Top Stories
\nPerseverance Rover About to Break All-Time Mars Driving Record<\/p>\n
NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover will surpass 45.16 km driven on Mars sometime next week, breaking the distance record held by the Opportunity rover since 2018. Perseverance reached the mark in roughly five years, about a third of the time Opportunity needed. The difference is autonomous navigation: 90% of Perseverance\u2019s driving is self-directed, compared to just 10% for the older Curiosity rover, whose onboard computer uses chipsets from the 1990s.<\/p>\n
The autonav system uses onboard cameras and terrain-processing algorithms similar to terrestrial self-driving vehicles. Curiosity, which is largely a hardware twin of Perseverance but a generation behind in computing, has managed 38.6 km in over a decade. Processing speed, not sensor capability, was the bottleneck.<\/p>\n
Read the full story: Ars Technica<\/a><\/p>\n Senate Passes Stopgap Funding Bill, Pentagon Held to FY2026 Levels<\/p>\n The Senate voted 90-6-1 to pass a continuing resolution that would fund federal agencies through Dec. 11 at current fiscal year levels. The bill forbids the start of new programs and excludes most Pentagon-specific exemptions the White House requested, including $1 billion for the Trump-class battleship and authority for five multiyear munitions contracts.<\/p>\n The House passed a shorter CR (through Dec. 4) before recess, without the Senate bill\u2019s funding anomalies and with little Democratic support. Congress will need to reconcile the two versions or have one chamber adopt the other\u2019s bill when it returns in September. If no CR passes by Sept. 30, a government shutdown would extend into midterm election season.<\/p>\n Read the full story: Breaking Defense<\/a><\/p>\n SpaceX Hits 50th West Coast Launch of 2026 with Starlink 17-38<\/p>\n SpaceX launched 24 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Saturday, the company\u2019s 50th launch from the West Coast this year. Booster B1093, on its 16th flight, landed on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You about eight minutes after liftoff.<\/p>\n The West Coast flight rate is climbing as SpaceX shifts East Coast pad time toward Starship<\/a> preparations. This was the 71st operational Starlink delivery mission of 2026.<\/p>\n Read the full story: Spaceflight Now<\/a><\/p>\n Northrop Grumman and Canada Pivot Gateway Hardware to Lunar Surface Demos<\/p>\n Northrop Grumman will repurpose technology from its HALO module, originally built for NASA\u2019s lunar Gateway, into three Lunar Infrastructure Demo (LID) lander missions. The company says the missions will test power, data, and mechanical interfaces on the lunar surface, with a focus on surviving lunar night. The Canadian Space Agency is making a similar pivot with its Gateway contributions.<\/p>\n No timeline, launch vehicle, or specific payload details were provided. Concept art shows three identical landers carrying different solar array and payload configurations.<\/p>\n Read the full story: SpaceNews<\/a><\/p>\n Moon-Mars Conjunction Visible Before Dawn on August 9<\/p>\n A waning crescent Moon will appear close to Mars in the predawn sky on Saturday morning, offering a straightforward naked-eye observation for early risers.<\/p>\n Read the full story: Space.com<\/a><\/p>\n Satellite of the Day<\/p>\n COSMOS 1875 – COSMOS 1875, a Soviet Strela-3 military relay satellite launched in 1987, still orbits at 1,390 km after nearly 39 years as tracked debris (NORAD 18334).<\/p>\n Read the full feature: Satellite of the Day: COSMOS 1875<\/a> or track COSMOS 1875 live<\/a>.<\/p>\n By the Numbers<\/p>\n Active satellites tracked: 15,663 Catalog Watch<\/p>\n Space-Track cataloged 3 new objects in its latest daily accounting (2026-08-08), alongside 28,073 updated element sets.<\/p>\n New catalog entries: 100243<\/a>, 100244<\/a>, 100245<\/a>.<\/p>\n Reentry Watch<\/p>\n STARLINK-2342<\/a> (47883) – predicted decay Aug 9, 09:39 UTC, window \u00b13 h Upcoming Space Launches China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Long March 7A – Unknown Payload from Wenchang Space Launch Site, People\u2019s Republic of China (Aug 10, 12:00 UTC)
\nCataloged debris objects: 14,921
\nNew objects cataloged yesterday: 3
\nOrbital launches this year: 188 (182 successful)
\nNext launch: Long March<\/a> 7A | Unknown Payload in about 27 hours (Aug 10, 12:00 UTC)<\/p>\n
\nSTARLINK-2019<\/a> (47641) – predicted decay Aug 9, 21:26 UTC, window \u00b16 h
\nCZ-4B DEB<\/a> (46480) – predicted decay Aug 10, 12:27 UTC, window \u00b19 h
\nSTARLINK-2163<\/a> (47749) – predicted decay Aug 10, 14:05 UTC, window \u00b110 h
\nUSA 67 R\/B(2)<\/a> (20965) – predicted decay Aug 10, 23:22 UTC, window \u00b114 h<\/p>\n
\nNext 48 Hours<\/p>\n
\nDetails TBD.
\nSpaceX Falcon 9<\/a> Block 5 – Starlink Group 10-19 from Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA (Aug 10, 14:49 UTC)
\nWatch Live<\/a>
\nLandSpace Zhuque-3 – Flight 2 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People\u2019s Republic of China (Aug 10, 23:45 UTC)
\nSecond test launch of LandSpace\u2019s ZQ-3 rocket. Payload identities are TBD.<\/p>\n