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January 3rd, 2026
Image credit: PBS/Inside Outer Space screengrab
PBS science correspondent Miles O’Brien reports on the spunky space start-up in New Zealand that’s catching some attention of its own.
The private space economy is growing significantly and 2026 could be a big one.
Image credit: PBS/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Also highlighted is the evolution of the competitive commercial space market, from SpaceX, Virgin Galactic to Blue Origin.
To view this informative PBS offering, go to:
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The Green Bank Telescope is the largest moving structure on land, and the largest fully-steerable telescope in the world. It was completed in 2000 and remains the most accurate and versatile large single-dish telescope in use today.
Image credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF
Mum’s the word from 3I/ATLAS!
That interstellar object oddity made its closest approach to Earth on December 19.
On December 18, a Breakthrough Listen-funded program carried out a “technosignature” search of the celestial intruder for evidence of it being a probe dispatched by extraterrestrial intelligence.
Tasked for the “listen up” was the 100 meter Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope at 1–12 Gigahertz (GHz) frequency.
Results
The results are detailed in a preprint – “Breakthrough Listen Observations of 3I/ATLAS with the Green Bank Telescope at 1–12 GHz” – posted on the arXiv server.
Lead author, Ben Jacobson-Bell of the Department of Astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, reports “we find no credible detections of narrowband radio technosignatures originating from 3I/ATLAS.”
The paper notes that there is currently no evidence to suggest that interstellar objects (ISOs) are anything other than natural astrophysical objects.
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope reobserved interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS Nov. 30, with its Wide Field Camera 3 instrument.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, D. Jewitt (UCLA), M.-T. Hui (Shanghai Astronomical Observatory). Image Processing: J. DePasquale (STScI)
However, given the small number of ISOs known (only three observed to date), and the plausibility of interstellar probes as a technosignature, a thorough study was warranted.
Narrowband
“Putative nonanthropogenic interstellar probes are likely to communicate via narrowband radio signals for transmission efficiency and for the low extinction of such signals across interstellar space,” Jacobson-Bell and colleagues explain.
The Breakthrough Listen (BL) funding was provided by the Breakthrough Prize Foundation.
For details, go to the research paper findings at:
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2512.19763
China’s Shenzhou-21 astronauts, the 42nd Antarctic scientific expedition team, and sailors on the aircraft carrier Fujian transmit New Year wishes for 2026 through China Media Group’s New Year Gala that aired on December 31.
Go to:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/869625462594559
Left to Right: Wu Fei, Zhang Lu, Shenzhou-21 mission commander, and Zhang Hongzhang.
Image credit: CMG/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
As it has repeatedly done throughout 2025, the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) issued yet another advisory on spent rocket parts from China falling into drop zones within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
The December 31 PhilSA posting stems from China’s Long March 7A liftoff that day from the country’s Wenchang Space Launch Site in Wenchang, Hainan.
Falling debris
“Unburned debris from rockets, such as the booster and fairing, are designed to be discarded as the rocket enters outer space. While not projected to fall on land features or inhabited areas, falling debris poses danger and potential risk to ships, aircraft, fishing boats, and other vessels that will pass through the drop zone,” explains the PhilSA.
“There is also a possibility for the debris to float around the area and wash toward nearby coasts,” notes the PhilSA advisory.
Estimated drop zones of the Long March 7A launch on December 31, 2025.
Image credit: Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA)
Pair of new satellites
China’s pair of new satellites, Shijian-29A and Shijian-29B, marked a new mission dedicated to “testing advanced technologies for space object detection,” reported China Central Television (CCTV).
These experimental satellites have been used in the past to showcase space capabilities, such as on-orbit refueling.
Recently, in-space imagery of the Shijian-26 satellite was taken by the WorldView Legion satellite and released by Maxar, showing details of the spacecraft.
Image credit: MAXAR Intelligence
Drop zones
PhilSA confirmed the launch of the Long March 7A. Expected debris from the rocket launch was projected to have fallen within the identified drop zones: approximately 45 nautical miles away from Burgos, Ilocos Norte, and 67 nautical miles away from Dalupiri Island, Cagayan; and 64 nautical miles away from Santa Ana, Cagayan, and 76 nautical miles away from Camiguin Norte.
Advice for public
Details of the rocket drop zone were disclosed through a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) warning of an “aerospace flight activity.” PhilSA disseminated a pre-launch report to relevant government agencies and authorities prior to the launch.
Additionally, PhilSA reports, “the possibility of an uncontrolled re-entry to the atmosphere of the rocket’s upper stages returning from outer space cannot be ruled out at this time.”
As it has done in the past, PhilSA reiterated its advice for the public to inform local authorities if suspected debris is sighted. “PhilSA also cautions against retrieving or coming in close contact with these materials that may contain remnants of toxic substances such as rocket fuel.”
Go to this CCTV video of the launch at:
Photo illustration by Thomas Gaulkin for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ January 2022 issue (used with permission)
Earth is encircled by human-made rubbish and the problem is worsening every year.
Space debris experts say nearly 130 million pieces of orbital flotsam are zipping around our planet, high-speed leftovers from rocket stage explosions, abandoned satellites, as well as bits and pieces of junk from space hardware deployments.
Toss into this meandering mess the remains of deliberate demolition of spacecraft by way of anti-satellite weapons testing.
Clutter in the cosmos.
Credit: Used with permission: Melrae Pictures/Space Junk 3D
Cascading effect
All this space clutter means increased risk of collisions that generate more debris – better known as the Kessler syndrome.
