September
Billionaire goes from basement to world’s first private spacewalk
Jared Isaacman planted the seeds of payments company Shift4 in his parents’ basement and used to scrounge for pizza dollars. But at 41, he’s just made history.
- Emily Mason
The Sydney-born astronaut who learnt Russian in eight weeks
Katherine Bennell-Pegg is the first person to train and qualify as an international astronaut under the Australian flag. She’s doing it all for her late mum.
- Simon Evans
August
Challenger disaster was the ultimate failure of corporate culture
An inside account of the doomed space shuttle shows why it remains relevant to understanding poor decision-making 40 years later.
- Aaron Patrick
July
Elon Musk wants to colonise Mars, seriously
The billionaire has directed SpaceX employees to design a Martian city, which he expects could have a million residents in 20 years.
- Kirsten Grind
SpaceX rocket fails, breaks apart in orbit
It’s the first failure of a Falcon 9 rocket since 2016, when one exploded on the launchpad during the loading of propellants for an engine firing test.
- Kenneth Chang
June
Boeing’s new crisis: astronauts left ‘stranded’ by its spacecraft
The Starliner ship has suffered helium leaks and thruster problems. Its delayed return from the International Space Station comes at the worst time for the US company.
- Updated
- Peggy Hollinger
‘What if a cruise ship got in the way?’ Rocket wrapped in red tape
Australia’s first home-grown rocket launch has been slowed down by a nervous regulator, says Gilmour Space Technologies CEO.
- John Davidson
May
Extreme solar storm hits Earth, could bring auroras but disrupt power
An unusually strong solar storm hitting Earth could produce southern lights across Australia, including as far north as Queensland.
- Marcia Dunn
America’s new moon race is billionaire v billionaire
Today’s space race looks in some ways like that of the 1960s; instead of the US v the Soviet Union, it’s Bezos’ Blue Origin v Musk’s SpaceX.
- Loren Grush
April
China set to launch high-stakes mission to moon’s ‘hidden’ side
China has made leaps forward in its lunar exploration, narrowing the technological chasm with the United States and Russia.
- Albee Zhang and Ryan Woo
Millions watch total solar eclipse across Americas
Experts called the eclipse “the most viewed astronomical event in history” as the moon blocked out the sun across North America.
- Updated
- Marcia Dunn
March
A sun in our galaxy is about to explode
There hasn’t been a supernova in this vicinity since German astronomer Johannes Kepler saw one in 1604.
- Jeff Allan
‘The ship has been lost’: SpaceX rocket breaks up on re-entry
Starship soared higher and farther than ever before in a near hour-long test flight that bolstered the spirits of both Elon Musk and NASA.
- Marcia Dunn
February
- Opinion
- Russia-Ukraine war
Putin’s space nuke is so crazy, it’s an opportunity
The spectre of Russian nuclear escalation in space could offer Joe Biden and Xi Jinping a reason to make common cause in restraining and deterring the Russian autocrat.
- Andreas Kluth
First private spacecraft lands on the moon
A successful touchdown by Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander heralds a more commercial era for space exploration.
- Updated
- Peggy Hollinger and Clive Cookson
- Exclusive
- Funding
The Gold Coast’s answer to SpaceX is now worth $605m
Gold Coast-based rocket company Gilmour Space has closed a $55m funding round, which will give it enough cash to make its first four launch attempts.
- Tess Bennett
January
First US lunar lander in more than 50 years rockets towards moon
The Vulcan streaked through the Florida sky, putting the spacecraft on a roundabout route to the moon that should culminate with an attempted landing on February 23.
- Marcia Dunn
December 2023
Aussie company Quasar joins the global satellite space race
Defence forces and commercial companies are seeking way to improve the tracking of space traffic.
- Matthew Cranston
November 2023
This moonshot tech firm is Australia’s fastest growing company
Fleet Space Technologies, with a compound annual growth rate of 582 per cent over three years, is top of the Fast 100 class for 2023.
- Michael Bailey
October 2023
Big ideas trump commercialisation for new CSIRO boss
Doug Hilton has laid out plans for it to help answer the big questions facing society, while also making some money along the way.
- Updated
- Tess Bennett
