Was Shukla’s Axiom-4 flight to the International Space Station worth it for ISRO? | Indian Space Progress #29

A complicated question to answer for a controversial flight intended to advance India’s grand ambition of indigenously sending humans to space.

Moon Monday #233: Visualizing a new Moon based on scientific discoveries by China’s Chang’e 6 mission

Highlighting all major findings with a visual that lets you picture the scientific value the Chinese have added to humanity’s exploration of our Moon.

Moon Monday #232: Still free mission updates

And encouraging information sharing.

On SpaceNews going paywalled, and the broader disregard for archiving in journalism

This article is a break from my usual because space communities worldwide are affected by this important topic, and I have some thoughts to offer to add to the discussions. SpaceNews, a well known media publication in the global space industry, went paywalled for its website on July 1 with

Moon Monday #231: Achievements and shortfalls in Moon exploration this half year

A review of notable developments by country or region.

Moon Monday #230: China leaps again in its steady march to Luna while NASA’s progress on Artemis remains a mixed bag

A look at recent Chinese milestones in the build up to crewed lunar missions, another blow(up) for Artemis, how Firefly’s Ocula can fill critical gaps for NASA, and more.

Moon Monday #229: China extends lead in lunar orbital infrastructure, gets an edge in future crewed missions over the US

Plus: Examples of how Western media narratives of Chinese lunar activities misjudge capabilities and intent

Moon Monday #228: The need for resilience in private lunar landing missions through expansive and collaborative testing

ispace Japan’s second Moon lander RESILIENCE launched in January with the aim of a Moon landing. But just like its predecessor Hakuto-R’s fate about two years ago, RESILIENCE crashed into the Moon during its landing attempt on June 6. It was a moment of heartbreak for several lunar

A pressing PSLV rocket failure and orbital congestion to brood over | Indian Space Progress #28

Plus more mission updates.

Moon Monday #227: Proposed cuts, cancellations, continuations, and changes to NASA’s lunar missions

And other mission updates.

Moon Monday #226: Blue Origin aims to launch its first two Moon missions by next year—with nearly no NASA payloads

Plus: Firefly to carry UAE’s second lunar rover and more.

Why Moon missions need their own Wikipedia and beyond

Our Moon may be one of the largest satellites in the Solar System but its exploration has been concentrated on select areas. One of these is low lunar orbit, where mapping spacecraft from three countries have been concurrently flying from pole to pole between 50 to 150 kilometers above the