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NASA Updates Artemis II Wet Dress Rehearsal, Launch Opportunities
January 30, 2026
NASA is targeting Monday, Feb. 2, as the tanking day for the upcoming Artemis II wet dress rehearsal at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as a result of weather.
With this change, the first potential opportunity to launch is no earlier than Sunday, Feb. 8.
Over the past several days, engineers have been closely monitoring conditions as cold weather and winds move through Florida.
Managers have assessed hardware capabilities against the projected forecast given the rare arctic outbreak affecting the state and decided to change the timeline.
Teams and preparations at the launch pad remain ready for the wet dress rehearsal. However, adjusting the timeline for the test will position NASA for success during the rehearsal, as the expected weather this weekend would violate launch conditions.
While NASA will wait to set a launch date until teams have reviewed the outcome of the wet dress rehearsal, Friday, Feb. 6, and Saturday, Feb. 7, are no longer viable opportunities.
Any additional delays would result in a day for day change.
The Artemis II crew remains in quarantine in Houston. Managers are assessing the timeline for crew arrival.
The opening of a simulated launch window during the wet dress rehearsal begins at 9 p.m. EST, Feb. 2, with the countdown beginning approximately 49 hours prior.
NASA will continue to assess weather conditions ahead of the test.
During the current cold weather, engineers have kept Orion powered and have configured its heaters for the colder temperatures.
Purges, used to maintain proper environmental conditions for elements of the spacecraft and rocket, including the booster aft skirts, are also configured for the weather.
A 24/7 live stream of the rocket at the launch pad remains online. NASA will provide a separate feed planned to capture wet dress activities.
The agency also will provide real-time blog updates regarding the test during fueling.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/01/30/nasa-updates-artemis-ii-wet-dress-rehearsal-launch-opportunities/
https://www.firstpost.com/world/artemis-ii-launch-delayed-arctic-cold-forces-nasa-to-postpone-key-pre-launch-tests-13974378.html/amp
Extreme January Cold
Jan 30, 2026
In the wake of a winter storm that blanketed numerous U.S. states with snow and ice, unusually low temperatures continued to grip a large swath of the nation east of the Rockies in late January 2026.
The cold spell was notable for severity, longevity, and geographic scope. This animation depicts surface air temperatures across part of the Northern Hemisphere, including North America, from January 21 to 29.
It combines satellite observations with temperatures calculated by a version of the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) global model, which uses mathematical equations to simulate physical processes in the atmosphere.
Dark blue areas indicate the lowest surface air temperatures. The brief pulses show daily warming and cooling, while the broader pattern reveals cold air spreading south and east and lingering through much of the week.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the surge of Arctic air pushed deep into the United States on January 22, ushering in a period of low temperatures and harsh wind chills.
The cold coincided with a jet of moisture to produce significant accumulations of snow and ice spanning from the U.S. Southwest to New England.
In the days after the storm, dangerously cold weather persisted.
In the Midwest, for example, the temperature in Alliance, Nebraska, dropped to minus 26 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 32 degrees Celsius) on January 24, the lowest daily minimum temperature for that date on record, according to preliminary NWS reports.
In the South, an extreme cold warning was in effect in south-central Texas overnight on January 26, with temperatures dipping into the single digits.
By January 27, parts of the South had started to see slight warming, but wind chills down to -20°F (-29°C) continued across the Midwest and Northeast.
According to meteorologists, the cold snap was caused by frigid air from the Canadian and Siberian Arctic funneling into eastern North America, then being driven south as high-pressure systems forced the jet stream to dip.
Forecasts called for another blast of Arctic air late in the week, with below-normal temperatures persisting into early February.
The lingering cold has posed extra challenges to those who remained without power or heat after the storm and for those working to clean up, clear streets, and restore power and transportation services.
NASA’s Disasters Response Coordination System has been activated to support agencies responding to the winter storm.
The team will be posting maps and data products on its open-access mapping portal as new information becomes available.
https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/extreme-january-cold/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmZOwv6qlh8 (NOAA Satellites Monitor Massive Winter Storm)
Ammonia-Bearing Compounds Discovered at Surface of Jupiter’s Moon Europa
01/29/2026
Description
Advanced analysis of decades-old data from NASA’s Galileo spacecraft identifies ammonia-bearing compounds discovered on the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa, as shown in this composite image.
Zooming in on an area about 250 miles (about 400 kilometers) wide, the black-and-white mosaic to the right is composed of multiple images from Galileo’s Solid-State Imaging camera.
Overlaid are representations of data from the spacecraft’s Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) instrument: Red pixels mark locations where ammonia-bearing compounds were detected; purple pixels indicate no detections of the compounds.
The NIMS data was captured during Galileo’s 11th orbit of Jupiter in 1997.
Dark, crisscrossing bands in the underlying image represent fracturing of Europa’s icy surface.
Detection of ammonia-bearing compounds near such features could indicate that they were actively placed there by cryo-volcanic processes bringing liquid water up from Europa’s vast subsurface ocean.
Launched in 1989 and managed by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, NASA’s Galileo mission concluded its extended mission to the Jupiter system in September 2003. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.
https://science.nasa.gov/photojournal/ammonia-bearing-compounds-discovered-at-surface-of-jupiters-moon-europa/
NASA Analysis Shows La Niña Limited Sea Level Rise in 2025
01/29/2026
This graph shows the rise in global mean sea level from 1993 to 2025 based on data from a series of five international satellites.
The solid red line indicates an accelerating rate of increase, which has more than doubled over three-plus decades. The dotted red line projects future sea level rise.
Description
This graph shows the rise in global mean sea level from 1993 to 2025 based on data from a series of five international satellites.
The solid red line indicates the trajectory of this increase, which has more than doubled over the three decades. The dotted red line projects future sea level rise.
