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
175orbital YTD 2026
~316 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
65/100 · activity 2025
+24.2 vs 2024 · +25.3% YoYMethod · GCAT (McDowell) + Space-Track · computed in code; YoY min-max normalized, equal-weight (OECD/JRC)Space News Heat
81/ 100 vs 21-day high
▼ coolingMethod · GDELT DOC 2.0 (article volume)The Feed
Live · 23:50 UTCNews Wire SNAPI · RSS · multi-source
JUL 2023:50Universe TodayResearchers Narrow Down the Type of Meteorite that Killed the DinosaursJUL 2022:49Universe TodayAstronomers Determine that Exoplanets Around Barnard's Star are Extremely UninhabitableJUL 2021:34Universe TodayMeet Our Newest Stellar Neighbours That Hid in the Glare of Other StarsJUL 2021:05Space.comThe 1st 'Avengers: Doomsday' trailer is here, and it's stuffed to bursting with superheroesJUL 2021:00Space.comSpaceX targets July 23 for crucial Starship Flight 13 test launch after abortJUL 2020:53NASASpaceflightLaunch Preview: Falcon 9, Starship, and Chinese rockets scheduled to launchJUL 2020:00NASANASA Sets Briefings for SpaceX Crew-13 Mission to Space StationJUL 2020:00Space.comScientists discover mystery molecule on Pluto and Saturn's moon Titan: 'We cannot say what it is'JUL 2019:18NASASpaceflightMaking Progress: Relativity’s Terran R, Rocket Lab’s Neutron, and PLD Space’s Miura 5JUL 2019:03NASAExpedition 74 Turns Attention to Departing CrewmatesJUL 2018:54NASANASA, GE Aerospace Work Enables Hybrid-Electric Flight DemonstrationJUL 2018:25NASANew NASA Earth Missions Gear Up to Start Science FlightsJUL 2018:16Universe TodayFinding Venus Zone Planets with PLATO Will Show Us How Habitable Planets EvolveJUL 2018:00Space.com50 years after Viking 1's historic Mars landing, NASA is looking to the Red Planet's skiesJUL 2014:03European SpaceflightUK Misses Deadline to Award Contract for Space Debris Removal MissionJUL 2013:00SpaceNewsPipelines to payloads: risk management lessons for the space economyJUL 2012:45PayloadSkyroot Aerospace Reaches Orbit with Vikram-1 RocketJUL 2012:38Spaceflight NowLive coverage: SpaceX to launch 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFBJUL 2012:30ESAPlato's electronics ready for spaceJUL 2012:27PayloadDoD Adds $11.4B to NatSec Launch ContractsJUL 2011:18SpaceNewsAI rocket engine startup LegendSpace raises $29.5 million angel roundJUL 2008:30ESAArtemis II crew at ESTECJUL 2006:54ESAFrom system to signal at ESA’s Navigation Training CourseJUL 1921:17SpacePolicyOnline.comWhat’s Happening in Space Policy July 19-26, 2026Signal Bluesky · AT Proto
Kevin M. Gill@kevinmgill.bsky.socialJUL 21 · 00:23Bird I saw this weekend in Irvine, CA.SpacePolicyOnline@spacepolicyonline.bsky.socialJUL 20 · 21:22Just discovered NASA issued the FY2025 Aeronautics and Space Report of the President on July 1. www.nasa.gov/wp-content/u...
These annual rpts date back to the beginning of NASA. Esp good at showing how much of the govt uses space. Great …NASASpaceflight.com@nasaspaceflight.comJUL 20 · 21:01Upcoming launches, hopefully including Attempt 2 for Starship Flight 13.
By Justin Davenport.
www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/07/laun...NASASpaceflight.com@nasaspaceflight.comJUL 20 · 19:24Keeping up-to-date with three new rockets under development:
www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/07/maki...NASAWATCH@nasawatch.bsky.socialJUL 20 · 18:54NOTE: Video to follow: @astronauts4america.bsky.social america.bsky.social -- astronautsforamerica.org Today, on the anniversary of humanity's first Moon landing, Astronauts For America will gather at the California Science Center to laun…ESA Space Science@science.esa.intJUL 20 · 16:15The Sun like you've never heard it before 🎧
We sat down with ESA's Miho Janvier and Nic Bonne from the University of Portsmouth to take a sensory journey to our Sun and discover its secrets.
Listen to 🎙️ 'Expendition Sound' whereever …European Space Agency@esa.intJUL 20 · 15:17"It performed marvelously. You built an amazing Service Module."
During their visit to ESTEC, we sat down with the the Artemis II crew to hear their perspective on humankind's return to the Moon and the international collaboration that m…Kevin M. Gill@kevinmgill.bsky.socialJUL 20 · 15:06Circles in the sand made by the Mars Curiosity Rover's spinning DRT brush over the weekend on Sol 4958.
flic.kr/p/2sq1mXbAndrew Parsonson@andrewparsonson.bsky.socialJUL 20 · 14:26The UK Space Agency has delayed the award of a £75.6 million contract for a mission that will capture and remove two defunct satellites from low Earth orbit.
europeanspaceflight.com/uk-misses-de...Spaceflight Now@spaceflightnow.comJUL 20 · 14:22SpaceX is fueling a Falcon 9 rocket at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Liftoff of the Starlink 17-39 mission is set for 7:49 a.m. PDT (10:49 a.m. EDT / 1449 UTC). Watch live: youtube.com/live/mXVL1SQ...NASAWATCH@nasawatch.bsky.socialJUL 20 · 14:19OMB issued new regulations which, if implemented, would gut the way that American science has been evaluated and conducted for the better part of a century. The The science and technology has pushed back. 497,000+ times. More: nasawatch.…ESA Space Science@science.esa.intJUL 20 · 13:07Plato meets Maxwell
Our terrestrial planet hunter Plato has recently completed a series of key tests inside the Maxwell Test Chamber at ESTEC, demonstrating that its electronic equipment is fit to work in space.
🔭 🧪 1/3SpaceNews @spacenewsinc.bsky.socialJUL 20 · 13:00Pipelines to payloads: risk management lessons for the space economy
The energy sector has spent decades learning how to manage complex disputes that touch on sovereign power, geopolitics, regulation and private capital....Andrew Jones@andrewjonesspace.bsky.socialJUL 20 · 11:22Looks like there's a NOTAM out indicating that the launch window for the Chang'e-7 lunar south polar landing mission opens at 0000 UTC August 24. Windows of 0000-0400 running through August 31.SpaceNews @spacenewsinc.bsky.socialJUL 20 · 11:18AI rocket engine startup LegendSpace raises $29.5 million angel round
HELSINKI — A six-month-old Chinese startup aiming to use artificial intelligence to compress rocket engine development cycles has raised $29.5 million in angel funding…European Space Agency@esa.intJUL 20 · 09:27#MediaInvitation: Journalists are invited to express their interest in attending the launch of our #FLEX mission and Copernicus Sentinel-3C on Vega-C flight #VV30 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, this September.