Latest · Jun 20, 2026
Who Will be the First Woman on the Moon?
We now know a woman won’t fly with ArtemisArtemis — NASA's program to return humans to the Moon and build a sustained lunar presence. III, but what of the big one: Artemis IV?
Read the column →The J Mission Index · Flagship
How far are we to a self-sustaining cislunarCislunar — The region of space between Earth and the Moon, including lunar orbit — the arena J Mission tracks. economy?
11/ 1008/38 milestones · data 2025
Earth-to-Orbit Access 16.7%28
LEO Commercialization & Habitation 16.7%4
In-Space Logistics & Refueling 11.1%7
CislunarCislunar — The region of space between Earth and the Moon, including lunar orbit — the arena J Mission tracks. Transport 16.7%15
Lunar Surface Infrastructure 11.1%0
ISRU & Resource Use 11.1%0
Economic Self-Sufficiency 16.7%13
0–100 distance to a self-sustaining cislunarCislunar — The region of space between Earth and the Moon, including lunar orbit — the arena J Mission tracks. economy · 7 pillars, weighted · continuous indicators (GCATGCAT — The General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects — an authoritative launch and payload catalog kept by astronomer Jonathan McDowell.) normalized distance-to-target + cited milestone checklists (OECD/JRCOECD / EC-JRC handbook — The standard recipe for building a composite indicator: a stated framework, explicit normalization, and transparent weights.) · methodology →
The Indexes
All indexes + methodology →Launch Cadence Index
216orbital YTD 2026
~319 projected · record 2025: 324Method · Launch Library 2 (live) + SpaceNews (excl. suborbital Starship)SpaceX Dominance
49% of launches
2025: 50.9%Method · Launch Library 2 (live) + SpaceNewsSpace-Economy Growth
38/100 · activity 2025
+7.8 vs 2024 · +25.3% YoYMethod · GCAT (McDowell) + Space-Track · computed in code; YoY min-max normalized, equal-weight (OECD/JRC)The Feed
Live · 23:36 UTCNews Wire SNAPI · RSS · multi-source
SEP 323:36PayloadIsaacman: Commercial Won’t Solve Every NASA ProblemSEP 321:59SpacePolicyOnline.comSchiess Takes Charge of U.S. Space ForceSEP 321:03SpaceNewsSchiess takes command of Space Force as the service prepares for expansionSEP 320:30Universe TodayNew Study Expands Search for "Dark Photons," a Leading Dark Matter CandidateSEP 320:00Space.com'Alien: Isolation 2': Facing a ruthless and evolved Xenomorph in our Gamescom hands-on previewSEP 319:34Universe TodayPenultimate Lunar Occultations Inbound for Jupiter, Venus and More in SeptemberSEP 318:30NASAStation Crew Works Earth, Human Research and Preps for Cargo MissionsSEP 318:19NASASpacesuits, Exercise, and Cargo Ops Wrap Week Aboard StationSEP 318:00Space.com2 spacecraft will soon reach Mercury after 8 years in space. Here's what BepiColombo can doSEP 317:06NASANASA to Cover Progress 96 Spacecraft Launch, DockingSEP 317:00Space.com'Strange New Worlds'' latest episode is a soap opera spoof, but hasn't 'Star Trek' always been a soap opera in space?SEP 316:25Space.com'A new mission starting today': 8 years after launch, BepiColombo begins Mercury arrivalSEP 316:01Universe TodayAstronomers See How a Centaur Can Become a CometSEP 315:59NASACuriosity Blog, Sols 4988-4994: More New Tricks for an Old DogSEP 313:50European SpaceflightIsar Aerospace Could Attempt Second Spectrum Flight as Early as 4 SeptemberSEP 313:00SpaceNewsGalaxia Takes Next Step in Earth Observation with purchase of Simera Sense Hyperspectral ImagerSEP 312:35PayloadNASA Taps Blue Origin for Mars Communications NetworkSEP 312:31PayloadPLD Space, HyImpulse Close Major Extension RoundsSEP 310:00ESALatest updates: BepiColombo's arrival at MercurySEP 308:00ESAHubble's superbubble sceneSEP 306:13European SpaceflightArcSpace to Demo On-Orbit Welding Tech in 2027SEP 221:06NASASpaceflightRocket Lab’s Hungry Hippo completes testingSEP 220:55Universe TodayPhysicists Determine Cause of "Runaway" Supermassive Black HoleSEP 219:37ArstechnicaWary of Artemis IV timeline, NASA is changing lunar spacesuit designSignal Bluesky · AT Proto
Kevin M. Gill@kevinmgill.bsky.socialSEP 4 · 03:29The most engagement I've ever gotten on Instagram is with a post a few days ago where I referred to Lake Ontario as Lake Ontario....NASAWATCH@nasawatch.bsky.socialSEP 4 · 01:36These two charts were part of a recent internal briefing at
NASA Goddard ETD. The center still has a tough road ahead as it shrinks its footprint and adjust to new assignments. Despite assurances from Center management there's a reorgani…NASASpaceflight.com@nasaspaceflight.comSEP 4 · 01:32Space Coast Update (we did a flyover!) with Ryan Caton and Alejandro Alcantarilla Romera.
