HD 216956), offers the strongest evidence yet that an unruly and unseen planet may be gravitationally tugging on the ring.
Share Details Last Updated Dec 18, 2025 EditorAndrea GianopoulosLocationNASA Goddard Space Flight Center Contact MediaClaire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
Ann Jenkins, Christine Pulliam
Space Telescope Science Institute
Baltimore, Maryland
- Release on ESA website
- Release on ESA/Hubble website
- Science Paper: A second planetesimal collision in the Fomalhaut system, PDF (4.09 MB)
Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.
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NASA, Boeing Test How to Improve Performance of Longer, Narrower Aircraft Wings
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The Integrated Adaptive Wing Technology Maturation wind-tunnel model installed in the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.NASA / Mark KnoppThe airliner you board in the future could look a lot different from today’s, with longer, thinner wings that provide a smoother ride while saving fuel.
Those wings would be a revolutionary design for commercial aircraft, but like any breakthrough technology, they come with their own development challenges – which experts from NASA and Boeing are now working to solve.
When creating lift, longer, thinner wings can reduce drag, making them efficient. However, they can become very flexible in flight.
Through their Integrated Adaptive Wing Technology Maturation collaboration, NASA and Boeing recently completed wind tunnel tests of a “higher aspect ratio wing model” looking for ways to get the efficiency gains without the potential issues these kinds of wings can experience.
“When you have a very flexible wing, you’re getting into greater motions,” said Jennifer Pinkerton, a NASA aerospace engineer at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. “Things like gust loads and maneuver loads can cause even more of an excitation than with a smaller aspect ratio wing. Higher aspect ratio wings also tend to be more fuel efficient, so we’re trying to take advantage of that while simultaneously controlling the aeroelastic response.”
Take a minute to watch this video about the testing NASA and Boeing are doing on longer, narrower aircraft wings.
Without the right engineering, long, thin wings could potentially bend or experience a condition known as wing flutter, causing aircraft to vibrate and shake in gusting winds.
“Flutter is a very violent interaction,” Pinkerton said. “When the flow over a wing interacts with the aircraft structure and the natural frequencies of the wing are excited, wing oscillations are amplified and can grow exponentially, leading to potentially catastrophic failure. Part of the testing we do is to characterize aeroelastic instabilities like flutter for aircraft concepts so that in actual flight, those instabilities can be safely avoided.”
To help demonstrate and understand this, researchers from NASA and Boeing sought to soften the impacts of wind gusts on the aircraft, lessen the wing loads from aircraft turns and movements, and suppress wing flutter.
Reducing or controlling those factors can have a significant impact on an aircraft’s performance, fuel efficiency, and passenger comfort.
Testing for this in a controlled environment is impossible with a full-sized commercial airliner, as no wind tunnel could accommodate one.
However, NASA Langley’s Transonic Dynamics Tunnel, which has been contributing to the design of U.S. commercial transports, military aircraft, launch vehicles, and spacecraft for over 60 years, features a test section 16 feet high by 16 feet wide, big enough for large-scale models.
To shrink a full-size plane down to scale, NASA and Boeing worked with NextGen Aeronautics, which designed and fabricated a complex model resembling an aircraft divided down the middle, with one 13-foot wing.
Mounted to the wall of the wind tunnel, the model was outfitted with 10 control surfaces – moveable panels – along the wing’s rear edge. Researchers adjusted those control surfaces to control airflow and reduce the forces that were causing the wing to vibrate.
Instruments and sensors mounted inside the model measured the forces acting on the model, as well as the vehicle’s responses.
Another view of the Integrated Adaptive Wing Technology Maturation wind-tunnel model installed in the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.NASA / Mark KnoppThe model wing represented a leap in sophistication from a smaller one developed during a previous NASA-Boeing collaboration called the Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research (SUGAR).
“The SUGAR model had two active control surfaces,” said Patrick S. Heaney, principal investigator at NASA for the Integrated Adaptive Wing Technology Maturation collaboration. “And now on this particular model we have ten. We’re increasing the complexity as well as expanding what our control objectives are.”
A first set of tests, conducted in 2024, gave experts baseline readings that they compared to NASA computational simulations, allowing them to refine their models. A second set of tests in 2025 used the additional control surfaces in new configurations.
The most visible benefits of these new capabilities appeared during testing to alleviate the forces from gusting winds, when researchers saw the wing’s shaking greatly reduced.
With testing completed, NASA and Boeing experts are analyzing data and preparing to share their results with the aviation community. Airlines and original equipment manufacturers can learn and benefit from the lessons learned, deciding which to apply to the next generation of aircraft.
