NASA & Agencies
Space agency and policy news from Cosmic Herald — NASA, ESA, ISRO, China's CNSA, budgets, and the politics of spaceflight.
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NASA & Agencies
ESA and Vast Sign a New MoU Looking Past the International Space Station
ESA and Vast have replaced their 2024 agreement with a broader three-year MoU covering possible European astronaut missions to Vast's Haven station, hardware contributions and joint research, starting with a feasibility study as Europe plans for life after the ISS.
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NASA & Agencies
Crew-12 Heads Home: Dragon Undocking Set for Oct. 7 as Crew-13 Settles In Aboard the Station
NASA and SpaceX are targeting 8:05 a.m. EDT Wednesday, Oct. 7, to undock Crew-12 from the ISS, with a Pacific splashdown off California around 11:34 a.m. Thursday. Crew-13 arrived after an Oct. 1 launch, and ESA's Sophie Adenot heads home with three spacewalks totalling 19 h 42 min.
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NASA & Agencies
ESA Adds €2.7 Million to Speed Rocket Factory Augsburg's First UK Orbital Launch
ESA's Boost! program is funneling €2.7 million through the UK Space Agency to finish hot-fire test stands at SaxaVord Spaceport, clearing the way for RFA's grounded rocket to resume static-fire testing in Scotland.
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NASA & Agencies
FCC Set to Vote on Declaring Satellite and Launch Operations Outside NEPA Review
On Sept. 30 the FCC is set to vote on an order finding that launching, deploying and operating space stations are not major federal actions, which would take satellite licensing outside NEPA environmental review.
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NASA & Agencies
Artemis Accords Reach 76 Signatories as Four Nations Join in Five Days
NASA says Albania, Croatia, Cote d'Ivoire and San Marino lifted Artemis Accords participation to 76 countries, with the last two signing on consecutive days, just before the Principals' Meeting in Antalya opens Oct. 5.
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NASA & Agencies
Roman Space Telescope's Three Ground Stations Pass Peak-Rate Data Test Ahead of 2027 Science Start
NASA confirms all three ground stations tracking the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope can receive its data at the full 500 Mbps rate, clearing a key hurdle before science operations begin in early 2027.
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NASA & Agencies
ESA and ISRO Extend Their Partnership to 2032 — and Widen It to Space Weather and Human Exploration
In Paris, ESA and ISRO quietly stretched a 24-year-old cooperation pact five more years and folded in space weather, human and robotic exploration, and orbital sustainability.
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NASA & Agencies
Albania Becomes 73rd Nation to Sign the Artemis Accords
Albania signed the Artemis Accords at NASA Headquarters on September 21, 2026, becoming the 73rd nation to join the U.S.-led framework for peaceful, transparent space exploration.
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NASA & Agencies
NASA Buys Three More SpaceX Crew Flights, Pushing Dragon's ISS Contract to $5.92 Billion
NASA added Crew-15, Crew-16 and Crew-17 to SpaceX's commercial crew contract for $946 million, bringing Dragon to 17 missions and a $5.92 billion total, with work running through 2030.
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NASA & Agencies
Vega-C Carries a Plant-Fluorescence Hunter and an Ocean Watcher to Orbit — Together, For the First Time
Europe's Vega-C flew two Earth Explorers at once for the first time on September 15, deploying ESA's fluorescence-mapping FLEX satellite and the Sentinel-3C ocean-and-atmosphere monitor from French Guiana.
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NASA & Agencies
Two Satellites, One Ocean: Sentinel-6 Duo Times a Late-Blooming El Niño for Hurricane Forecasters
NASA says its Sentinel-6 satellite pair, flying 30 seconds apart, is cross-checking ocean-height data during a strong, late-arriving 2026 El Niño just as hurricane season peaks.
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NASA & Agencies
ESA and Vast Agree to Fly Greece's First Astronaut to the ISS
ESA and commercial station firm Vast signed an agreement in Paris to fly Greek flight surgeon Adrianos Golemis to the ISS in 2027, pending medical certification, aboard a mission commanded by Thomas Pesquet.