A NASA analysis found that the average height of Earth’s oceans increased by 0.03 inches (0.08 centimeters) in 2025, a rate of increase that was lower than the 0.23 inches (0.59 centimeters) seen in 2024.
It was also below the long-term expected rate of 0.17 inches (0.44 centimeters) per year based on the rate of rise since the early 1990s.
Though sea levels have increasingly trended upward, years during which the rise in the average height was less usually have occurred during La Niñas — the part of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation cycle that cools the eastern Pacific Ocean, often leading to heavy rainfall over the equatorial portions of South America.
The La Niña that started in 2025 and has extended into early 2026 has been relatively mild. Even so, the extra precipitation it has poured on the Amazon River basin contributed to an overall shift of water from ocean to land.
This effect tends to temporarily lower sea levels, offsetting the rise caused by melting glaciers and ice sheets and warming of the oceans, which raises the sea levels through the expansion of water when the temperature increases.
The net result in 2025 was a lower-than-average sea level rise. Faster-rising sea levels are likely to resume as the extra water in the Amazon basin makes its way to the oceans.
Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California conducted the analysis based on more than 30 years of satellite observations, starting with the U.S.-French TOPEX/Poseidon mission, which launched in 1992, through the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich mission, which launched in November 2020 and is the current reference satellite for sea level measurements.
Sentinel-6B, which launched in November 2025, will take over for its predecessor after a cross-calibration period.
https://science.nasa.gov/photojournal/nasa-analysis-shows-la-nina-limited-sea-level-rise-in-2025/
Expedition 74 Preps CubeSats and Photographs Earth for Research
January 29, 2026
Expedition 74 focused on installing CubeSats and observing Earth aboard the International Space Station on Thursday.
The trio from NASA and Roscosmos kept up ongoing research operations along with standard orbital lab maintenance throughout the day.
The numerous modules that make up the orbital outpost support a wide array of continuous microgravity experiments difficult or impossible to support in Earth’s gravity environment to benefit humanity on and off the planet.
A portion of that research takes place on the outside of the space station and is even deployed into Earth orbit. NASA
Flight Engineer Chris Williams spent his shift inside the Kibo laboratory module loading a small satellite orbital deployer with CubeSats on Thursday then installing the device inside Kibo’s airlock.
The Japanese robotic arm—attached to Kibo—will retrieve the small satellite deployer from the airlock then point it away from the station.
Afterward on an upcoming date, a series of shoebox-sized CubeSats will be deployed into Earth orbit for educational, government, and private research.
Other research aboard the International Space Station looks at the Earth to understand how the landscape is affected by natural catastrophes such as wildfires, storms, and more.
Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergei Mikaev was back inside the Zvezda service module on Thursday pointing a camera outside windows at the Earth below.
Mikaev photographed landmarks from northwest Africa to eastern Europe then downloaded the imagery for analysis by specialists on the ground.
At the end of his shift, he configured a multi-spectral camera for an automated Earth photography session capturing imagery of wildfires from Africa to Southeast Asia during the crew’s sleep session.
The station’s commander, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos, worked throughout his shift on electronics and life support maintenance.
Kud-Sverchkov began his day servicing orbital plumbing hardware and testing communication systems inside Zvezda. After lunch, he moved into the Nauka science module cleaning and inspecting its ventilation system.
The two-time space station resident wrapped up his day cleaning Roscosmos fluid systems using compressed air and water to remove residues, particulates, and chemical deposits.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/01/29/expedition-74-preps-cubesats-and-photographs-earth-for-research/
NASA Missions Help Identify What Powers Auroral ‘Space Battery’
January 29, 2026
Scouring archived observations from NASA missions, scientists may have solved a mystery about what powers a type of aurora called auroral arcs.
The answer, they say, is space waves.
From the ground, auroral arcs look like green, glowing curtains of light sweeping across the night sky. From space, they appear as thin, green lines — or arcs — slicing across the atmosphere.
Scientists know that auroral arcs form when electrons, accelerated by electric fields in space, slam into atoms in our atmosphere, releasing light. The electric fields work like a “space battery” for the auroral arcs, but scientists weren’t sure what powers that battery.
Searching for clues, a team led by Sheng Tian of the University of California, Los Angeles, found simultaneous observations of an auroral arc in April 2015 made by NASA’s Van Allen Probes, the U.S. military’s Defense Meteorological Satellite Program F19 spacecraft, and ground-based cameras for NASA’s THEMIS (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms) mission.
These combined observations provided different viewpoints over a long enough time to reveal more about the conditions in space that helped create the arc.
The results, published in Nature Communications on Jan. 13, suggest the electric fields are energized by waves in space called Alfvén waves, which travel along Earth’s magnetic field lines.
Similar particle acceleration has been observed by NASA’s Juno spacecraft around Jupiter. Tian’s team thinks Alfvén waves could also power auroral arcs at Jupiter and other worlds where auroras glow.
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/science-news/2026/01/29/nasa-missions-help-identify-what-powers-auroral-space-battery/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-65819-4
Emergency alert could be issued today over out-of-control Chinese rocket falling from space
Updated 12:51 30 Jan 2026 GMT
The UK government is making provisions for an emergency alert due to concerns about an out-of-control Chinese rocket falling from space.
Officials are keeping an eye on the debris from the Zhuque-3 rocket, which has a small chance of landing in Britain.
Zhuque-3 was launched on 3 December 2025 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China, and is expected to re-enter the atmosphere at around midday on Friday (30 January).
Although the rocket - which is designed to carry spacecraft or satellites into space - was successfully sent into orbit, the reusable booster using SpaceX tech failed to land safely and exploded.
The Aerospace Corporation’s tracker predicts a re-entry time of around 12.30pm on Friday, plus or minus 15 hours.