That cascading effect was detailed back in 1978 by NASA scientists, Donald Kessler and Burton Cour-Palais in the seminal space physics paper “Collision frequency of artificial satellites: The creation of a debris belt.”
But fast forward some 47 years later to this year.
Go to my new Space.com story – “Space debris led to an orbital emergency in 2025. Will anything change?”—at:
Signs of the times.
Image credit: NASA Watch/Keith Cowing
For an agency shooting for the Moon and onward to Mars, NASA in 2025 has been more on a roller coaster ride of proposed budget cuts, personnel layoffs, and potential elimination of science missions.
A key question: Have these various traumas changed NASA dramatically, and potentially permanently?
Battle lines are being drawn and now Congress has to spin up their views as to the space agency’s overall stability and, indeed, its future. As for what’s ahead, it’s all sausage making – political style.
Image credit: Composite image by Ella Maru Studio for the National Academy of Sciences
The outcome for NASA is literally a to-be-determined matter of time and space.
For more details, go to my new Space.com story – “How NASA changed in 2025 — possibly forever” – at:
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/how-nasa-changed-in-2025-possibly-forever
Image credit: CSIS/Inside Outer Space screengrab
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Aerospace Security Project has rolled out its on demand video of a “Year in Review” – delving into the developments reshaping the space landscape.
Over the past year, global space activity continued to expand.
Launch numbers climbed, satellite constellations surged.
There’s a widening roster of nations asserting their presence in space.
With that expansion, a sharper edge to the operational, safety, and security challenges in the space domain, and heightened concerns about the increasingly complex behaviors from foreign satellites that demand closer scrutiny.
Artist’s concept shows Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 lander and NASA’s VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) on the lunar surface.
Image credit: Blue Origin
Shifting landscape
What were the top developments in 2025?
How will the shifting landscape shape new risks, new opportunities, and new demands on space heading into 2026?
And how should policymakers and industry leaders prepare for what’s next?
Credit: The Aerospace Corporation/CORDS
This informative, fact-filled video spotlights Kari Bingen, director of the CSIS Aerospace Security Project, Clayton Swope, deputy director of the Aerospace Security Project, Tony Frazier, CEO of LeoLabs, and John Huth, former Chief of the Office of Space and Counterspace at the Defense Intelligence Agency.
To watch this fast-paced, expert-driven discussion on space activities in 2025 and the outlook for 2026, go to:
https://www.csis.org/events/space-year-review-2025-recap-and-2026-outlook
Image credit: CMSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s Shenzhou-21 crew has been busily carrying out an array of experiments aboard the country’s Tiangong space station.
The taikonaut threesome — mission commander Zhang Lu, and astronauts Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang – were launched on November 1st to begin their six-month voyage.
Experiment focus
As noted by China Central Television (CCTV), the three space travelers are engaged in:
- Aerospace medicine experiments: the three astronauts used electroencephalogram (EEG) equipment to acquire data needed for experimental projects such as metacognitive monitoring research and group brain cognition-emotion analysis and regulation, assisting the ground-based researchers in their ongoing research.
- Plant studies: In the station’s Wentian lab module, the trio used the science glove box to collect samples of Arabidopsis thaliana, a plant that will help in research on the molecular network regulation of plant stem cells.
- Microgravity physics: the crew completed the disassembly and assembly of the complex fluid experiment module in the fluid physics experimental cabinet and replaced the experimental samples.
Image credit: CMSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Lithium-ion battery research
Work has also involved a plug-in gas experiment in the combustion experimental cabinet. The Shenzhou-21 trio carried out the cleaning and replacement of the sample in the containerless cabinet experimental chamber and the maintenance of the electrodes of the axial mechanism.
Also carried out is electrochemical optical research of lithium-ion batteries for space applications, a project to document the entire process of lithium dendrite growth.
Artwork depicts China’s Tiangong space station.
Image credit: China Manned Space Agency
Lastly, the three astronauts have undergone medical examinations such as bone density measurement, electrocardiogram and blood pressure checks, and visual function measurement to appraise their on-orbit health status.
For a video showcasing the onboard station work, go to:
Image credit: Mars Guy/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Mars Guy explains that NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover carries a camera that was designed for the sole purpose of recording, for the first time, video of a Mars landing. But a few years after that landing, it was repurposed to shoot continuous images during drives, including its latest one.
Watch Curiosity’s latest drive on Mars. Mars Guy shows rare video from Curiosity’s Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) camera, repurposed for “sidewalk imaging.” This 38-minute drive covers 59 feet (18 meters) of Martian terrain.
Go to: https://youtu.be/_D4dSS6ZIgA
Nuclear Weapons in Space – Orbital Bombardment and Strategic Stability has been issued by the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI).
Written by Aaron Stein, President of the FPRI, this report points out that space technology is inherently dual-use.
“The platforms used to launch satellites can also be used to deliver atomic weapons. The same is true of defenses: The things built to shoot down incoming missiles can also be repurposed to shoot down satellites. The tensions between offense and defense have dominated how the United States has sought to manage access to space,” the report states.
Checklist suggestions
Stein proposes several checklist items:
Concept art for Project Excalibur (USAF)
- The U.S. should consider how to repurpose current missile defense interceptors to hold any Russian co-orbital satellites at risk
- Make explicit that any nuclear attack on U.S. origin satellites would invite retaliation
- Continue to invest in sensors to detect missile launch from adversary nations (including those fired south to travel over the South Pole)
- Be the insurer of last resort for private satellites that could be destroyed by a hostile act
To access the full report, go to:
https://www.fpri.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/stein_ona_91625.pdf
