Astronomers using archival Hubble data and recent James Webb observations identified the first stellar‑mass black hole in the globular cluster Omega Centauri, according to a study published Monday in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Omega Centauri contains roughly 10 million gravitationally bound stars and models predict about 10,000 smaller stellar‑mass black holes should be present, yet none had been observed. Earlier Hubble results suggested an intermediate‑mass black hole at the cluster’s center, but the expected population of stellar‑mass black holes remained undetected because previous searches relied on radial velocity or radio and X‑ray signatures.

The team applied astrometry, measuring minute changes in star positions over more than 20 years of Hubble archival data and supplemental near‑infrared observations from Webb. This approach revealed a main‑sequence star orbiting an unseen companion with a mass of 4.46 solar masses, too heavy to be a neutron star. The binary, designated oMEGACat BH-2, completes an orbit roughly every 94 years, the longest period known for a black‑hole binary system.

Matthew Whitaker of the University of Utah, lead author, said the star’s motion was tracked with a precision down to a fraction of a pixel on Hubble and Webb detectors. Anil Seth, a coauthor, noted that the black hole’s mass is lower than expected for a metal‑poor environment, indicating that such black holes can form in globular clusters.

The long orbital period suggests the system formed dynamically, with the star and black hole meeting within the dense cluster rather than originating together. Simulations indicate such a binary will be disrupted by encounters with nearby stars in less than a billion years, shorter than the cluster’s estimated age of 12 billion years.

The finding refines an earlier interpretation that proposed a neutron star in the same system. By constraining the companion’s mass, the study supports the presence of stellar‑mass black holes in metal‑poor settings and will inform models of black‑hole formation and binary merger rates relevant to gravitational‑wave astronomy.

Researchers plan to continue observing Omega Centauri with Hubble and Webb and to use NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which will provide regular, high‑resolution imaging of crowded regions, to search for additional black‑hole binaries.

SpaceX plans to launch Starship Flight 13 as early as July 16, targeting a 90‑minute window that begins at 6:45 p.m. Eastern from its Starbase, Texas, site. The company conducted a static fire of the Super Heavy booster on July 10 and updated its flight plan on July 11. Flight 13 will follow a suborbital profile similar to the May 22 Flight 12 test, which used an upgraded version 3 vehicle and experienced several anomalies, including a failed controlled splashdown of the booster and multiple Raptor engine ignition issues.

SpaceX said it has modified the engine start sequence to reduce timing variability and improve the reliability of relights, and it added hardware changes to the Super Heavy booster, along with updates to engine alarms and abort systems. Additional Raptor engine hardware and operational tweaks are planned for future versions.

The mission will carry 20 functional Starlink V3 satellites, which will deploy solar arrays and antennas and attempt to communicate with a South African ground station and other satellites before reentering after a few minutes. The Federal Aviation Administration closed its mishap investigation into Flight 12 on July 13, accepting SpaceX’s findings that heat effects on propulsion components and erroneous engine alarm settings caused the booster loss, and approving the hardware and software configuration updates required for the upcoming flight.

If successful, Flight 13 could enable the first orbital Starship launch, supporting SpaceX’s goal of deploying Starlink V3 satellites and using Starship as a lunar lander for NASA’s Artemis program.

Industry officials have raised concerns that SpaceX’s Crew Dragon may not be available in the 2030s, potentially jeopardizing crew transportation for private space stations slated for launch as early as 2030. NASA, which ended its reliance on the International Space Station after the agency’s retirement plan in the early 2030s, is partnering with several U.S. companies to develop independent stations that require a reliable crew vehicle. Crew Dragon has been the default option for these operators, but SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell indicated that the company will continue flying Crew Dragon and the Falcon 9 rocket for a limited period, possibly less than a decade, as it transitions launches to Starship. Docking large Starship vehicles to smaller stations presents technical challenges, and maintaining a Falcon 9 production line solely for Crew Dragon could increase costs, according to multiple sources. Some industry representatives said they lack certainty that Crew Dragon will remain in production for the full period needed, and pricing concerns have been noted. Boeing’s Starliner has completed a limited number of crewed flights and may not be ready for commercial service before 2028, and its service module is more expensive to replace between flights than Dragon’s trunk. Blue Origin is developing a crew vehicle for the New Glenn rocket, but timelines and cost estimates remain unclear. A European firm, The Exploration Company, announced plans in 2026 to develop a crewed spacecraft, seeking funding from the European Space Agency and NASA and estimating an eight‑year development timeline and $4 billion in investment. Representatives from Axiom Space and Voyager were present at the company’s recent office‑opening event, suggesting potential interest in its vehicle. The availability and cost of crew transportation remain unresolved issues as the industry prepares for the next phase of low‑Earth orbit operations.

European government space spending increased 12% in 2025 to 13.5 billion euros ($15.4 billion), according to a July 13 European Space Agency report, reversing a 3% global decline.

The rise occurred while U.S. defense spending fell and NASA funding remained flat, contributing to a 119 billion euro total for worldwide government space budgets.