“Initial data analyses have shown that controllers developed by NASA and Boeing and used during the test demonstrated large performance improvements,” Heaney said. “We’re excited to continue analyzing the data and sharing results in the months to come.”
NASA’s Advanced Air Transport Technology project works to advance aircraft design and technology under the agency’s Advanced Air Vehicles program, which studies, evaluates, and develops technologies and capabilities for new aircraft systems. The project and program fall within NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.
Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More 9 min read 2025 in Review: Highlights from NASA in Silicon Valley Article 17 hours ago 10 min read NASA Langley Research Center: 2025 Year in Review Article 2 days ago 3 min read NASA Works with Boeing, Other Collaborators Toward More Efficient Global Flights Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASAMissions
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Share Details Last Updated Dec 18, 2025 EditorJim BankeContactRobert Margettarobert.j.margetta@nasa.gov Related TermsNASA’s SPHEREx Observatory Completes First Cosmic Map Like No Other
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) This panoramic view of SPHEREx’s first all-sky map shows how the sky looks to the telescope. It transitions between observations of colors emitted by hot hydrogen gas (blue) and cosmic dust (red), and those primarily emitted by stars.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Launched in March, NASA’s SPHEREx space telescope has completed its first infrared map of the entire sky in 102 colors. While not visible to the human eye, these 102 infrared wavelengths of light are prevalent in the cosmos, and observing the entire sky this way enables scientists to answer big questions, including how a dramatic event that occurred in the first billionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second after the big bang influenced the 3D distribution of hundreds of millions of galaxies in our universe. In addition, scientists will use the data to study how galaxies have changed over the universe’s nearly 14 billion-year history and learn about the distribution of key ingredients for life in our own galaxy.
“It’s incredible how much information SPHEREx has collected in just six months — information that will be especially valuable when used alongside our other missions’ data to better understand our universe,” said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We essentially have 102 new maps of the entire sky, each one in a different wavelength and containing unique information about the objects it sees. I think every astronomer is going to find something of value here, as NASA’s missions enable the world to answer fundamental questions about how the universe got its start, and how it changed to eventually create a home for us in it.”
Circling Earth about 14½ times a day, SPHEREx (which stands for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer) travels from north to south, passing over the poles. Each day it takes about 3,600 images along one circular strip of the sky, and as the days pass and the planet moves around the Sun, SPHEREx’s field of view shifts as well. After six months, the observatory has looked out into space in every direction, capturing the entire sky in 360 degrees.
Managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the mission began mapping the sky in May and completed its first all-sky mosaic in December. It will complete three additional all-sky scans during its two-year primary mission, and merging those maps together will increase the sensitivity of the measurements. The entire dataset is freely available to scientists and the public.
“SPHEREx is a mid-sized astrophysics mission delivering big science,” said JPL Director Dave Gallagher. “It’s a phenomenal example of how we turn bold ideas into reality, and in doing so, unlock enormous potential for discovery.”
NASA’s SPHEREx has mapped the entire sky in 102 infrared colors, which are invisible to the human eye but can be used to reveal different features of the cosmos. This image features a selection of colors emitted primarily by stars (blue, green, and white), hot hydrogen gas (blue), and cosmic dust (red). NASA/JPL-Caltech This SPHEREx image shows a selection of the infrared colors primarily emitted by stars and galaxies. The space telescope is observing hundreds of millions of distant galaxies across the sky. Its multiwavelength view will help astronomers measure the distance to those galaxies. NASA/JPL-Caltech The infrared colors emitted primarily by dust (red) and hot gas (blue), key ingredients for forming new stars and planets, are seen in this SPHEREx image. Though these clouds of material cover a massive portion of the sky, they are invisible in most wavelengths of light, including those the human eye can detect. NASA/JPL-Caltech Superpowered telescopeEach of the 102 colors detected by SPHEREx represents a wavelength of infrared light, and each wavelength provides unique information about the galaxies, stars, planet-forming regions, and other cosmic features therein. For example, dense clouds of dust in our galaxy where stars and planets form radiate brightly in certain wavelengths but emit no light (and are therefore totally invisible) in others. The process of separating the light from a source into its component wavelengths is called spectroscopy.
And while a handful of previous missions has also mapped the entire sky, such as NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, none have done so in nearly as many colors as SPHEREx. By contrast, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope can do spectroscopy with significantly more wavelengths of light than SPHEREx, but with a field of view thousands of times smaller. The combination of colors and such a wide field of view is why SPHEREx is so powerful.
“The superpower of SPHEREx is that it captures the whole sky in 102 colors about every six months. That’s an amazing amount of information to gather in a short amount of time,” said Beth Fabinsky, the SPHEREx project manager at JPL. “I think this makes us the mantis shrimp of telescopes, because we have an amazing multicolor visual detection system and we can also see a very wide swath of our surroundings.”