A government spokesperson confirmed to The Telegraph that they have been in touch with the UK's mobile phone networks to check if their emergency alert system is still working.
This is in case the space junk does land in Britain, so people living close by can be alerted in advance.
However, the spokesperson said that it was 'extremely unlikely' for that to happen, noting that emergency systems are 'tested routinely' and they are always ready just in case.
“It is extremely unlikely that any debris enters UK airspace,” they said.
“These events happen approximately 70 times a month and the vast majority of debris breaks up upon entry and lands in the oceans.
“As you’d expect, we have well-rehearsed plans for a variety of different risks including those related to space, that are tested routinely with partners.”
Prof Hugh Lewis, an expert at Birmingham University’s Space Environment and Radio Engineering research group, told the outlet that the remains of Zhuque-3 could pass over Northern Ireland, northern Scotland or northern England.
“Most space objects burn up on re-entry so we don’t tend to worry too much, but if it’s a bigger object, or made of materials that are highly resistant to heat, like stainless steel or titanium, they can make it through,” Prof Lewis said.
“If there was a strong possibility of it landing in the UK, then an emergency alert would make sense but, as far as I can tell, we just don’t have that certainty yet.”
It comes after Poland’s space agency said that fragments of the rocket could possibly 'pass over a large part of Europe, including Poland'.
Last May, 53-year-old Soviet space probe Kosmos 482 re-entered Earth's atmosphere with projections suggesting a path over southern England.
Those projections ended up being wrong after the craft landed west of Jakarta, Indonesia, in the Indian Ocean.
https://www.ladbible.com/news/uk-news/china-zhuque-3-rocket-emergency-alert-uk-067503-20260130
https://www.wesa.fm/health-science-tech/2026-01-29/pittsburgh-biomedical-trivedi-institute-space-science
Pitt launches $25M biomedical institute to bring space science from orbit to the operating room
January 29, 2026 at 5:23 PM EST
The University of Pittsburgh officially launched a $25 million biomedical institute Thursday aimed at bridging human health on Earth and in space.
The Trivedi Institute for Space and Global Biomedicine is one of the first dedicated institutes focused on applying insights from spaceflight to improve human health on Earth, according to Pitt.
“The Trivedi Institute is a next logical step in our longtime progression as a worldwide leader in biomedical research,” said Anantha Shekhar, senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and dean of Pitt’s School of Medicine.
Space medicine has made breakthroughs to reduce the effects of space flight on the human body, supporting the well-being of pilots, air crews and astronauts. Space flight can ravage the body, causing bone and muscle loss, blindness and heart damage.
But discoveries in space can also have groundbreaking applications on Earth. Cells assemble and behave differently in space’s microgravity in a way that more closely resembles the inside of a human body.
Space studies on bone loss have led to a better understanding and treatment of osteoporosis and other complex biological processes including cancer cell growth.
The Trivedi Institute will be led by retired NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, who joined the university in October after a 16-year career in space that included two long-duration missions and a total of 300 days among the stars.
In 2016, she was the first person to sequence DNA in space aboard the International Space Station.
“Our goal is to use space flight as a tool to study biology [and] to develop medical technologies,” said Rubins, who is also a professor of computational and systems biology at Pitt.
She said the institute will make biomedical discoveries and translate those discoveries into diagnostic and therapeutic tools that can be used on Earth.
The institute’s leadership brings expertise across physics, medicine, spaceflight, synthetic biology, engineering and entrepreneurship, Pitt said.
Also steering the direction of the initiative directors Afshin Beheshti, professor of surgery and Sylvain Costes, professor of radiation oncology.
Beheshti spearheaded the university’s Pitt Space initiative, which launched in 2024 to set the foundation for the new institution.
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The Trivedi Family Foundation, named for Pittsburgh-based entrepreneur and investor Ashok Trivedi, will be the institute’s major donor.
At a press conference on campus Thursday, Trivedi said that pioneering new frontiers requires taking risks and that he was honored to provide financial stability for Pitt scientists to take those risks.
“Biological sciences are going to be the defining science of the 21st century,” he said. “We’ll do wonderful research here which will turn into a lot of discoveries which in turn will lead to startups and … hopefully enhance the biotech ecosystem of Pittsburgh.”
The institute will partner with space agencies, other universities — including neighboring Carnegie Mellon University — nonprofit and industry partners to establish a global research and training ecosystem.
Pitt will offer online space biomedicine courses for students from other institutions as part of that partnership.
“Carnegie Mellon University is thrilled to partner with Pitt on this new institute, which represents an important step forward in advancing human health,” said Theresa Mayer, vice president for research at CMU, in a statement.
“We see tremendous opportunity to leverage our complementary strengths in AI, computation and technology innovation to help drive new biological insight and medical innovation.”
Beyond developing breakthrough therapeutics, researchers will explore remote medicine applications at the institute for use in remote and under-resourced areas.
Rubins noted that astronauts use ultrasound technology in space for diagnostics but rely on technicians on the ground to guide them and provide clinical guidance.
She suggested that such a process could be used to improve diagnostics in parts of the world without clinical expertise.
“I think this is incredibly exciting if you're thinking about remote medicine elsewhere in the world where you don't have specialized technicians,” Rubins said.
The Trivedi Institute will train the next generation of scientists and clinicians in space biology, biomedicine and translational health, Pitt said in a release Thursday.
Institute officials said that missions and projects are already planned into 2030 when the International Space Station is scheduled to wind down operations before deorbiting into the Pacific Ocean in 2031.
Beyond that, the university will seek to partner with commercial companies investing in space science and discovery, according to geneticist and space biologist Christopher Mason, a visiting adjunct professor of surgery at Pitt.