The United States accounted for 58% of global government space budgets, China 15%, and Europe 11% in 2025. Germany plans to invest 35 billion euros in space security and defense by 2030, and France will allocate an additional 4.2 billion euros to military space activities between 2026 and 2040. The report noted that global military spending rose for the 11th consecutive year, reaching $2.9 trillion, with Europe playing a key role in the increase.

However, OECD and IMF research cautioned that higher defense spending may not translate into sustained economic growth, emphasizing the need for cost‑effective procurement, innovation, cross‑border coordination, and harmonized standards.

Europe faces a structural disadvantage: although European customers represented 67% of the accessible market value in 2025, demand was not captive to European suppliers, and European firms hold less than 20% of the global launch and satellite manufacturing market, estimated at over 75 billion euros.

The report also highlighted that European private space ventures raised about 1.4 billion euros in 2025, an 8% decline, while global private investment grew 60% to a record 11.7 billion euros.

The ESA projects a sharp 20% increase in European space budgets from 2026 onward, driven by defense programs such as the Golden Dome missile defense initiative, but the long‑term economic impact remains uncertain.

The Netherlands formally adopted the mandate for its newly named Space Agency (NLSA) on 12 June, and the governing agreement was published in the Government Gazette on 6 July. The agency, previously the Netherlands Space Office, was announced on 3 March at the Amsterdam Space Symposium.

The mandate adds the Ministry of Defence to the agency’s steering committee for the first time and sets out five objectives: improving coordination of Dutch space policy, strengthening technological and scientific capacity, fostering collaboration between research, industry and innovation sectors, and identifying dependencies and vulnerabilities in space activities.

The agency remains part of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency within the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate, and its operating costs are shared by the ministries of economic affairs, infrastructure and water management, education, culture and science, and defence. The steering committee, composed of those ministries, approves the multi‑year programme, monitors performance and spending, and oversees organisational decisions. The Dutch Research Council, which had been a member of the previous steering committee, is no longer listed in the agreement, though the text does not specify the reason for its removal.

Funding for the agency’s budget was settled after a public discussion in late 2024. Ahead of ESA’s Ministerial Council meeting in November 2025 (CM25), the cabinet proposed committing €344.3 million to ESA’s 2026‑2028 programmes, a figure adjusted for inflation that represented a reduction of about 25 % from previous levels. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher said the contribution was lower than he considered appropriate for the country. When questioned in parliament, Minister of Economic Affairs Vincent Karremans acknowledged the risk that insufficient investment could lead ESA to relocate parts of the European Space Research and Technology Centre to other member states. At the Bremen conference, the commitment was increased to €453.3 million, covering the country’s ESA obligations.

The agency has not yet discussed separate budget adjustments for its own operations, and it will represent Dutch interests in European space organisations such as ESA.

Astronomers have identified erythrulose, a sugar found in raspberries and used in self‑tanning products, within a large dust and gas cloud near the center of the Milky Way.

The detection shows that organic compounds important for life can form in the interstellar medium, a region of cold gas and dust between stars.

Spectroscopic observations captured the molecular fingerprint of erythrulose in the cloud, which lies hundreds of light‑years from Earth.

The presence of this compound does not indicate life or an alien civilization, but it confirms that complex chemistry occurs in space.

Further study will be needed to assess how widespread such molecules are and what role they may play in the development of life.

NASA announced plans for a permanent lunar base, the first concrete step toward establishing a long‑term human presence beyond Earth, while the Space Force said it must strengthen its ability to detect and mitigate asteroid threats to lunar assets.

The agency noted that six meteorite impacts were recorded by the Artemis 2 crew during a spring flyby, and that a Chinese Long March 3C rocket created a double crater in March 2022 while a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage is expected to strike the lunar far side at about 5,500 mph in August 2026. Although these events caused limited damage, they underscore the vulnerability of a permanent lunar outpost.

The near‑miss of asteroid YR4, discovered in December 2024, illustrated the potential scale of danger. Initial concerns that the roughly 200‑foot asteroid could hit Earth subsided after James Webb Space Telescope observations in March confirmed it would pass the moon without impact, but the episode revealed gaps in the nation’s space‑defense posture.

Analysts estimated that an impact on the trailing edge of the moon by YR4 would launch about 100 million tons of ejecta, with roughly 10 million tons reaching Earth within days and potentially affecting satellite systems, navigation services, and communications infrastructure. Such an event could threaten geostationary and low‑Earth‑orbit assets, including missile warning, nuclear command, GPS, and commercial broadband networks.

While the scientific community has a clear understanding of the threat and possible mitigation strategies, the Space Force has not yet demonstrated readiness to fulfill its statutory duty under Title 10 to protect U.S. interests in space. Several White House administrations since 2016 have assigned planetary defense responsibilities to the Department of Defense, and the 2023 National Preparedness Strategy assigned 14 taskings to the Pentagon.

China’s Space Force has begun developing its own planetary‑defense program and is hiring personnel for a dedicated unit, planning a kinetic interception test for the following year. Officials in Washington said that increased funding and resources for the Space Force’s planetary‑defense mission are needed to meet the urgency identified by both domestic and foreign actors.

