Space News: 9 August 2025 - 19 August 2025

Asteroid Minerals: Mining C-Type, S-Type & M-Type Space Rocks Worth Trillions
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Asteroid Minerals: Mining C-Type, S-Type & M-Type Space Rocks Worth Trillions

C-type asteroids make up over 75% of known asteroids and are rich in water bound in clay minerals and organics, enabling in-space fuel and life-support resources. S-type asteroids account for about 17% of known asteroids and contain iron, nickel, cobalt, plus trace
August 17, 2025
Asteroid Gold Rush: Inside the Race to Scout and Mine Space’s Richest Rocks
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Asteroid Gold Rush: Inside the Race to Scout and Mine Space’s Richest Rocks

OSIRIS-REx, the NASA asteroid-sample-return mission (2016–2023), delivered a ~250-gram Bennu soil sample to Utah in September 2023, with early analysis showing carbon-rich material around 5% by weight and water-bearing clays. The Psyche mission, launched in October 2023, targets the metal-rich asteroid 16
August 16, 2025
Satellites Powered by Water? The Revolutionary Propellant Changing Spaceflight
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Satellites Powered by Water? The Revolutionary Propellant Changing Spaceflight

Water propulsion for satellites can use steam propulsion (resistojet), electrolysis to hydrogen and oxygen for combustion, or water-plasma/ion thrusters for high-ISP propulsion. Momentus Space’s Vigoride uses a Microwave Electrothermal Thruster (MET) that microwaves water with solar power to boil it into plasma
August 16, 2025
The New Gold Rush: How Asteroid Mining Could Create Trillionaires and Change Earth’s Future (2025 Update)
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The New Gold Rush: How Asteroid Mining Could Create Trillionaires and Change Earth’s Future (2025 Update)

OSIRIS-REx arrived Bennu in 2018 and returned about 250 grams of asteroid dust in September 2023, revealing water-bearing clays and organic molecules. NASA’s DART mission in September 2022 impacted the asteroid Dimorphos, changing its orbital period by 32 minutes and demonstrating a
August 14, 2025
Complete Guide to Satellite Earth Monitoring: How Space Tech Is Watching Our Planet Now
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Complete Guide to Satellite Earth Monitoring: How Space Tech Is Watching Our Planet Now

Landsat-1, launched in July 1972 as ERTS-1, became the first satellite dedicated to mapping Earth’s land resources and began a 50+ year continuous Landsat record. TIROS-1, launched in April 1960, was the world’s first weather satellite and delivered the first TV images
August 10, 2025