Premiering on YouTube at 10:00pm EDT (02:00 UTC):
youtu.be/Gynbnf4fckwNASASpaceflight.com@nasaspaceflight.comSEP 4 · 01:19Zhuque-3 fell over just after landing. Was it a successful landing though? What about a recovery?
Despite the nuance, LandSpace seems to be ignoring the elephant in the room entirely.
→ youtu.be/FPObLoNZu28SpaceNews @spacenewsinc.bsky.socialSEP 4 · 00:54GSLV launches Earth imaging satellite in first ISRO launch since January
The Indian space agency ISRO successfully launched an imaging satellite in its first launch since a failure in January....SpaceNews @spacenewsinc.bsky.socialSEP 4 · 00:09Satellogic to provide Merlin maritime intelligence exclusively through SynMax platform
SAN FRANCISCO -- Earth observation company Satellogic will provide maritime intelligence derived from its new Merlin constellation exclusively through…Rocket Lab@rocketlabcorp.comSEP 3 · 22:07We’ve successfully passed our Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for the 18 satellites we're building for the Space Development Agency's Tracking Layer Tranche 3 (TRKT3) constellation. A big step forward in delivering advanced missile warnin…SpacePolicyOnline@spacepolicyonline.bsky.socialSEP 3 · 22:03Schiess Takes Charge of U.S. Space Force spacepolicyonline.com/news/schiess...Jonathan McDowell@planet4589.bsky.socialSEP 3 · 21:46LAUNCH at 2125 UTC Sep3 of ISRO's GSLV-F17 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The successful flight placed the GISAT-1A imaging satellite in subsynchronous transfer orbitJonathan McDowell@planet4589.bsky.socialSEP 3 · 20:43Sad to hear of Gloria Steinem's death. I was privileged to meet her a couple of times and found her a very impressive individual.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...Off-Nominal@offnom.comSEP 3 · 20:02we're live with matt gjertsen returning to talk about his new book!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=g57o...SpacePolicyOnline@spacepolicyonline.bsky.socialSEP 3 · 16:48An update on Rocket Lab's project to send a privately-funded spacecraft to Venus, working with MIT's Sara Seager and others. Everything is waiting on the Neutron rocket.
www.space.com/astronomy/ve...NASAWATCH@nasawatch.bsky.socialSEP 3 · 15:57Is Commerce The Solution To All Space Things?
nasawatch.com/2026/09/03/i...
NASA’s Former Director of the Commercial Space Division Phil McAlister posted “NASA Is About to Lose Its Way to Low Earth Orbit”. NASA Administrator Jared Issacm…Max Fagin@maxfagin.bsky.socialSEP 3 · 15:06This as a tattoo for my right hand would *rule*.ESA Space Science@science.esa.intSEP 3 · 13:56A happy goodbye is still a goodbye 🥹
Mission accomplished, MTM! 🫡 Thank you for the ride!
Thanks to its solar-powered electric thrusters, MTM carried ESA's Bepi and JAXA's Mio to Mercury on the power equivalent of 250 ants! 🐜🐜🐜
🔭…European Space Agency@esa.intSEP 3 · 13:55Mercury Transfer Module separation confirmed! 📡 ✅
Signal acquired via our Cebreros deep-space antenna confirms the spacecraft is healthy and operating as expected.
The MPO and Mio spacecrafts are now on their way to Mercury orbit inser…