“We want this to be the anchor for an ecosystem … across the world and some other worlds,” he said. “A little bit in Venus, a little bit in Mars.”
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Rocket Lab launches Korean disaster-monitoring satellite after long delay
January 29, 2026
Rocket Lab launched a South Korean disaster-monitoring satellite from New Zealand on Thursday (Jan. 29), about six weeks later than originally planned.
A 59-foot-tall (18-meter-tall) Electron rocket launched the "Bridging the Swarm" mission from Rocket Lab's New Zealand site on Thursday at 8:21 p.m. EST (0121 GMT and 2:21 p.m. local New Zealand time on Jan. 30).
It was the second liftoff attempt for "Bridging the Swarm." The first, on Dec. 15, ended with a last-second abort. And even that try was delayed a bit; Rocket Lab had originally targeted Dec. 10 but pushed things back to perform additional checkouts.
"Bridging the Swarm" lofted a single payload for the Satellite Technology Research Center (SaTReC) at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).
That payload is NEONSAT-1A, "an advanced Earth-observation satellite equipped with a high-resolution optical camera," Rocket Lab wrote in a mission description.
"Designed to capture near-real time natural disaster monitoring for the Korean peninsula, KAIST's NEONSAT constellation is a collaboration across multiple Korean academic, industry and research institutions, including SaTReC, which is leading the program's system design and engineering," the company added.
NEONSAT is not a constellation yet. Previously, just one satellite in the program had reached low Earth orbit — NEONSAT-1, which flew atop an Electron in April 2024.
The NEONSAT program is funded by the Korean government — namely, the Ministry of Science and ICT. (ICT stands for "Information and Communication Technology.")
MISSION SUCCESS! Payload deployment is confirmed for the ‘Bridging The Swarm’ mission for @KAISTPR.✅ 2nd launch in 8 days✅ 81st launch in total✅ 100% mission success in 2026 pic.twitter.com/flTtuPvKAI
See more
All went to plan on Thursday's launch: The Electron's "kick stage" deployed NEONSAT-1A about 54 minutes after launch, setting it free 336 miles (540 kilometers) above our planet.
"Bridging The Swarm" was Rocket Lab's second launch of 2026 and its 81st overall to date. The company launched 21 missions last year, setting a new Rocket Lab record.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/rocket-lab-launch-korean-disaster-monitoring-satellite-after-delay
https://rocketlabcorp.com/missions/launches/bridging-the-swarm/
https://x.com/RocketLab/status/2017064026820460997
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iie55rBgwZY
US government declassifies Cold War-era 'JUMPSEAT' spy satellites
January 30, 2026
We just learned about a pioneering U.S. spy satellite program, nearly 40 years after its final spacecraft launched to the final frontier.
On Wednesday (Jan. 28), the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) declassified its "JUMPSEAT" spy satellite, eight of which reached a highly elliptical orbit (HEO) between 1971 and 1987.
"The historical significance of JUMPSEAT cannot be [over]stated," James Outzen, NRO director of the Center for the Study of National Reconnaissance, said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Its orbit provided the U.S. a new vantage point for the collection of unique and critical signals intelligence from space.”
As the term implies, signals intelligence involves the detection and decryption of electromagnetic signals — adversary communications, for example, or emissions from missiles or other weapons systems.
Early in the space age, the United States launched some electronic surveillance satellites to low Earth orbit — those in the GRAB and POPPY lines, for example. But the NRO wanted to do such work from a different vantage point.
The agency, which was founded in 1961, worked with the U.S. Air Force toward this end on a program that came to be known as "Project EARPOP." The result was JUMPSEAT, a satellite designed to operate in a type of HEO called a Molniya orbit.
Molniya orbits are inclined 63 degrees relative to the equator and feature a perigee (closest Earth approach) of about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) and an apogee (most distant point from Earth) of roughly 24,855 miles (40,000 km).
These characteristics allow satellites in Molniya orbits to linger over high-latitude stretches of the Northern Hemisphere for extended periods. Not coincidentally, this fits the geography of the Soviet Union, the United States' Cold War rival.
"JUMPSEAT's core mission focus was to monitor adversarial offensive and defensive weapon system development," NRO officials wrote in the same statement.
"From its further orbital position, it aimed to collect data that might offer unique insight into existing and emerging threats."
The first JUMPSEAT satellite launched in 1971 from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base, which is now known as Vandenberg Space Force Base. And it was a success, according to the NRO.
"Once in orbit, JUMPSEAT successfully collected electronic emissions and signals, communication intelligence and foreign instrumentation intelligence — invaluable information that was downlinked to ground processing facilities within the U.S.," agency officials wrote.
Seven other JUMPSEAT spacecraft reached orbit over the next decade and a half, concluding with JUMPSEAT 8 in February 1987.
But JUMPSEAT's utility extended far beyond that final launch; the final one wasn't taken out of service until 2006, after operating for a spell in "transponder mode."
Many other U.S. spy satellites have followed JUMPSEAT to space; the NRO is always upgrading its fleet of reconnaissance spacecraft.
For example, the agency is currently building out its new "proliferated architecture," a constellation of hundreds of small satellites that are designed to be flexible, cost-effective and resilient to anti-satellite actions such as jamming.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/nro-declassifies-cold-war-era-jumpseat-spy-satellite
https://www.twz.com/space/top-secret-signal-intelligence-satellite-declassified-by-national-reconnaissance-office
https://www.nro.gov/news-media-featured-stories/news-media-archive/News-Article/Article/4392223/declassifying-jumpseat-an-american-pioneer-in-space/
USSPACECOM announces General Officer, Alabama native to serve as headquarters transition team director
Jan. 29, 2026
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Gen. Stephen Whiting, USSPACECOM commander, announced today that Maj. Gen. Terry L. Grisham, a long-time Alabama native with nearly 40 years of military and civilian service, will serve as the command’s transition team director.
