Space Current Affairs 2026 for Government Exams

Kerala-based spacetech startup HEX20 successfully launched its second satellite KOYO (Kinetic Optical Yaw Observer) aboard SpaceX's Transporter-17 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. Carrying 81 payloads, KOYO entered orbit as a multi-payload test platform for in-orbit technology validation. KOYO carries payloads from international partners (Aegiverse and National Central University of Taiwan, Amplified Space of USA, and ET Space Power) and validated HEX20's AX CubeSat platform. It builds on NILA (2025), India's first private-sector rideshare satellite and Kerala's first privately built satellite.

In July 2026, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully conducted three critical tests of the Gaganyaan Crew Module (CM) systems. The tests were: the Float inflation test for the Crew Module Up-Righting System (CMUS); Umbilical Separation Testing of the Connect-Disconnect System (CS-CDS); and the crew module structure qualification test for Apex Cover separation loads. Together they validate splashdown recovery, module separation and parachute deployment ahead of India first crewed orbital mission.

IAF Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla launched his debut book 'The Second Orbit: Belief of a Man… Dreams of 1.4 Billion Hearts' in Bengaluru, published by Penguin Random House India, with former ISRO chiefs A.S. Kiran Kumar and S. Somanath present. The book chronicles his Axiom Mission 4 experience — 18 days aboard the ISS — and pays tribute to Rakesh Sharma, India's first astronaut (1984).

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully conducted the first lift-off and landing test of its RV-X reusable rocket prototype at the Noshiro Testing Center, Akita Prefecture. The rocket rose to about 10 metres, flew for around 40 seconds and landed safely, demonstrating vertical take-off and vertical landing (VTVL) technology. Jointly developed with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the RV-X supports reusable successors to the single-use H3 launch vehicle.

ISRO successfully carried out the flight-acceptance hot test of the CE20 cryogenic engine earmarked for the LVM3-M7 mission on 6 July 2026 at the Main Engine & Stage Test facility, ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri (Tamil Nadu). For the first time, the test used a newly developed Nozzle Protection System (NPS) to test the full area-ratio-100 nozzle under sea-level conditions at a thrust of 22 tonnes. The indigenously developed CE20 powers the upper stage of the LVM3 and has flown eight successive LVM3 missions (including Chandrayaan-2 and Chandrayaan-3); it is human-rated for the Gaganyaan mission. The CE20 is developed by ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC).

NASA scheduled a spacewalk for 30 June 2026 to replace a wrist joint on the ISS's Canadarm2 robotic arm, with the EVA beginning around 8:35 a.m. EDT.

NASA prepared the first-of-its-kind Swift Boost mission to raise the orbit of the ageing Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, using a robotic servicer named LINK (by Katalyst Space) for the roughly $30 million orbit-raising rescue.

NASA announced the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is now targeted for launch on 30 August 2026 - about eight months ahead of schedule. It will fly on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy to the Sun-Earth L2 point to study dark energy and exoplanets.

The European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences jointly launched the SMILE mission to study the interaction between the solar wind and Earth's magnetosphere.

SpaceX launched its CRS-34 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station, carrying scientific experiments and supplies for the crew.

NASA's Psyche spacecraft flew about 4,500 km above Mars in a gravity-assist manoeuvre, en route to the metal-rich asteroid 16 Psyche.

The Nordic Summit welcomed a Framework Agreement between ISRO and the Norwegian Space Agency on space cooperation, expanding India's international space partnerships.

On 6 April, Artemis II surpassed the Apollo 13 distance record, with the crew reaching about 252,756 miles from Earth. The Orion capsule 'Integrity' splashed down in the Pacific on 11 April.

NASA launched Artemis II aboard the Space Launch System, sending astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada's Jeremy Hansen on a ~10-day lunar flyby aboard Orion - its first crewed mission beyond low-Earth orbit in over 50 years.

NASA's targeted March 2026 launch window for Artemis II (the first crewed Moon flyby of the Artemis programme) was scrubbed after engineers found a helium-flow problem in the SLS upper stage; the mission launched on 1 April 2026.

NASA rolled the SLS rocket back into the Vehicle Assembly Building on 25 February after an upper-stage anomaly, to preserve an April launch date; Artemis II eventually launched on 1 April 2026.

