Japan launches MMX toward a Phobos sample return

Japan’s MMX mission moved from planning into flight, opening a path to return material from Mars’s moon Phobos. NASA also clarified its revised lunar mission sequence, while Swift ended science observations as atmospheric drag prevented steady pointing.

Key developments

MMX launches

JAXA successfully launched Martian Moons eXploration aboard an H3-24L rocket from Tanegashima Space Center. The mission will study Phobos and Deimos and is designed to return a sample from Phobos.

Returned material would allow laboratories to investigate a Martian moon directly.

Oct 20 · ESA Space Science · Astronomy News & Astronomical Events · Astronomy Magazine

Artemis test sequence clarified

Artemis III will carry four astronauts aboard Orion into low Earth orbit in 2027 to test future Moon-lander operations. NASA, Blue Origin and SpaceX have streamlined lander designs and revised operating concepts for lunar missions targeted for 2028.

The route to the planned lunar surface missions now includes a crewed orbital test of lander operations.

Oct 24 · NASA News · NASASpaceflight · NASA News

Swift ends science observations

NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory made its final observation on October 20. Below 171 miles (275 kilometers), atmospheric drag prevents its telescopes from steadily observing astronomical targets.

Astronomers lose access to an observing facility because its orbit no longer permits stable pointing.

Oct 24 · NASA News

SpaceX posts quarterly profit

SpaceX reported approximately $14.6 billion in third-quarter revenue and $4.4 billion in net income, exceeding expectations. AI revenue was described as leading the results.

SpaceX’s financial performance increasingly reflects AI activity alongside its space operations.

Oct 21 · Payload

Xona funds navigation constellation

Xona raised $250 million in Series D funding. Its long-term plan calls for roughly 258 satellites providing an upgraded commercial alternative to government GPS networks.

The funding supports development of another source of satellite navigation services.

Oct 22 · Payload

Dark energy evidence grows

An analysis of 2,884 exploding stars found new evidence that dark energy may change over time. The findings do not constitute definitive confirmation.

A confirmed change in dark energy would challenge current models of the universe’s accelerating expansion.

Oct 23 · Astronomy News -- ScienceDaily

Bennu samples explain surface behavior

NASA scientists found hidden cracks in returned Bennu rocks that explain the asteroid’s rapid heat loss. Separate sample evidence suggests Bennu formed where inner and outer Solar System material mixed, with Jupiter playing a role.

The samples connect Bennu’s present surface properties with evidence of material movement during Solar System formation.

Oct 20–24 · Astronomy News -- ScienceDaily · Astronomy News -- ScienceDaily

Perseverance breaks driving record

NASA’s Perseverance rover reached 45.22 kilometers on October 11, surpassing Opportunity’s off-world driving record. Its advanced self-driving system helped it reach the milestone in five and a half years, compared with Opportunity’s nearly 15.

Faster autonomous travel lets the rover investigate more terrain during its mission.

Oct 21 · NASA News · Astronomy News -- ScienceDaily

Possible extrasolar moon identified

Astronomers found evidence of a possible moon at least as massive as Jupiter orbiting a brown dwarf that itself circles a star. Its classification as a planet or moon remains uncertain.

Confirmation as a moon could establish the first detected beyond the Solar System.

Oct 25 · Astronomy News -- ScienceDaily

Three feeding black holes found

Astronomers discovered three actively feeding black holes in one galaxy more than 12.5 billion light-years away. Two lie just 620 light-years apart and are expected eventually to merge; one of the black holes weighs 80 million solar masses.

The system provides a view of black hole growth and a potential merger in the early universe.