In his role, Grisham will lead the Program Management Office in Huntsville and oversee the relocation support.
“Terry’s nearly 40 years of expertise is informed by both his military service in the Alabama National Guard and civil service with the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command,” Whiting said.
“This experience – paired with his deep ties to the surrounding community – will prove invaluable as he leads our efforts on Redstone Arsenal to expeditiously relocate our warfighting organization while ensuring that the perspectives of both our military and civilian workforce are clearly represented.”
The first members of USSPACECOM’s headquarters staff are already on the ground at Redstone Arsenal, forming a dedicated Project Management Office focused on military construction and infrastructure.
Whiting made the announcement shoulder-to-shoulder with Grisham as part of a visit with the PMO team during a day-long tour of facilities on Redstone Arsenal.
"I'm thrilled to be joining the USSPACECOM team as the on-ground lead to continue establishing our permanent headquarters on Redstone Arsenal," Grisham said.
"It's a great honor to both represent the command in our community, and as a longtime resident of Northern Alabama, serve as an ambassador to welcome our workforce home."
Grisham will lead the team – known as the command’s “South Detachment,” alongside deputy director Col. Raymond Ruscoe, who previously served as the director of USSPACECOM’s European Command Joint Integrated Service Team (JIST).
In addition to managing the requirements for military construction and infrastructure, being on-ground full time will facilitate greater engagement with local and state leaders.
In September 2025, the President announced USSPACECOM’s relocation to Redstone Arsenal, a move that underscores the command’s critical role in safeguarding America’s interests in space.
The command has been working since that time to lay the groundwork for a purpose-built headquarters on Redstone Arsenal.
This effort was recognized by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth during a ceremony at Redstone on Dec. 12, 2025, where he remarked that, “We are deadly serious in committing to cutting every piece of red tape and bureaucracy to get this headquarters established as quickly as humanly possible.”
https://www.spacecom.mil/Newsroom/News/Article-Display/Article/4392544/press-release-usspacecom-announces-general-officer-alabama-native-to-serve-as-h/
https://www.al.com/news/huntsville/2026/01/alabama-native-will-lead-space-command-transition-to-redstone-arsenal.html
https://www.rocketcitynow.com/article/news/local/alabama-native-oversee-space-command-relocation-work-redstone-arsenal/525-f020d536-2d05-4262-bf1f-3c596e4cffd8
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/space-command-2-star-new-office-hq-move/
https://www.military.com/feature/2026/01/22/us-space-force-turns-6-has-it-met-expectations.html
US Space Force Turns 6: Has It Met Expectations?
January 30, 2026 at 3:00am EDT
The U.S. Space Force marked its sixth anniversary in December, a milestone that underscores how far the nation’s newest military service has moved beyond its stand-up phase and into sustained operations, while still facing pressure to prove its long-term value in an increasingly contested space domain.
Established on Dec. 20, 2019, the Space Force was created to organize, train and equip forces to protect U.S. and allied interests in space, a domain the Pentagon now treats as central to modern warfare.
Six years in, the service is smaller than its sister branches but increasingly embedded in daily military operations.
From Stand-Up to Operational Force
Early expectations for the Space Force were modest and urgent at the same time.
The service was tasked with consolidating space missions previously spread across the Air Force and other commands, building a professional cadre of space operators and preparing for competition with China and Russia.
Since then, the Space Force has stood up dedicated field commands responsible for operations, training and acquisition.
Guardians now support missile warning, satellite communications, GPS, space domain awareness and launch operations that underpin nearly every U.S. military mission.
By the end of 2025, the service was routinely conducting national security launches, supporting combatant commands worldwide and running large-scale exercises designed to simulate operations in contested space environments.
Measuring Success at Six Years
Whether the Space Force has “met expectations” depends largely on how success is defined.
From an organizational standpoint, defense officials point to the successful transfer of missions, creation of specialized career fields and establishment of service-specific training pipelines.
Space missions that once competed for attention inside the Air Force now have a dedicated service focused solely on space operations.
Operationally, the Space Force has become a constant presence in joint planning. Space capabilities are no longer treated as background enablers but as operational effects that must be protected and, if necessary, defended during conflict.
Critics, however, note that the service is still refining how it measures readiness and effectiveness in a domain where traditional metrics do not always apply.
Others point to ongoing challenges with personnel growth, acquisition speed and the integration of reserve components.
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Leadership Emphasizes Warfighting Role
Space Force leaders have used the six-year mark to reinforce a central message: Guardians are warfighters, not support staff.
Gen. Chance Saltzman, the service’s top uniformed officer, has repeatedly emphasized that space forces are expected to operate in contested environments and contribute directly to deterrence and warfighting.
In public remarks throughout 2024 and 2025, Saltzman framed the Space Force’s mission around protecting the joint force’s ability to see, communicate and strike, while denying adversaries the same advantages.
That framing reflects a broader Pentagon shift toward treating space as a domain that must be defended under pressure, not simply accessed during peacetime.
Acquisition and Modernization Push
One of the clearest signals of where the Space Force is headed is its push to reform how it buys and fields technology.
Service leaders have acknowledged that traditional defense acquisition timelines are poorly suited to space, where commercial innovation moves quickly, and threats evolve fast.
In response, the Space Force has been working to shorten development cycles, field incremental capabilities and lean more heavily on commercial partnerships.
Those efforts are now feeding into a long-term force design roadmap intended to guide investments and structure through the 2030s.
The plan is aimed at building a more resilient and survivable space architecture, rather than relying on a small number of high-value satellites.
Integration With the Joint Force
The Space Force’s sixth year also coincided with deeper integration across the Defense Department.