The European Space Agency's PROBA-3 coronagraph/heliophysics mission suffered an anomaly causing loss of contact with one of its two formation-flying spacecraft (contact was re-established in March).

NASA launched the Pandora small space telescope aboard a Falcon 9 to study exoplanet atmospheres; the same flight carried NASA's SPARCS and BlackCAT CubeSat telescopes.

The interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS (C/2025 N1) passed closest to Earth at about 270 million km, posing no threat; NASA's JWST and ESA's XMM-Newton studied its coma.

Using James Webb Space Telescope data, Indian astronomers discovered 'Alaknanda', a fully formed spiral galaxy that existed only about 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang, challenging galaxy-formation models.

ISRO successfully hot-tested its indigenous semi-cryogenic engine power head at 175 tonnes of thrust at the Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri (Tamil Nadu), validating about 90% of designed capacity for next-generation heavy-lift launch vehicles.

China launched three astronauts aboard Shenzhou-23 to its Tiangong space station; the crew included Lai Ka-ying, the first astronaut from Hong Kong to fly to space.

ISRO successfully conducted the second Integrated Air Drop Test of the Gaganyaan-1 crew module, validating parachute-based recovery. Gaganyaan-1, the first uncrewed test flight carrying the robot Vyommitra, is planned for later in 2026.

ISRO and DRDO conducted the final qualification-level load test for the Gaganyaan crew module at the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL), Chandigarh, evaluating high-speed aerodynamic loads and re-entry trajectory changes.

ISRO's PSLV-C62 (64th PSLV flight) lifted off from Sriharikota but failed to reach orbit after a deviation in roll rates near the end of third-stage operation. The primary payload was the DRDO-built EOS-N1 satellite; it was the second consecutive PSLV failure.

ISRO released the Indian Space Situational Awareness Report 2025 (ISSAR-2025) at the SMOPS-2026 conference in Bengaluru, reinforcing India's commitment to debris-free missions and space surveillance.

ISRO and DRDO qualified the crew module's drogue parachutes at the Rail Track Rocket Sled facility, Chandigarh, deploying them at over 600 kmph - a step toward the first uncrewed Gaganyaan-G1 flight.

ISRO began work on a Third Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre to support heavy-lift missions, including the Next Generation Launch Vehicle and the Gaganyaan programme.

India conducted its first satellite-based GAGAN landing approach on a commercial jet (an IndiGo Airbus A320) at Udaipur Airport. GAGAN is the indigenous Satellite-Based Augmentation System jointly developed by ISRO and the Airports Authority of India.

Data from the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite showed parts of Mexico City sinking about 2 cm per month, attributed to groundwater over-extraction. NISAR became fully operational in January 2026.

Rocket Lab's Electron deployed Celeste IOD-1 and IOD-2, the first pair of satellites for ESA's next-generation LEO-PNT (positioning-navigation-timing) constellation - the first Electron launch conducted for ESA.

SpaceX carried out a partially successful suborbital Starship Flight 12, during which the vehicle deployed 20 dummy Starlink satellites and made a water landing in the Indian Ocean.

On a Starlink mission, Falcon 9 booster B1067 became the first booster to launch on 34 missions, a new reusability milestone.

A Falcon 9 flew the Transporter-16 SmallSat rideshare (60+ payloads) to sun-synchronous orbit, including a quantum-key-distribution demonstrator (SPOQC), a Danish climate CubeSat and NASA Ames' TechEdSat-23.

CAS Space launched the maiden flight of the Kinetica 2 rocket from Jiuquan, which also carried the first flight of the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft prototype.

Japan's Space One KAIROS (F3) rocket failed on launch from Spaceport Kii, destroying all five payloads - a setback for Japan's private launch sector.

Arianespace launched 32 Amazon Leo (Project Kuiper) satellites on the first-ever flight of the Ariane 64 heavy-lift configuration - the most powerful version of Europe's Ariane 6.

ISRO launched AST SpaceMobile's US-built BlueBird Block-2 communication satellite (~6,100 kg) from Sriharikota - the heaviest payload ever placed in LEO by an LVM3 and the heaviest foreign satellite launched from Indian soil.