NASA instructed crew members aboard the International Space Station to end safe haven procedures and return to planned operations on June 5, 2026, after Roscosmos paused structural repair work inside the Zvezda service module transfer tunnel, known as PrK, while additional measurements and data are assessed.
An uncontrolled atmospheric re-entry of the Chinese ZQ-3 R/B second stage, weighing about 11 tonnes, is expected over Europe on January 30, 2026. EU Space Surveillance and Tracking (EU SST) reports a predicted re-entry centered near 11:20 UTC ± 48 minutes. National sensors coordinated through the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) and EU SST Operations Centres are tracking the object and assessing potential airspace impacts south of Denmark and in the Baltic region.
For the first time in 25 years of continuous International Space Station operations, NASA is preparing a medical evacuation after a crew member fell ill. The agency confirmed on January 8, 2026 that the astronaut is in stable condition and will return to Earth aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.
Scientists have found a fragment of tracking data from MAVEN that suggests its orbital trajectory may have changed when re-emerged from behind Mars and lost contact with NASA on December 6, 2025.
A smoldering carbon-composite object discovered near Newman, Western Australia, on October 18, 2025, is believed to be part of a Chinese Jielong 3 rocket that re-entered Earth’s atmosphere.
ESA is preparing the second targeted atmospheric reentry of its long-running Cluster mission, with the spacecraft Rumba expected to descend into Earth’s atmosphere over a remote region of the South Pacific Ocean on October 22, 2025. The maneuver will follow the first controlled reentry of Salsa in September 2024 and continues ESA’s program to end the 24-year mission through precise, safe disposal of each satellite.
Starship 36 exploded during a static-fire test at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas at around 23:00 local time (LT) on June 18, 2025, destroying the prototype and delaying upcoming missions.
SpaceX’s ninth Starship test flight on May 27, 2025, resulted in the failure of both the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage. A propellant leak and uncontrolled spin led to the upper stage’s destruction during re-entry, while the booster was lost during its landing attempt.
A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft concluded the CRS-32 commercial resupply mission with a sonic boom and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Oceanside, California, at 01:44 EDT (05:44 UTC) on May 25, 2025. The spacecraft returned approximately 3 040 kg (6 700 pounds) of cargo from the International Space Station, including scientific experiments and crew supplies.
The newly launched Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES) mission will advance our understanding of how gravity affects the passage of time. By comparing highly accurate clocks aboard the International Space Station with those on Earth, ACES aims to test key concepts in Einstein’s theory of relativity and explore fundamental physics.