Space operators are increasingly embedded with combatant commands, and the relocation of U.S. Space Command headquarters to Redstone Arsenal in Alabama in late 2025 highlighted the growing institutional maturity of U.S. military space operations.
While the Space Force remains the smallest service by personnel, its influence on joint planning continues to grow as commanders rely on space capabilities for everything from missile defense to precision navigation.
What Comes Next
As it enters its seventh year, the Space Force faces a different challenge than it did at birth. The question is no longer whether the service should exist, but how quickly it can adapt to a competitive and congested space environment.
The next phase will test whether reforms in acquisition, training and force design can translate into sustained space advantage.
For now, six years in, the Space Force has moved from concept to operational reality and the pressure is on to show it can stay ahead.
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Dentistry at a distance: a 650 km checkup via satellite
29/01/2026
Citizens living in remote areas could one day receive specialist medical care without leaving their communities, thanks to advances in telemedicine through satellite communications.
The European Space Agency (ESA) and the University of Glasgow have successfully run a remote dental examination using a secure satellite link combined with a rapidly usable 5G network.
During the test, a doctor based at ESA’s European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT) in Harwell, UK, conducted a full dental inspection of a simulated patient located more than 650 km away – at the University of Glasgow’s SCENE facility at Loch Lomond. The doctor operated a robotic arm in real time through a hybrid satellite‑and‑5G connection.
Once the examination was complete, the team dispatched a drone to deliver medication to the patient. The drone was monitored using a 5G‑enabled tracking system, demonstrating how multiple technologies can work together to support timely care.
The demonstration showed how dependable communications can enable medical services in places where conventional networks are limited or unavailable.
Connectivity today plays a central role in many essential activities, including healthcare, yet many remote regions still lack stable mobile or broadband infrastructure.
In such areas, transporting patients or medical staff can be costly, slow, or impractical – especially in emergencies.
The demonstration is part of ESA’s 5G REMOTE project, which aims to bridge the gap between satellites and portable 5G networks for communications.
The pop‑up network used in the demonstration can be rapidly used wherever satellite coverage reaches, providing high‑quality connectivity that enables advanced telemedicine services.
The simulation was carried out through collaboration between ESA’s Connectivity and Secure Communications directorate and the Glasgow Next‑Generation (GXG) testbed at the University of Glasgow.
It was funded under ESA’s Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) programme, with support from the UK Space Agency.
“This kind of reliable and flexible connectivity has potentially transformative applications for improving the wellbeing of millions of people,” said Antonio Franchi, Head of ESA’s Space for 5G/6G & Sustainable Connectivity programme.
“We are combining satellite communications technology with new advances in mobile signals and robotics to unlock the full power of telemedicine and help to overcome the digital divide.”
“Access to healthcare should not depend on postcode or proximity to a major hospital.
Our team’s work with ESA demonstrates a practical pathway to bring specialist assessment and timely intervention closer to remote and rural communities,” said Professor Muhammad Imran, Head of the James Watt School of Engineering at the University of Glasgow.
“This was enabled by using integrated 5G and satellite connectivity (terrestrial and non—terrestrial networks) to support real—time interaction, remote examination and delivery of essentials when every minute matters.”
By supporting projects like 5G REMOTE, ESA is helping to advance technologies that strengthen resilience, improve access, and support the digital transformation of healthcare.
https://www.esa.int/Applications/Connectivity_and_Secure_Communications/Dentistry_at_a_distance_a_650_km_checkup_via_satellite
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4393160/rebuilding-the-foundation-the-barracks-task-force-the-future-of-daf-housing/
Rebuilding the foundation: the Barracks Task Force, the future of DAF housing
Jan. 29, 2026
At the heart of the Air Force’s mission are the Airmen and Guardians who execute it. Their readiness depends on a simple, yet critical promise: having access to a clean, comfortable and safe place to call home.
In October 2025, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, established the Barracks Task Force with a clear mandate to ensure every warfighter’s home meets the highest standard, reinforcing the principle that caring for our people is fundamental to mission success.
By Oct. 21, commanders across the Department of the Air Force had conducted comprehensive, enterprise-wide inspections of Air Force dormitories to assess conditions and identify areas needing improvement.
The inspections provided leaders clear visibility into needed repairs, quick fixes and a small number of cases where Airmen and Guardians required relocation.
The DAF’s approach to dormitory improvements focuses on improving facility conditions and operations which are led by civil engineers.
As Col. Ryan Howell, chief of the Asset Management Division, noted, a core CE mission is sustaining installations as war fighting platforms, which includes making sure first-term Airmen and Guardians reside in clean, comfortable and safe conditions.
Drawing from this principle, civil engineers spearheaded the DAF-level response to the secretary’s 30-day deadline, forming a cross-disciplinary working group of subject matter experts from multiple career fields.
The team was tasked with developing a unified investment plan with Airmen and Guardians at the center of their mission. They ensured recommendations were comprehensive, resourced and ready for execution.
To fuel this effort, the task force launched a multi-layered funding strategy.
The initial push began with $41.5 million to address small, quick-fix requirements, followed by $105 million for larger barracks improvements projects funded by the Office of the Secretary of War.
This funding — split between the Air Force and Space Force at $85 million and $20 million, respectively — was directed toward large-scale facilities sustainment, restoration and modernization projects prioritized for rapid execution.
These investments coincide with the funds the DAF had already planned for this year to improve both technical training facilities and permanent-party dormitories.
The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center manages the prioritization and distribution of funds.
According to Lt. Col. John Marshall, chief of Requirements Development, Program Management and Policy Division, the initial focus was on initiatives with rapid execution timelines and immediate impact.
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Building upon current maintenance efforts at the installation level, base CE squadrons are executing the mission, turning funding into revitalized living spaces.