To accomplish this feat, SPHEREx uses six detectors, each paired with a specially designed filter that contains a gradient of 17 colors. That means every image taken with those six detectors contains 102 colors (six times 17). It also means that every all-sky map that SPHEREx produces is really 102 maps, each in a different color.
The observatory will use those colors to measure the distance to hundreds of millions of galaxies. Though the positions of most of those galaxies have already been mapped in two dimensions by other observatories, SPHEREx’s map will be in 3D, enabling scientists to measure subtle variations in the way galaxies are clustered and distributed across the universe.
Each frame of this movie shows the entire sky in a different infrared wavelength, indicated by the color bar in the top right corner. Taken by NASA’s SPHEREx observatory, the maps illustrate how viewing the universe in different wavelengths of light can reveal unique cosmic features.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Those measurements will offer insights into an event that took place in the first billionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second after the big bang. In this moment, called inflation, the universe expanded by a trillion-trillionfold. Nothing like it has occurred in the universe since, and scientists want to understand it better. The SPHEREx mission’s approach is one way to help in that effort.
More about SPHERExThe SPHEREx mission is managed by JPL for NASA’s Astrophysics Division within the Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The telescope and the spacecraft bus were built by BAE Systems. The science analysis of the SPHEREx data is being conducted by a team of scientists at 10 institutions across the U.S., and in South Korea and Taiwan. Data is processed and archived at IPAC at Caltech in Pasadena, which manages JPL for NASA. The mission’s principal investigator is based at Caltech with a joint JPL appointment. The SPHEREx dataset is publicly available.
For more information about the SPHEREx mission visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/spherex/
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Share Details Last Updated Dec 18, 2025 Related Terms Explore More 5 min read NASA’s Hubble Sees Asteroids Colliding at Nearby Star for First TimeLike a game of cosmic bumper cars, scientists think the early days of our solar…
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NASA Welcomes 15th Administrator Jared Isaacman
Jared Isaacman was sworn in Thursday as NASA’s 15th administrator by District Judge Timothy J. Kelly. The oath was taken during a ceremony held at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington.
As NASA administrator, Isaacman will lead the agency in bold pursuit of exploration, innovation, and scientific discovery.
“I am deeply honored to be sworn in as NASA administrator,” said Isaacman. “NASA’s mission is as imperative and urgent as ever — to push the boundaries of human exploration, ignite the orbital economy, drive scientific discovery, and innovate for the benefit of all of humanity. I look forward to serving under President Trump’s leadership and restoring a mission-first culture at NASA — focused on achieving ambitious goals, to return American astronauts to the Moon, establish an enduring presence on the lunar surface, and laying the groundwork to deliver on President Trump’s vision of planting the Stars and Stripes on Mars.”
Isaacman, nominated by President Donald J. Trump on Nov. 4th, was confirmed to serve as NASA administrator by the U.S. Senate on Dec. 17. Isaacman is expected to address the workforce this week.
Jared “Rook” Isaacman is the 15th administrator of NASA, a pilot, astronaut, seasoned entrepreneur, philanthropist, and pioneer in commercial spaceflight. Read Isaacman’s official biography online.
Official portrait of NASA Administrator Jared IsaacmanCredit: NASA/Bill IngallsFor more about NASA’s mission, visit:
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A Look Back at NASA Stennis in 2025
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)In 2025, NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, marked a year of progress by supporting NASA’s Artemis campaign, celebrating historic milestones, and continuing its role as a trusted propulsion test partner at America’s largest rocket propulsion test site.
“For more than six decades, NASA Stennis has proudly represented the Gulf Coast region and America in advancing our nation’s space exploration goals,” said NASA Stennis Director John Bailey. “This year, we continued our progress forward as we near the launch of Artemis II, while honoring milestones that have brought our center to this point.”
Supporting ArtemisAs NASA prepares for the launch of Artemis II in early 2026, with the first crewed mission to the Moon in over 50 years, NASA Stennis continues its frontline work.
Every RS-25 engine used to help launch NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket to the Moon is tested in south Mississippi.
NASA Stennis teams provided data to lead engines contractor L3Harris Technologies by successfully testing two new production RS-25 flight engines.
NASA tested RS-25 engine No. 20001 at the Fred Haise Test Stand in June, and RS-25 engine No. 20002 in November. Each engine fired for 500 seconds, reaching 111% of its rated power, while simulating launch conditions.
Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18, 2025.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18, 2025.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18, 2025.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18, 2025.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18, 2025.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18, 2025.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA tests RS-25 engine No. 20001 on June 20, 2025, at the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center at Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.NASA/Danny Nowlin Supporting Commercial PropulsionThe commercial aerospace industry is growing, and NASA Stennis is a secure location providing support for it. Companies that have conducted work at NASA Stennis include Blue Origin, Boeing, Evolution Space; Launcher, a Vast company; Relativity Space and Rolls-Royce.
Three companies – Relativity Space, Rocket Lab, and Evolution Space – have established, or continue progress to establish, production and/or test operations at NASA Stennis.
Infrastructure upgrades and planning efforts across the test complex are laying the foundation for future propulsion test projects as well.
“As the commercial space industry continues to accelerate their development, NASA Stennis is adapting to meet their propulsion testing needs,” said Joe Schuyler, director of the NASA Stennis Engineering and Test Directorate. “We are proud that our proven experience makes us a trusted partner.”
Honoring the Past In 2025, NASA Stennis honored a defining era of space shuttle main engine testing. An image shows the first space shuttle main engine installed on May 8, 1975, at the Fred Haise Test Stand (formerly A-1).NASAWhile NASA Stennis operates as the nation’s largest rocket propulsion test site, the NASA Stennis Federal City also is home to more than 50 federal, state, academic, and commercial tenants.
This year marked the birth of the federal city concept 55 years ago. The unique operating approach serves as a model of government efficiency and a powerful economic engine for the Gulf Coast region.
Meanwhile, the 50th anniversary of space shuttle main engine testing honored a defining era for NASA Stennis.
From May 1975 to July 2009, NASA Stennis tested space shuttle main engines that enabled 135 shuttle missions and notable space milestones, like deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope and construction of the International Space Station.
Both the federal city model and the decades of propulsion excellence continue to inform work at NASA Stennis.
Engineering the FutureInnovation extended beyond the test stands. The versatile testing environment at NASA Stennis is uniquely positioned to support unmanned systems testing across air, land, and water. With restricted airspace, a closed canal system, and vast protected terrain, the site offers a safe, flexible environment for range operations.
In addition to physical infrastructure, NASA Stennis progressed in digital innovation with the release of its first open-source software tool to streamline propulsion test data collection and collaboration across NASA and industry. The peer review tool is designed to facilitate more efficient and collaborative creation of systems applications, such as those used in frontline government and propulsion test work.
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory personnel conduct a field experiment involving an unmanned aerial system at NASA Stennis in March 2024.NASA/Danny Nowlin U.S. Naval Research laboratory personnel conduct tests on The Blue Boat made by Blue Robotics, an unmanned surface vessel, at NOAA’s National Data Buoy Center basin at NASA Stennis on Dec. 19, 2024. NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA software engineer Brandon Carver updates how the main data acquisition software processes information on March 5, 2025, at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, where he has contributed to the creation of the center’s first-ever open-source software.NASA/Danny Nowlin Syncom Space Services software engineer Shane Cravens, the chief architect behind the first-ever open-source software at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, verifies operation of the site’s data acquisition hardware.NASA/Danny Nowlin Community and InspirationNASA Stennis connected with communities in creative ways in 2025.
During Super Bowl week, NASA Stennis representatives inspired future explorers by bringing Artemis mission displays and hands-on activities to families at the Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans.
In March, NASA Stennis supported the third annual FIRST Robotics Magnolia Regional as a lead sponsor with employees and interns volunteering at the event. The competition in Laurel, Mississippi, brought together 37 teams from eight U.S. states (Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee) and Mexico. The FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics event joined NASA’s Robotics Alliance Project to combine the excitement of sport with the rigors of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in field games using industrial-sized robots.
That same spirit of hands-on learning continues at INFINITY Science Center, the official visitor center of NASA Stennis. A new interactive exhibit has provided visitors a chance to become a test conductor and simulate RS-25 engine tests for the engines that will help power NASA’s Artemis missions.