Oct 25 · Astronomy News -- ScienceDaily

Also this week

Launch and spacecraft

• PLD Space began system-level testing of Miura 5 ahead of its first demonstration flight, with the first three vehicles taking shape. NASASpaceflight

• UARX Space is troubleshooting anomalies on its maiden OSSIE-D orbital transfer vehicle flight, launched October 1 aboard Transporter-18. SpaceNews

• Reaction Dynamics is targeting 2031 for a launch of its Borealis medium-lift rocket. Payload

• NASA advanced the nuclear power module for SR-1 Freedom, intended to demonstrate nuclear-electric propulsion in deep space. NASA News

• NASA fired developmental RS-25 engine No. 10001 for 500 seconds at Stennis, matching the engine operating duration during an SLS launch. NASA News

• China is preparing its first commercial resupply craft, its first booster reflight and another rocket landing attempt. NASASpaceflight

• Solstar Space’s Wi-Fi connected NASA’s R5-S10 cubesat and Momentus’ Vigoride-7 during proximity operations and relayed data to Johnson Space Center. SpaceNews

Space business

• EraDrive won a $13 million Department of Defense award for Space Force purchases of its Era-Node vision-based autonomy modules. Payload

• Orbital Operations secured up to $35 million under a Department of Defense prototype agreement for a full-scale orbital demonstration of its Astraeus cryogenic-maneuvering vehicle. Payload

• Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica, Orange and Vodafone are exploring a joint mobile satellite services spectrum bid, European ground infrastructure and a satellite-operator partnership for direct-to-device connectivity. Payload

• WarpWare closed a primarily angel-funded $1.2 million pre-seed round using SAFEs to expand its AI-enabled space mission engineering platform. Payload

Crewed exploration

• Dragon delivered cargo to the International Space Station as Crew-12 handed over to Crew-13 and Expedition 75 gained four crew members. NASASpaceflight

• Four crew members in NASA’s simulated Mars mission reached a year living and working in isolation at Johnson Space Center. NASA News

• A National Academies report ranked four nonpolar lunar sites for future crewed missions. Payload

Cosmology and galaxies

• An international team studied 15 pristine galaxies to measure helium formed during the universe’s first five minutes with unprecedented precision. Astronomy News -- ScienceDaily

• Webb observations revealed metal-rich gas around Sagittarius A*, probably enriched by material released from exploding stars over time. Astronomy News

• Argonne researchers completed two Aurora cosmological simulations, each modeling 13.4 trillion dark matter particles across a region 28.6 billion light-years wide. Astronomy News

• An analysis of around 100,000 quasars found statistical evidence supporting a prediction that some supermassive black holes are ejected from galactic centers. Astronomy News

• Hubble observations challenged the role attributed to supernova winds in cosmic reionization. Astronomy News

• Technion researchers found evidence of solar-storm-like magnetic outbursts near the supermassive black hole in NGC 3783. Astronomy News

• Theoretical calculations suggested that black holes spinning near their maximum rate could split into two smaller ones. Astronomy News

• A study found that younger stars in the Milky Way’s disk formed in progressively thinner layers. Astronomy News

Stars and Solar System

• Euclid discovered its first previously unknown comet in images taken between September 16 and 24, 2026. ESA Space Science

• Webb detected methane emission from a young brown dwarf. Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)

• A Konkoly Observatory-led study linked extreme flares on a red giant in the Kepler field to a close stellar companion and vast dark starspots. Astronomy News

• ALMA identified an exceptionally tiny core in the Dragon Cloud that may represent an early stage of massive star formation. Astronomy News

• A balloon-borne telescope revealed thread-like magnetic structures above the Sun and mapped magnetic fields inside towering jets of solar material. Astronomy News -- ScienceDaily

• A study proposed a stellar collision as an explanation for apparently young planet-forming disks in the Orion Nebula, where radiation from Theta-1 Orionis C1 strips disk material. Astronomy News

What to watch

• Watch for Artemis III’s four-astronaut orbital test in 2027, ahead of lunar missions targeted for 2028.

• Watch for Miura 5’s first demonstration flight following system-level testing; launch timing is not announced.

• Watch for the outcome of UARX Space’s OSSIE-D anomaly troubleshooting; resolution timing is not announced.