For 1st Lt. Luke Allison at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, the task force “speeds that process along for us to open more rooms for more Airmen.”
It empowers local CE teams to tackle quality-of-life projects that might otherwise have been deferred, such as installing ceiling fans to combat the Arizona heat.
This investment goes beyond infrastructure and is ultimately about people. “If you’re not comfortable in your house, how can you be focused on anything else,” Allison said, noting that distractions at home can affect performance and deployment readiness.
As Maj. Chrystopher Nicholson, chief of Unaccompanied Housing, explains, returning to a substandard room after a 12-hour workday “can be demoralizing,” with real consequences for morale and retention.
Chief Master Sgt. Steven Millerd, chief of Enlisted Matters, explained that dorms offer reliable access to services and proximity to the mission.
“With power, location and a clean, safe space, Airmen and Guardians can rest and focus on being ready for work without worrying about long commutes,” Millerd said.
Dormitories play an important role in Airmen and Guardians’ daily readiness and development. In the training environment, this focus is a strategic imperative.
With two decades of experience with dormitory infrastructure, Col. George Nichols, the command civil engineer for Air Education and Training Command, weighs in on this effort.
“It’s more than just their home in the training world, it’s their mission platform to become better,” Nichols said.
By improving foundational living conditions, the DAF reinforces a clear message: Airmen and Guardians’ well-being is a priority. The task force is also focused on overcoming long-standing hurdles.
To bridge the communication gap and make it easier for dorm residents to report maintenance needs, a digital work order solution is under development to streamline the process and ensure issues remain visible.
Efforts are also underway to address more immediate quality-of-life improvements, such as working to invest in free Wi-Fi for Airmen and Guardians living in the dorms.
The Barracks Task Force is a comprehensive and enduring commitment to the DAF’s most valuable asset—its people.
“The objective is simple: take care of our Airmen and Guardians,” said Brig. Gen. Christopher Leonard, director of Civil Engineers.
“A secure home base ensures they are ready for the mission today and fully prepared for whatever comes tomorrow.”
By providing quality housing, leaders at HAF, AFIMSC, and local CE squadrons are reinforcing a culture of care and striving to give Airmen and Guardians a safe, clean and comfortable foundation.
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Kremlin confirms Russia paused Ukraine strikes at Trump’s request
30 Jan, 2026 10:30
Russia has agreed to partially suspend long-range strikes on Ukrainian targets at the request of US President Donald Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has confirmed.
Trump previously said he had personally asked President Vladimir Putin for such restraint due to the unusually cold weather in Ukraine, which adds additional strain to the country’s energy system.
The weeklong moratorium is to last until February 1 and is meant to “create favorable conditions for negotiations,” Peskov told journalists on Friday.
He declined to offer additional details about the arrangement, including whether Kiev made any commitments for reciprocity.
Ukraine has been targeting the Russian energy sector with kamikaze drones for months, claiming that the economic damage this cause will weaken Russia and make it more pliable at peace talks.
The Russian military says its retaliatory strikes are meant to degrade Ukrainian weapons production and military logistics.
Several large Ukrainian cities, including Kiev, experienced major power and heating outages this month, as the degradation of the energy system coincided with severe cold.
Last week, Russian, Ukrainian and US officials held for the first time trilateral talks aimed at winding down the almost four-year-long conflict.
Previously Americans used shuttle diplomacy to encourage de-escalation. The talks in Abu Dhabi focused on security issues, as Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky keeps rejecting some of the key Russian conditions for peace.
Moscow normally declines to publicly comment about details of sensitive talks, arguing that Ukraine-style “megaphone diplomacy” is counterproductive.
Commenting on the Ukrainian leader’s latest rejection of compromise, Peskov said the “dynamics of the frontline speaks for itself,” referring to consistent Russian progress on the battlefield.
https://www.rt.com/russia/631784-kremlin-zelensky-zaporozhye-nuclear-plant/
Zelensky’s rhetoric suggests Kiev plans to attack nuclear plant – Kremlin
30 Jan, 2026 16:14
Moscow has raised concerns over Kiev’s apparent intent to attack the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) after Vladimir Zelensky said Ukraine would not give up on its attempts to take back the facility and former Ukrainian territories.
Speaking to reporters on Friday ahead of the second round of US-mediated Russia-Ukraine talks, Zelensky stated that Kiev “will not surrender Donbass and the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant without a fight.”
Responding to the remarks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov questioned Zelensky’s intentions regarding the ZNPP – Europe’s largest nuclear facility, which has been under Russian control since 2022.
“Does this mean the Kiev regime plans to try to seize this plant by force? Does it plan to attack the nuclear power plant?” Peskov said.
Earlier this month, the International Atomic Energy Agency announced that Russia and Ukraine reached a localized ceasefire agreement near the ZNPP to allow repairs to be made.
Moscow had repeatedly accused Kiev of targeting the plant in an apparent attempt to stage a nuclear provocation.
Peskov also told journalists that “the battlefield dynamics speak for themselves” regarding Donbass, referring to Russia’s continued advances in the region throughout the past year.
Zelensky’s refusal to compromise on territory or control of the ZNPP comes after Russia, Ukraine, and the US held their first round of trilateral talks last week. The second is set to take place in Abu Dhabi later this week.
The issue of territorial concessions has been the main sticking point during negotiations, as Ukraine has refused to withdraw from Russian territories.
Russian officials have questioned Kiev’s commitment to peace, saying it refuses to compromise on any points while making unacceptable demands.
Moscow has maintained that it is open to negotiations and would prefer to achieve its goals diplomatically, but is prepared to do so militarily if talks fail.
Following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, four Ukrainian regions – the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics in Donbass, and the regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye – officially seceded from Ukraine and joined Russia as a result of referendums.
