The dawn is breaking on a new era of space exploration, with moon bases and Mars colonies potentially only decades away. Live Science tracks the researchers, companies and countries setting their sights on the stars to bring you the biggest stories in space. Whether it's reporting on concerns that alien organisms could hitch a ride on our spacecraft and contaminate Earth, explaining what 11 billion people means for space travel, sharing a glorious photo of Earth during a total solar eclipse snapped by Japan's lunar lander, or compiling a list of the weirdest things we have launched into space, our expert writers and editors will ignite your sense of interstellar adventure with the latest space exploration news, features and articles.
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Latest about Space Exploration
Liftoff! NASA launches SPHEREx telescope — an infrared observatory that will help JWST solve the mysteries of the universe
NASA's newly-launched SPHEREx space telescope will offer a complementary 'panoramic' view to the JWST's high resolution infrared snapshots, enabling astronomers to study some of the universe's biggest mysteries.
Top-secret X-37B space plane returns to Earth in dead of night after mysterious 434-day mission, US military reveals
The U.S. military's top-secret X-37B space plane has returned from a mysterious 434-day mission in orbit. The enigmatic mission 'broke new ground' for reusable space technology, according to the U.S. Space Force.
Saucer-like 'Winnebago' space capsule lands in Australia — marking 1st for commercial space industry
Varda Space Industries' W-2 space capsule reentered Earth's atmosphere and touched down in the Australian outback last month, becoming the first commercial spacecraft to land Down Under.
NASA switches off Voyager instruments to extend life of the two interstellar spacecraft: 'Every day could be our last.'
"The Voyagers have been deep space rock stars since launch, and we want to keep it that way as long as possible!"
Watch: SpaceX Starship explodes mid-flight for a 2nd time this year, raining fiery debris over Florida
A photo of starship launching in the distance with massive plume of smoke.
Sunrise on the moon captured by Blue Ghost spacecraft after NASA and Firefly Aerospace announce successful lunar landing
The Blue Ghost spacecraft has taken its first images of the lunar surface as Firefly Aerospace and NASA celebrate a successful moon landing.
Katy Perry will launch to space with historic all-female crew on Blue Origin rocket
Perry and a celebrity female crew will launch on Blue Origin's NS-31 mission this spring.
Chinese scientists reveal plans for near-invisible stealth missiles that could 'redefine modern warfare'
Chinese scientists claim to have found a new way of injecting helium into rocket engines, which could be used to make missiles that are much harder to detect or intercept. The new technology was allegedly inspired by the faulty spacecraft that "stranded" NASA astronauts on the ISS last year.
Blue Ghost spacecraft captures rare, stunnning views of Earth eclipsing the moon
Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost spacecraft took some unique photos of our home planet on its Mission 1 flight to the moon in late January and early February. The spacecraft is now in orbit around the moon, with a planned landing date of March 2.
