The Space Show

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 12 August 2026:

The Fellowship of the Telescopes — The Great Space Telescopes:

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is ready for launch

Ask NASA:

* Who is Nancy Grace Roman?

* About the Roman Space Telescope

Turn Back Time: 

 * Gemini 10 and Lunar Orbiter 1

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 26 August 2026:

Space Show News:

 * Astronomers from the University of Southern Queensland have led research into the discovery of an Earth-sized extrasolar planet, HD 137010 b, likely colder than Mars.

Planet HD 137010 b is 150 light-years away from Earth and orbits a Sun-like star.

 * Neuman Space demonstrates ND50 propulsion system in orbit

 * China’s Chang’e 7 launch delayed.

The Chang'e 7 mission to the South Pole region of the Moon, and the postponement of Monday's launch with Angelo Di Grazia, Committee Member, Space Association of Australia  

(Recorded at the Space Association of Australia, Bentleigh)

The Roman Space Telescope with Jason Hylan, Flight Segment and Observatory Manager, Roman Space Telescope, Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland.

(Audio inserts courtesy GSFC)

Turn Back Time: 

 * The Luna 11 lunar orbiter

 * Luna 24 lunar regolith sampler 

 * Voyager 2 Saturn flyby and interstellar mission, featuring Saturn findings commentary by Ed Stone, Voyager Project Scientist. 

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 5 August 2026:

Turn Back Time: 

 * Marking the 15th anniversary of the launch of the Juno spacecraft to Jupiter with a science results briefing from project scientists at the 2025 European Geophysical Union conference. (Courtesy EGU) 

Space Show News:

 * Swift Reboost Mission in Trouble: A progress report on the progress of the Swift astrophysical satellite reboost mission as the LINK craft encounters serious problems. 

Remembering Gherman Titov:

 * The 65th anniversary of Gherman Titov's Vostok 2 full-day flight.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 29 July 2026:

Space Show News: Astronomers have discovered a galaxy-killing wind that may explain why there are far more massive dead galaxies than expected in the early universe.

The Melbourne Space Program student satellite project, ACRUX-2, at Melbourne University - Part 2

Aymeric Fabre, Team Lead, Power System, ACRUX-2, at the Melbourne Space Program, presents the electric power subsystems on the ACRUX-2 satellite. (Recorded at Melbourne University, 2022 August 25)

Observing geostationary satellites with the Robotic Optical Observatory and using AI modelling at RMIT University.

The Space Show is in conversation with Riley Webster, an undergraduate student at RMIT University, Bundoora.

Turn Back Time: The Warkworth Ground Station opened on 1971 July 17, allowing live television into New Zealand from overseas for the first time.

The Karman Project: Building a cooperative future in space - Part 4

The views and recollections of: 

• Katherine Bennell (Capability, Robotics, Automation, Australian Space Agency, Adelaide) 
• William Gerstenmaier (Vice President, Mission Assurance, SpaceX) 
• Prateep Basu (Co-founder and CEO, SatSure) 
• Thomas Pesquet (Astronaut, European Space Agency)
• Karen Hitschke (Board member, Yunus Social Business Investor).   

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 22 July 2026:

The Melbourne Space Program student satellite project, ACRUX-2, at Melbourne University. 

The Melbourne Space Program has the mission of developing future technology leaders by selecting highly talented university students and delivering an unparalleled learning experience through complex technology projects.

The speakers are:

• Patrick Grave, CEO, Melbourne Space Program, University of Melbourne
• Maxwell Jones, ACRUX-2 Team Lead
• Nadun Udawela & Antony Thomas, Communications Subsystem team
• Shazin Saifullah, Systems Engineer
• Daniel Digby, Team Lead, Computer Subsystems
• Ahmed Al-Dulimi & Sophia Chiang, Camera & Earth Observation Systems 
• Viki Huang, Chassis & Deployment team

(Recorded by The Space Show at the University of Melbourne, 25 August 2022)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 15 July 2026:

Remembering Derryn Hinch: Friend of the Space Association of Australia

To mark the death of Derryn Hinch in Melbourne at age 82, a playing of the recording of his commentary of the launch of Apollo 11, almost 57 years to the day.