Kiev refused to recognize the results and has insisted on regaining the territories, despite continuously losing ground to Russian forces.
https://www.rt.com/russia/631784-kremlin-zelensky-zaporozhye-nuclear-plant/
https://www.rt.com/russia/631771-kiev-residents-cat-litter/
Kiev still holding Russian hostages – senior diplomat
30 Jan, 2026 12:02
Kiev continues to hold 12 Russian civilians abducted during the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Region, Russian Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik said on Friday.
The hostage situation has remained unchanged for months, Miroshnik said at a press briefing, because Ukrainian officials “demand the return of Ukrainian war criminals held in our custody” in exchange for them.
Miroshnik leads a Foreign Ministry mission tracking alleged Ukrainian crimes.
Last week, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova called Kiev’s demands unacceptable, adding that Moscow cannot legally comply.
She stressed that international humanitarian law requires Ukraine to unconditionally release the civilians. Nine months of negotiations have yielded no progress, she said.
Ukrainian forces launched the cross-border offensive in August 2024, describing it as an attempt to seize territory as leverage in future peace talks with Russia.
Dozens of people were taken to the Ukrainian city of Sumy before Russian troops repelled the incursion. Many have since been repatriated via Belarus.
Miroshnik’s report summarized data collected by his office over the past year. He said at least 6,483 civilian casualties in 2025 were linked to Ukrainian military action, including 1,065 deaths.
He alleged that Ukrainian forces deliberately targeted ambulances and first responders in Russia. The diplomat claimed that Ukrainian attacks on civilians intensified last year “due to the activization of the peace process” under pressure from US President Donald Trump.
Last week, Russia, Ukraine, and the US held their first trilateral meeting following months of shuttle diplomacy by the Trump administration.
The talks in Abu Dhabi focused on security issues, as Kiev maintains an uncompromising stance on some of the key Russian conditions for peace. Further negotiations are scheduled for Sunday.
https://www.rt.com/russia/631762-ukraine-russian-hostages-mirishnik/
Ukrainian plot to assassinate Russian military officer foiled – FSB
30 Jan, 2026 07:31
Russian law enforcement agents have detained a gunman who was planning to assassinate a high-ranking military officer in St. Petersburg at the behest of Ukrainian intelligence, the Federal Security Service (FSB) has said.
In a statement on Friday, the FSB said the suspect made contact with a Ukrainian recruiter through the Telegram messaging app and volunteered to carry out a “terrorist attack in support of the Kiev regime.”
Acting on instructions from a handler, he was given a firearm, carried out reconnaissance of the officer’s home address, and made preparations for the assassination, the agency said.
While the FSB did not provide any details on the would-be target, the suspect claimed he had the rank of lieutenant colonel.
During the arrest, officers seized a loaded Makarov pistol fitted with a device for silent shooting, the FSB said. The agency released a clip of several operatives pinning the suspect to the ground on a snow-covered street.
The FSB also warned Russian citizens that Ukrainian security services are actively searching online – including on Telegram and WhatsApp – for potential recruits to carry out attacks and acts of sabotage. It noted that anyone caught cooperating with Kiev could face a life sentence.
Russian authorities have accused Ukraine of organizing numerous sabotage and assassination attempts on the country’s territory after the escalation of the conflict in 2022, including attacks targeting military commanders and other high-profile figures.
https://www.rt.com/russia/631745-ukraine-plot-assassinate-russia-officer/
Ukraine intercepts 80 of 111 Russian drones in overnight attack; Iskander missile strikes recorded
30/01/2026
Russian forces attacked Ukraine overnight on 30 January with one Iskander-M ballistic missile and 111 strike drones, the Ukrainian Air Force reported.
The ballistic missile was launched from Russia's Voronezh Oblast. The 111 drones originated from Bryansk, Oryol, Kursk, Millerovo, Primorsko-Akhtarsk, and occupied Donetsk, according to the Air Force.
Approximately 70 of the launched drones were Shahed-type UAVs.
Ukrainian aviation, anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare units, unmanned systems units, and mobile fire groups engaged the aerial targets.
As of 8:00 am, air defense forces had shot down or suppressed 80 Russian UAVs, preliminary data shows.
However, the ballistic missile and 25 strike drones hit 15 locations. Debris from downed UAVs fell at two additional locations.
Russian forces did not strike energy infrastructure during the night but instead reoriented their attacks toward logistics, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The Russian forces continue to hit residential areas in cities, he added. In Kharkiv Oblast, Russian forces used ballistic missiles to strike warehouses belonging to an American company.
Russian drones also targeted Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts. The situation remains difficult in the border areas of Chernihiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv oblasts.
On 30 January Russia attacked Kherosn, killing one person and injuring five others. One munition hit the roadway, damaging a minibus with shrapnel. Rescuers recovered the body of the deceased driver from the vehicle.
The Air Force emphasized that the attack was ongoing, with several Russian drones still in Ukrainian airspace at the time of the report.
https://euromaidanpress.com/2026/01/30/ukraine-intercepts-80-of-111-russian-drones-in-overnight-attack-iskander-missile-strikes-recorded/
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/01/30/8018595/
other Russia and Ukraine
https://www.dagens.com/news/russians-attacking-on-horseback-hit-by-drone-the-horses-survived
https://www.newsnationnow.com/morninginamerica/us-based-tech-company-helped-power-russian-drone-attacks-report/
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/4086032-zelensky-orders-creation-of-drone-defense-along-line-between-kherson-and-zaporizhzhia.html
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-defense/4085996-ukrainian-polish-defense-ministers-discuss-air-defense-boost-drones-and-mig29-transfer.html
https://maritime-executive.com/article/ukraine-catches-russian-mole-inside-of-its-sea-drone-program