A pair of young visitors to INFINITY Science Center carry out the steps of a simulated RS-25 engine hot fire on Dec. 19, 2024. The engine test simulator exhibit provided by NASA’s Stennis Space Center takes users through the hot fire process just as real engineers do at NASA Stennis.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA Stennis representatives inspire the Artemis Generation at the Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans on Feb. 7-8, 2025, with activities and displays highlighting space exploration, including NASA’s Artemis missions to the Moon.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA Stennis representatives inspire the Artemis Generation at the Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans on Feb. 7-8, 2025, with activities and displays highlighting space exploration, including NASA’s Artemis missions to the Moon.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA serves as a lead sponsor, along with NASA Stennis employees and interns volunteering, for the third annual FIRST Robotics Magnolia Regional Competition on March 14, 2025. The event in Laurel, Mississippi, welcomed 37 teams from eight states (Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee) and one team from Mexico. The FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics event joined NASA’s Robotics Alliance Project to combine the excitement of sport with the rigors of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in field games using industrial-sized robots.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA serves as a lead sponsor, along with NASA Stennis employees and interns volunteering, for the third annual FIRST Robotics Magnolia Regional Competition on March 14, 2025. The event in Laurel, Mississippi, welcomed 37 teams from eight states (Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee) and one team from Mexico. The FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics event joined NASA’s Robotics Alliance Project to combine the excitement of sport with the rigors of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in field games using industrial-sized robots.NASA/Danny Nowlin A Winter WonderlandHancock County, where NASA Stennis is located, received five to seven inches of snow on Jan. 21, 2025, according to the National Weather Service. It marked the most snow Hancock County, Mississippi, has received in 61 years. The Dec. 31, 1963, snowfall holds the record at 10 inches of snow for Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
A series of cell phone and stationary camera images record snowfall at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on Jan. 21, 2025.NASA/Stennis A series of cell phone and stationary camera images record snowfall at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on Jan. 21, 2025.NASA/Stennis A series of cell phone and stationary camera images record snowfall at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on Jan. 21, 2025.NASA/Stennis A series of cell phone and stationary camera images record snowfall at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on Jan. 21, 2025.NASA/Stennis A series of cell phone and stationary camera images record snowfall at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on Jan. 21, 2025.NASA/Stennis A series of cell phone and stationary camera images record snowfall at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on Jan. 21, 2025.NASA/Stennis A series of cell phone and stationary camera images record snowfall at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on Jan. 21, 2025.NASA/Stennis A series of cell phone and stationary camera images record snowfall at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on Jan. 21, 2025.NASA/Stennis A series of cell phone and stationary camera images record snowfall at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on Jan. 21, 2025.NASA/Stennis Looking AheadAll in all, the year closes with members of the NASA Stennis team focused on what is to come.
“As we close out 2025, NASA Stennis looks forward to the next chapter of our center as NASA sends astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars through the agency’s Artemis campaign,” said NASA Stennis Deputy Director Christine Powell. “We are ready for what’s next.”
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Written by Margaret Deahn, Ph.D. student at Purdue University
NASA’s Mars 2020 rover is currently trekking towards exciting new terrain. After roughly four months of climbing up and over the rim of Jezero crater, the rover is taking a charming tour of the plains just beyond the western crater rim, fittingly named “Lac de Charmes.” This area just beyond Jezero’s rim will be the prime place to search for pre-Jezero ancient bedrock and Jezero impactites — rocks produced or affected by the impact event that created Jezero crater.
The formation of a complex crater like Jezero is, well… complex. Scientists who study impact craters like to split the formation process into three stages: contact & compression (when the impactor hits), excavation (when materials are thrown out of the crater), and modification (when gravity causes everything to collapse). This process happens incredibly fast, fracturing the impacted rock and even melting some of the target material. Sometimes on Earth, the classic “bowl” shaped crater has been completely weathered and unrecognizable, so geologists are able to identify craters by the remnants of their impactites. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any more complicated — Jezero crater’s rim is located on the rim of another, even bigger basin called Isidis. That means there is an opportunity to have impactites from both cratering events exposed in and just around the rim — some of which could be several billions of years old! We may have already encountered one of these blocks on our trek towards Lac de Charmes. In the foreground of this image taken by the Mastcam-Z instrument on the rover, there is a potential impactite called a “megablock” that the team has named “Hyha.” We can actually see this block from orbit, it is that large! The team is excited to continue exploring these ancient rocks as we take our next steps off Jezero’s rim.
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NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover Ready to Roll for Miles in Years Ahead
After nearly five years on Mars, NASA’s Perseverance rover has traveled almost 25 miles (40 kilometers), and the mission team has been busy testing the rover’s durability and gathering new science findings on the way to a new region nicknamed “Lac de Charmes,” where it will be searching for rocks to sample in the coming year.
Like its predecessor Curiosity, which has been exploring a different region of Mars since 2012, Perseverance was made for the long haul. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which built Perseverance and leads the mission, has continued testing the rover’s parts here on Earth to make sure the six-wheeled scientist will be strong for years to come. This past summer, JPL certified that the rotary actuators that turn the rover’s wheels can perform optimally for at least another 37 miles (60 kilometers); comparable brake testing is underway as well.
Over the past two years, engineers have extensively evaluated nearly all the vehicle’s subsystems in this way, concluding that they can operate until at least 2031.
