Back in January, a small spacecraft built by a California-based company called Impulse Space launched along with a stack of other satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket. Upon reaching orbit, the rocket’s upper stage sent the satellites zipping off on their various missions.

After less than a year in orbit, the Southwest Research Institute-built PUNCH spacecraft have made major accomplishments, imaging the sun in context while tracking comets and enormous space weather events as they traveled through the inner solar system.

This could be the end of the orbiter that studies the Red Planet’s atmosphere and relays communications between NASA and its Mars rovers.

China Shenzhou 22 spacecraft docked with the Tiangong space station only a few hours after launch. It will serve as a replacement for the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft that damaged by space debris. Credit: Space.

NASA’s PUNCH mission captured detailed images of solar coronal mass ejections, tracking their movement from the Sun’s corona through interplanetary space, supporting space weather monitoring and scientific research.

Hakuto-r captures a rare “terrestrial sunrise” during a total eclipse just before crashing into the Moon, revealing the shadow on Earth.

NASA failed to reestablish contact with its MAVEN spacecraft orbiting Mars and hasn't received any signs of life since December 4.

Suspended above the Mediterranean Sea, Russia's Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft made its final approach to the International Space Station (ISS) on Nov. 27, 2025, the same day it launched from Earth. Not only did Soyuz MS-28 carry three new crew members beginning their mission, but it also helped to make a historical first for the ISS

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA has lost contact with a spacecraft that has orbited Mars for more than a decade. Maven abruptly stopped communicating to ground stations over the weekend. NASA said this week that it was working fine before it went behind the red planet. When it reappeared, there was only silence.