Space Show News:

Soyuz MS29 launches to the International Space Station

Australian Space Industry 2026 – Part 2: 

* Cocos Island tracking station to support Gaganyaan spaceflights.

* Gilmour Space appoints Pam Melroy to its board of directors.

* Starfish Space's Otter Pup 2 satellite to use Gilmour Space's Elara Sat MMS-1 satellite as a rendezvous and proximity operations target.

* Fleet Space to use its Exosphere platform to help French Government agency BRGM make an inventory of France's subsurface mineral resources.

Rocket Lab:

* Rocket Lab uses its Electron rocket to launch the Victus Haze satellite for the U.S. Space Force in a record brief time.

* Rocket Lab to buy Iridium Communications Incorporated; Electron to launch the TSIS-2 satellite and two PolSIR satellites for NASA in 2027, and later the Aspera and LOXSAT craft.

Kamo'oalewa & Torifune:

* China's Tianwen 2 spacecraft has reached the asteroid Kamo'oalewa for a sampling mission.

* Japan's Hayabusa 2 has made a high-speed pass of asteroid Torifune whilst en route to asteroid 1998 KY26.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 8 July 2026:

Space Show News: Swift Boost Mission Launched

NASA has contracted Katalyst Space of Flagstaff, Arizona, to boost the altitude of its sinking Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. Swift is NASA’s astrophysics multitool, capable of quickly observing a wide range of cosmic objects in visible, ultraviolet, X-ray, and gamma-ray light.

Update: On-Orbit Checkouts in Progress for Mission to Boost NASA’s Swift satellite.

The Western Australian Optical Ground Station with Sascha Schediwy, International Centre for Radio Astronomy, Perth 

On September 11 2021, the University of Western Australia finished installing the first space laser optical ground station in the Southern Hemisphere and named it the Western Australian Optical Ground Station (WAOGS). It is only the first in a planned network of optical ground stations across Australia and New Zealand. (Recorded at a meeting of the Space Association of Australia in Melbourne)

Turn Back Time:

* The Sky is the Limit — A fascinating 1966 panel discussion on the use of satellites in mass communication, moderated by Rex Keating and featuring Arthur C. Clarke, Dr Leonard Jaffe of NASA and Prof. N. I. Krikikoff, from the Institute of Radio Telecommunications in Moscow.

The panel discusses the then-nascent age of satellite communications and makes several predictions about the future of telecommunications that prove quite accurate. (Courtesy UNESCO)

* Soyuz 21 — In 1976, the Soyuz 21 mission was terminated early due to human health factors. (Audio inserts courtesy VOA, BBC and NZBC)

The Karman Project: Building a cooperative future in space - Part 3

• The recollections of William Gerstenmaier (Vice President, Mission Assurance, SpaceX) about STS 1 
• Katherine Bennell (Capability, Robotics, Automation, Australian Space Agency, Adelaide) about discovering the Earth 
• Jean-Jacques Dordain (former Director-General, ESA) on space as a common good 
• Sera Markoff (Member, Event Horizon Team, University of Amsterdam) on the Event Horizon Telescope.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 1 July 2026:

Swift Boost Mission

Plans to launch the LINK satellite to reboost the Swift astrophysics satellite into a higher orbit. Launch delayed until tomorrow. (Inserts courtesy GSFC)

NASA has contracted Katalyst Space of Flagstaff, Arizona, to boost the altitude of its sinking Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. Swift is NASA’s astrophysics multitool, capable of quickly observing a wide range of cosmic objects in visible, ultraviolet, X-ray, and gamma-ray light.

A first-of-its-kind mission, a robotic servicing spacecraft called LINK, built by Katalyst Space, will launch into orbit aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket attached to the belly of the company’s Stargazer aircraft.