NASA’s Perseverance used its navigation cameras to capture its record-breaking drive of 1,350.7 feet (411.7 meters) on June 19, 2025. The navcam images were combined with rover data and placed into a 3D virtual environment, resulting in this reconstruction with virtual frames inserted about every 4 inches (0.1 meters) of drive progress. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech“These tests show the rover is in excellent shape,” said Perseverance’s deputy project manager, Steve Lee of JPL, who presented the results on Wednesday at the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting, the largest gathering of planetary scientists in the United States. “All the systems are fully capable of supporting a very long-term mission to extensively explore this fascinating region of Mars.”
Perseverance has been driving through Mars’ Jezero Crater, the site of an ancient lake and river system, where it has been collecting scientifically compelling rock core samples. In fact, in September, the team announced that a sample from a rock nicknamed “Cheyava Falls” contains a potential fingerprint of past microbial life.
More efficient rovingIn addition to a hefty suite of six science instruments, Perseverance packs more autonomous capabilities than past rovers. A paper published recently in IEEE Transactions on Field Robotics highlights an autonomous planning tool called Enhanced Autonomous Navigation, or ENav. The software looks up to 50 feet (15 meters) ahead for potential hazards, then chooses a path without obstacles and tells Perseverance’s wheels how to steer there.
Engineers at JPL meticulously plan each day of the rover’s activities on Mars. But once the rover starts driving, it’s on its own and sometimes has to react to unexpected obstacles in the terrain. Past rovers could do this to some degree, but not if these obstacles were clustered near each other. They also couldn’t react as far in advance, resulting in the vehicles driving slower while approaching sand pits, rocks, and ledges. In contrast, ENav’s algorithm evaluates each rover wheel independently against the elevation of terrain, trade-offs between different routes, and “keep-in” or “keep-out” areas marked by human operators for the path ahead.
“More than 90% of Perseverance’s journey has relied on autonomous driving, making it possible to quickly collect a diverse range of samples,” said JPL autonomy researcher Hiro Ono, a paper lead author. “As humans go to the Moon and even Mars in the future, long-range autonomous driving will become more critical to exploring these worlds.”
New scienceA paper published Wednesday in Science details what Perseverance discovered in the “Margin Unit,” a geologic area at the margin, or inner edge, of Jezero Crater. The rover collected three samples from that region. Scientists think these samples may be particularly useful for showing how ancient rocks from Mars’ deep interior interacted with water and the atmosphere, helping create conditions supportive for life.
From September 2023 to November 2024, Perseverance ascended 1,312 feet (400 meters) of the Margin Unit, studying rocks along the way — especially those containing the mineral olivine. Scientists use minerals as timekeepers because crystals within them can record details about the precise moment and conditions in which they formed.
Jezero Crater and the surrounding area holds large reserves of olivine, which forms at high temperatures, typically deep within a planet, and offers a snapshot of what was going on in the planet’s interior. Scientists think the Margin Unit’s olivine was made in an intrusion, a process where magma pushes into underground layers and cools into igneous rock. In this case, erosion later exposed that rock to the surface, where it could interact with water from the crater’s ancient lake and carbon dioxide, which was abundant in the planet’s early atmosphere.
Those interactions form new minerals called carbonates, which can preserve signs of past life, along with clues as to how Mars’ atmosphere changed over time.
“This combination of olivine and carbonate was a major factor in the choice to land at Jezero Crater,” said the new paper’s lead author, Perseverance science team member Ken Williford of Blue Marble Space Institute of Science in Seattle. “These minerals are powerful recorders of planetary evolution and the potential for life.”
Together, the olivine and carbonates record the interplay between rock, water, and atmosphere inside the crater, including how each changed over time. The Margin Unit’s olivine appeared to have been altered by water at the base of the unit, where it would have been submerged. But the higher Perseverance went, the more the olivine bore textures associated with magma chambers, like crystallization, and fewer signs of water alteration.
As Perseverance leaves the Margin Unit behind for Lac de Charmes, the team will have the chance to collect new olivine-rich samples and compare the differences between the two areas.
More about PerseveranceManaged for NASA by Caltech, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover on behalf of the agency’s Science Mission Directorate as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio.
To learn more about Perseverance, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance
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Andrew Good / DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
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Massive Stars Make Their Mark in Hubble Image
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a glittering blue dwarf galaxy called Markarian 178 (Mrk 178). The galaxy, which is substantially smaller than our own Milky Way, lies 13 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear).
Mrk 178 is one of more than 1,500 Markarian galaxies. These galaxies get their name from the Armenian astrophysicist Benjamin Markarian, who compiled a list of galaxies that were surprisingly bright in ultraviolet light.
