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Silicon Valley Space Week Speaker Focus: Ron Faith, RBC Signals
Original Publication Date: 2026-08-30 18:38
Blue Origin currently operates three ground stations and plans to add six more by December. The company has partnered with RBC Signals to survey, procure, deploy, and host the new facilities. Ron Faith, Blue Origin’s president and CEO, will join a panel on ground‑bottleneck issues at the opening of Satellite Innovation during Silicon Valley Space Week. The event underscores the industry’s push to expand satellite infrastructure.
NASA Launches Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to Survey Dark Energy and Exoplanets
Also covered by: Space.com
Original Publication Date: 2026-08-30 14:13
NASA launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on August 30, 2026 from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy. The rocket successfully inserted the telescope into orbit, where it will begin a multi‑year mission to probe dark energy, search for exoplanets, and study the early universe. This launch marks a major milestone for NASA’s next‑generation space observatories and is expected to yield a wealth of new discoveries in the coming years.
SLS picks up the pace, four vehicles in production
Original Publication Date: 2026-08-31 00:11
NASA’s Space Launch System is accelerating, with Solid Rocket Booster stacking and RS‑25 engines now installed on Core Stage 3 for the upcoming Artemis III launch slated for no earlier than June 2027. While Artemis III crews and Orion modules are being tested, teams at Michoud and Marshall are simultaneously advancing tanks, engine sections, adapters and long‑lead parts for Artemis IV, V, and VI, signaling a clear shift to higher cadence production. The overlapping workflow—booster stacks, engine installation, and adapter assembly—demonstrates NASA’s push to meet Administrator Jared Isaacman’s timetable for a rapid SLS rollout. As multiple core stages move through the vehicle assembly line, the agency is poised to deliver a series of missions that will keep the lunar program on track.
Roman Space Telescope Begins Its Journey to L2
Original Publication Date: 2026-08-30 21:29
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched Sunday aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy, heading toward Lagrange Point 2 for a lengthy commissioning period. With a field of view 100 times larger than Hubble’s, it will survey billions of galaxies to probe dark matter, dark energy, and exoplanets. The launch, nine months ahead of schedule, followed multiple funding threats, and the team credits its resilience and minimal design changes since the 2010 concept. Named after the pioneering astronomer who championed Hubble, the Roman mission aims to transform our understanding of the universe and honor her legacy.
Watch Rocket Lab launch Japanese radar satellite to orbit early on Sept. 1
Original Publication Date: 2026-08-31 04:05
Rocket Lab will lift off an Electron rocket from New Zealand on Tuesday, September 1 at 7:30 a.m. ET to place a Strix radar satellite into low‑Earth orbit for Synspective, a Tokyo‑based Earth‑imaging company. The Strix constellation, named after an owl, uses synthetic‑aperture radar to monitor disasters and natural resources day and night in all weather. This launch, dubbed “Owl Around the World,” is Rocket Lab’s 12th mission of 2026 and will deploy the satellite 56 minutes after liftoff at an altitude of 357 miles. Viewers can watch the launch live on Rocket Lab’s feed, with Space.com expected to air the stream if available.
Trump calls in to NASA press conference to celebrate launch of Roman Space Telescope, a mission he tried to cancel
Original Publication Date: 2026-08-30 19:00
President Donald Trump surprised NASA officials by calling into a post‑launch press briefing to congratulate the team on the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which successfully lifted off from Cape Canaveral on August 30, 2026. The launch follows years of political back‑and‑forth, with Trump having attempted to cancel or slash funding for the mission in 2019, 2020, and 2021, only to have Congress preserve the budget.
'What a glorious dawn launch': Why the Roman Space Telescope's picture-perfect liftoff beyond Earth is such a big deal
Original Publication Date: 2026-08-30 18:44
NASA's Roman Space Telescope lifted off from Cape Canaveral on Sunday, August 30, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy, marking a triumphant start to
On this day in space! Aug. 30, 1992: Astronomers discover 1st Kuiper Belt object out beyond Pluto
Original Publication Date: 2026-08-30 14:51
On August 30, 1992, astronomers spotted 1992 QB1, the first Kuiper Belt object beyond Pluto. This 100‑mile‑wide, thousand‑times fainter body revealed a vast region beyond Neptune that had been invisible before. The discovery expanded the known solar system, eventually leading to over 2,000 Kuiper Belt objects being catalogued and prompting the reclassification of Pluto as a dwarf planet. Today, missions like New Horizons have flown by both Pluto and Kuiper Belt bodies, underscoring the importance of that first distant find.