The Space Force’s expanded capabilities could provide a transformative benefit for U.S. space security, and congressional pressure may accelerate funding and resource allocation to ensure the mission fulfills its legal obligations.

ESA’s Advanced Mission Analysis Tools (AMAT) are a software environment for designing spacecraft trajectories from Earth orbit to deep space. The system was created at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, and is used by mission analysts to model complex paths that include planetary flybys, orbital manoeuvres and operations at libration points. AMAT was developed with input from industry partners Telespazio, GMV, IMS and Indra Space and is distributed under the ESA Community Licence as part of the MIDAS package, making it available to universities and companies. The software standardises data formats and interfaces, which reduces duplication and eases the transfer of work between team members, even after projects span many years. Once a trajectory is defined, AMAT can perform navigation analysis directly, eliminating the need for separate conversion steps. It relies on the GODOT shared infrastructure, allowing trajectory results to be reproduced by flight‑dynamics teams using operational tools built on the same foundation. AMAT supports a variety of mission concepts, such as the Juice mission to Jupiter, interplanetary studies, lunar trajectories and operations in multi‑body environments. Its modular architecture lets users combine or replace analysis segments and reuse components across different missions. The tool has been applied to projects including Vigil, Argonaut, LISA, Plato, Ariel and the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover mission. ESA says the platform improves efficiency, maintainability and the ability to integrate custom models, thereby supporting collaborative mission design across Europe.

Curiosity Rover conducted a series of imaging, spectroscopy, and driving activities from Sol 4939 through Sol 4947, focusing on a geologic boundary between smooth sandy terrain and rougher bedrock. The mission planned the week for Earth planning date July 2, 2026, to study the transition zone where sedimentary deposits meet consolidated rock.

On Sol 4939 the rover arrived at the first stop after leaving polygonal terrain and performed Navcam dust‑devil searches, an AEGIS ChemCam laser‑spectroscopy observation, and Mastcam imaging of a target selected onboard. Sol 4940 included an AEGIS ChemCam laser‑spectroscopy observation and Mastcam imaging of a rover‑selected target; no suitable rocks were available for DRT brushing. Sol 4941 saw MAHLI capture images of light‑colored fragments named Malpartida and Pico del Tunari, while APXS performed X‑ray spectroscopy on them; ChemCam used active laser spectroscopy on the light‑colored bedrock fragment Kunturiri and observed the dark float rock Mecoyita passively; the RMI telescopic camera documented sedimentary layers at the base of Cordillera butte, and Mastcam produced mosaics of the sand and rock ridge called Sitajana.

Sol 4942 continued Mastcam observations of Sitajana, RMI acquired additional views of Cordillera butte, Navcam recorded suprahorizon cloud and dust‑devil movies, ChemCam laser‑spectroscpied the dark bedrock fragment Toconce with Mastcam documentation, and Mastcam imaged Sierra Vicuña Mackenna to examine sand‑shedding rocks on dune ripples; in the afternoon the rover drove about 11 m to the edge of the geologic contact and took panoramic Navcam and Mastcam mosaics that revealed striped bedrock outcrops, followed by an AEGIS observation for target selection, ChemCam laser‑spectroscopy of the selected target with Mastcam documentation, a Navcam dust‑devil movie, and a Mastcam atmospheric dust observation.

Sol 4944 involved DRT brushing, MAHLI imaging, and APXS X‑ray spectroscopy of the light‑colored bedrock targets Laguna Fea and Laguna Lejia; ChemCam targeted the darker ledge Hornillos with Mastcam documentation, while MAHLI provided detailed imaging of Hornillos despite its roughness; Mastcam captured a large mosaic of the striped bedrock outcrop Cerro Castillo and a smaller mosaic of an adjacent trough, and the RMI telescopic camera focused on a dark layer on Cordillera butte shedding boulders; Navcam recorded dust‑devil and suprahorizon cloud movies, and Mastcam conducted a dust observation.

Sol 4945 included ChemCam laser spectroscopy of Laguna Lejia with Mastcam imaging, RMI study of a slope at the base of Cordillera where large stones suggested past ice processes, Navcam dust‑devil surveys, Mastcam dust imaging, a Navcam zenith observation, a suprahorizon cloud movie, a Mastcam dust tau observation, and a 20×4 mosaic of butte Mishe Mokwa; overnight APXS performed an atmospheric observation.

Sol 4946 (the following morning) featured ChemCam laser spectroscopy of La Puntilla with Mastcam documentation, a passive sky observation, a drive of about 17 m toward a large dark boulder that may be a meteorite, and post‑drive imaging with Navcam sky flats.

Sol 4947 (the next morning) included an atmospheric observation sequence with Navcam zenith and suprahorizon cloud movies, a line‑of‑sight dust observation, and a Mastcam dust tau measurement.

The activities aimed to characterize the composition and sedimentary features of the transition zone, providing data on rock types, layering, and possible ice‑related processes.