While the bulk of the galaxy is blue due to an abundance of young, hot stars with little dust shrouding them, Mrk 178 gets a red hue from a collection of rare massive Wolf–Rayet stars. These stars are concentrated in the brightest, reddish region near the galaxy’s edge. Wolf–Rayet stars cast off their atmospheres through powerful winds, and the bright emission lines from their hot stellar winds are etched upon the galaxy’s spectrum. Both ionized hydrogen and oxygen lines are particularly strong and appear as a red color in this photo.
Massive stars enter the Wolf–Rayet phase of their evolution just before they collapse into black holes or neutron stars. Because Wolf–Rayet stars last for only a few million years, researchers know that something must have triggered a recent burst of star formation in Mrk 178. At first glance, it’s not clear what could be the cause — Mrk 178 doesn’t seem to have any close galactic neighbors that may have stirred up its gas to form new stars. Instead, researchers suspect that a gas cloud crashed into Mrk 178, or that the intergalactic medium disturbed its gas as the galaxy moved through space. Either disturbance could light up this tiny galaxy with a ripple of bright new stars.
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, F. Annibali, S. Hong
NASA’s Two-in-One Satellite Propulsion Demo Begins In-Space Test
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Dual Propulsion Experiment (DUPLEX) deploys from the International Space Station December 2, 2025.NASANASA is working with commercial partners to create high-performing, reliable propulsion systems that will help small spacecraft safely maneuver in orbit, reach intended destinations across the solar system, and accomplish mission operations.
Two new micropropulsion technologies are being tested in space onboard a CubeSat called DUPLEX (Dual Propulsion Experiment) that deployed into low Earth orbit from the International Space Station on Dec. 2. The CubeSat is fitted with two thruster systems that use spools of polymer fibers to provide performance levels of propulsion comparable to existing systems but with greater safety during assembly and more affordability.
One of the propulsion technologies is a fiber-fed pulsed plasma thruster system which employs an electric pulse to vaporize Teflon material and uses the resulting ions to deliver strong, efficient thrust while using very little fuel. The other propulsion technology is a monofilament vaporization propulsion system – inspired by 3D printers – which heats and vaporizes a common polymer material known as Delrin to create continuous thrust.
On orbit, DUPLEX will test its advanced propulsion systems by raising and lowering its orbit over two years, demonstrating the systems’ capabilities to maintain a vehicle’s orbit over time. Micropropulsion solutions enable a variety of cost-efficient capabilities necessary for operators in a bustling low Earth orbit economy, including maintaining and adjusting orbits to avoid debris or nearby spacecraft, and coordinating maneuvers between spacecraft to perform maintenance, inspections, and other critical activities. The systems tested on DUPLEX can also make spacecraft capable of lower cost extended missions in areas that are farther from Earth, such as the Moon and Mars.
Technologies like those demonstrated onboard DUPLEX open the door for U.S. industry to provide efficient, affordable spacecraft systems for various space-based applications, building a stronger orbital economy to meet the needs of NASA and the nation.
The DUPLEX spacecraft was developed by Champaign-Urbana Aerospace in Illinois. NASA’s Small Spacecraft and Distributed Systems program at the agency’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley supported the development, with funding from the Small Business Innovation Research program and a 2019 Tipping Point industry partnership award through the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.
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NASA’s Push Toward Commercial Space Communications Gains Momentum
NASA’s commercial partners are actively demonstrating next-generation satellite relay capabilities for spaceflight missions, marking a significant step toward retiring the agency’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) system and adopting commercial services. The demonstrations – ranging from real-time spacecraft tracking during launch to transmitting mission commands and scientific data – are part of NASA’s Communications Services Project, which is modernizing how the agency communicates with its science missions in near-Earth orbit.
Managed by the agency’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) Program, the project awarded funded Space Act Agreements in 2022 to six U.S. companies that are developing and testing commercial satellite communications services. The initiative supports NASA’s broader strategy to retire the TDRS constellation and adopt a commercial-first model for near-Earth communications.
“In collaboration with our commercial partners, SCaN is ushering in a new era of space exploration that will deliver powerful, forward-thinking solutions that reduce cost, increase adaptability, and increase mission success,” said Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator for SCaN at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This work advances our commitment to expanding the low Earth orbit economy, and our commercial space partners are leading the charge through these groundbreaking demonstrations, proving for the first time that commercial satellite relay services can work for NASA missions.”
This work advances our commitment to expanding the low Earth orbit economy, and our commercial space partners are leading the charge through these groundbreaking demonstrations.Kevin Coggins
Deputy Associate Administrator for SCaN
By leveraging private-sector innovation, NASA aims to establish a more flexible, cost-effective, and scalable communications infrastructure for future science missions.