After launch, LINK will attempt to rendezvous with, grapple, and slowly raise Swift’s altitude over several months, preventing it from re-entering Earth’s atmosphere later this year. If this daring mission is successful, it will be the first time a commercial robotic mission has captured a NASA spacecraft that is both uncrewed and not originally designed for servicing in space.

Swift observations:

NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is a satellite that studies gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the universe, and other cosmic objects and events. Swift houses three multi-wavelength telescopes, collecting data in visible, ultraviolet, X-ray, and gamma-ray light.

 * The Andromeda Galaxy (M31)

 * Black hole snack attack

Turn Back Time: Proton 3 satellite

The 60th anniversary of the launch of the Soviet Union's Proton 3 scientific satellite by the new Proton launch vehicle. (Insert courtesy VOA)

The Karman Project: Building a cooperative future in space⁠ – Part 2

The views of Ke Wang (Co-founder & Operations Director, The Karman Project) and Rogel Mari Sese (Astrophysicist, The Philippines).

Listen to The Karman Project - The Space That Makes Us Human here: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/episode/3wPiS151Xuz2RKTWlhSg4P⁠

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 24 June 2026:

Conversations at the Australian Space Research Conference:

 * Capturing the first signal from Waratah Seed 1, the ride-share payloads aboard, and funding by the New South Wales Government with Patrick Oppel at CUAVA, School of Physics, Sydney University.

 * The CUAVA 1, CUAVA 2 and Waratah Seed 1 satellites; funding CUAVA; collision avoidance using micro-thrusters with Xuelieng Bai, Satellite Engineer at CUAVA, School of Physics, Sydney University.

The Karman Project: Building a cooperative future in space – Part 1

The Karman Project is a non-profit foundation promoting peace and security in space through strategic international cooperation.

The project aims to unite global decision-makers to drive urgent, collaborative action for a sustainable and peaceful future in space — recognising the core role of international cooperation in securing the space sector's prosperity and Earth's critical reliance on it.

The organisation fosters trust, cooperation and independent dialogue among global leaders in tech, science, business, politics, the arts, and people in the space industry who want to make a positive impact on space.

This episode features comments from the following:

• Katherine Bennell (Australian Space Agency)
• Hélène Huby (Co-founder & Chair, The Karman Project)
• Hannah Ashford (Director, The Karman Project)
• Feng Yan (Founder & CEO, Spacety)
• Chris Boshuizen (Co-founder, Planet)
• Jonathan Hofeller (Vice-President, Starlink, SpaceX).

Listen to The Karman Project - The Space That Makes Us Human here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3wPiS151Xuz2RKTWlhSg4P

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 17 June 2026:

Australian Space Research Conference:

 * Iron Making on Mars with Dr Deddy Nababan, Postdoctoral Fellow at CSIRO Mineral Resources and a Swinburne University alum.

 * Studying the Sun with balloons launched by a student team with Joseph George, Monash High Altitude Balloon team, Monash University, Clayton. 

Artemis Lunar Science:

Artemis II — Looking for electrostatic levitation of lofted Lunar dust and impact flashes

Artemis I — The early results of BioSentinel with Dr Sergio Santa Maria, Principal Investigator of Space Bio Sciences at the NASA Ames Research Centre. 

Lunar Science in the Artemis Era: The Space Show series in which we discuss the scientific investigation of the Moon and its environment in the Artemis era. (Episode 01 is here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/22gtgYHWhm9fJNJnaPJVw5)

Turn Back Time:

 * Gemini 9 and the ‘Angry Alligator'. (Inserts courtesy VOA)

 * The OGO 3 satellite launched. (Insert courtesy VOA)

 * An Able-Star rocket stage explosion becomes the first major space debris event with 321 tracked pieces.

 * United Nations 'Moon Treaty' negotiations begin. (Inserts courtesy VOA)