AmazonAmazon Leo for Government, a subsidiary of Amazon, is demonstrating high-rate data exchanges over optical links using its satellite network in low Earth orbit
Amazon has developed the hardware and software components necessary to support optical communication links within its Amazon Leo satellite relay network. Optical communications, also known as laser communications, use infrared light to transmit data at a higher rate compared to standard radio frequency systems. The Amazon Leo demonstrations, scheduled to begin in early 2026, will test the pointing, acquisition, and tracking capabilities of their optical communications systems to ensure the technology can accurately locate, lock onto, and stay connected with a mission as it travels through space.
An image of the view from an Amazon Leo satellite overlooking the Earth. Credit: Amazon SES Space & DefenseSES Space & Defense is demonstrating high-rate data exchanges as well as tracking, telemetry, and command services using its O3b mPOWER satellite network in medium Earth orbit and its satellites in geosynchronous Earth orbit.
Over the last two months, in collaboration with Planet Labs, SES conducted multiple flight tests of its near-Earth space relay services. These demonstrations showcased uninterrupted, high-capacity connectivity between a Planet Labs satellite in low Earth orbit and SES communications satellites in geosynchronous Earth orbit and medium Earth orbit, demonstrating the ability to deliver real-time data relay across multiple orbits. SES has validated two relay services, one for low-rate tracking, telemetry, and command applications via its C-band satellites, and one for high-rate data applications over its Ka-band constellation. Additional flight demonstrations are planned for early 2026.
An artist’s concept of SES Space and Defense’s satellite relay demonstration.Credit: SES Space and Defense SpaceX
SpaceX is demonstrating high-rate data exchanges over optical links using its Starlink network in low Earth orbit.
Since 2024, SpaceX has completed multiple demonstrations of on-orbit optical communications services. During two human spaceflight missions, Polaris Dawn and Fram2, SpaceX leveraged the Starlink satellite constellation and an optical communications terminal installed on the Dragon spacecraft to demonstrate high-rate data relay services. Optical communications technology is not currently available through TDRS. By demonstrating optical relay services with multiple commercial partners, the agency is unlocking new capabilities for emerging missions.
An artist’s concept of SpaceX’s commercial satellite relay demonstration using the Dragon spacecraft and Starlink network.Credit: SpaceX Telesat
Telesat U.S. Services LLC, doing business as Telesat Government Solutions, is demonstrating high-rate data exchanges over optical links using its anticipated Telesat Lightspeed network in low Earth orbit.
Development of the Telesat Lightspeed satellite network is currently underway, with satellite launches planned for late 2026. These satellites will use innovative technologies, like optical inter-satellite links and advanced onboard processing, to establish a global, mesh network in space. Software-defined networks aim to enable robust and reliable routing of traffic from a space-based or terrestrial terminal to its final destination autonomously. In 2027, Telesat plans to complete multiple demonstrations of space-to-space connectivity, including an optical data exchange from a Planet Labs spacecraft in low Earth orbit to the Telesat Lightspeed constellation. The data will then be routed over optical links before getting downlinked to a Telesat landing station on Earth, representing a full end-to-end capability.
An artist illustration of Telesat’s planned commercial relay demonstration using its Lightspeed satellite network. Credit: Telesat ViasatViasat Inc. is demonstrating launch, tracking, telemetry, command, and high-data rate exchanges for launch vehicles and low Earth orbit operations. In May 2023, Viasat completed the acquisition of Inmarsat, the sixth satellite communications company to win a contract award from NASA, combining the resources of both companies to form a unified global communications provider.
Viasat’s space demonstrations will use its established satellite networks in geostationary orbit to validate three primary capabilities: launch telemetry over the L-band radio frequency to track and monitor spacecraft during ascent; command and control over L-band to maintain continuous spacecraft custody and enable real-time operations; and high-speed Ka-band data relay to transfer large volumes of mission data through next-generation spacecraft terminals. Flights test began in November, when Viasat used its satellite network to successfully track the telemetry of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket as it launched into low Earth orbit. Follow-on demonstrations are planned for 2026, including additional L-band launch services as well as high-capacity services over Ka-band frequencies.
An artist’s concept outlining Viasat’s satellite relay capabilities.Credit: Viasat
Commercializing communications services for future near-Earth science missions enables NASA to focus resources on deep space missions to the Moon as part of the Artemis campaign, in preparation for future human missions to Mars. The agency will continue to work with these commercial partners to demonstrate next-generation services through 2027. By 2031, NASA plans to purchase satellite relay services for science missions from one or more U.S. satellite communications providers.
To learn more about the decision to use commercial satellite relay services in low Earth orbit, visit:
Embracing Commercial Relay Services – NASA
The Communications Services Project is managed by NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, under the direction of the Space Communications and Navigation Program within NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate.
Share Details Last Updated Dec 17, 2025 Related Terms Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASACommunicating with Missions
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