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NASA APOD:
Jupiter from the Webb Space Telescope
This infrared view of Jupiter by Webb is illuminating. High-resolution infrared images of Jupiter from the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) reveal, for example, differences between high-floating bright clouds -- including the Great Red Spot -- and low-lying dark clouds. Also clearly visible in the featured Webb image are Jupiter's dust ring, bright auroras at the poles, and Jupiter's moons Amalthea and Adrastea. The footprint of large volcanic moon Io's magnetic funneling of charged particles onto Jupiter is also visible in the southern aurora. Some objects are so bright that light noticeably diffracts around Webb's optics creating streaks. Webb, which orbits the Sun near the Earth, has a mirror over six meters across making it the largest astronomical telescope ever launched -- with over six times more light-collecting area than Hubble.
The Space News API (SNAPI):
Trending News
SNAPI brought to you by The Space Devs
The Launch Library:
Upcoming Launches You Don't Want to Miss
Starlink Group 6-100
Rocket: Falcon 9 (SpaceX)
Pad: Space Launch Complex 40
Location: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Launch Time: Jan 18, 2026, 10:04 PM
A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Unknown Payload
Rocket: Long March 12 (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation)
Pad: Commercial LC-2
Location: Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China
Launch Time: Jan 19, 2026, 7:00 AM
Details TBD.
Unknown Payload
Rocket: Smart Dragon 3 (China Rocket Co. Ltd.)
Pad: Oriental Spaceport mobile launch ship
Location: Haiyang Oriental Spaceport
Launch Time: Jan 20, 2026, 6:30 AM
Possibly an Earth observation satellite for the Pakistan government's SUPARCO, details TBD.
NS-38
Rocket: New Shepard (Blue Origin)
Pad: West Texas Suborbital Launch Site/ Corn Ranch
Location: Corn Ranch, Van Horn, TX, USA
Launch Time: Jan 21, 2026, 1:30 PM
NS-38 is the 38th flight in the New Shepard program's history.
Starlink Group 17-30
Rocket: Falcon 9 (SpaceX)
Pad: Space Launch Complex 4E
Location: Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Launch Time: Jan 23, 2026, 2:43 AM
A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Unknown Payload
Rocket: Long March 7A (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation)
Pad: 201
Location: Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China
Launch Time: Jan 26, 2026, 9:00 PM
Details TBD.
API Data brought to you by The Space Devs
Space Industry & Godot (2022):
Help wanted: LunCo Space
Recently, I was invited to join the team at LunCo where we plan to create a space simulation game that features industry real world applications. While similar to games like Kerbal Space and No Man's Sky, LunCo will be feature two game styles - digital twin mode for engineers, and story mode for casual enthusiasts. We also plan to allow user generated content (space crafts, trajectories, factories, etc.) and integration with professional tools like CAD, FEA, MBSE, and more.
For story mode, you are playing as a CEO & Founder of a Lunar exploration company in the near future. You will collect resources, build factories, and manufacture robots to create a sustainable lunar base. From there, it's up to you to turn the Moon into a stepping stone and launch past the stars!
Rocket Lab Special Event (2021):
Rocket Lab ($RKLB) goes public
On Wednesday, August 25th of 2021, Rocket Lab began trading on the Nasdaq, becoming the latest space company to close a merger with a special purpose acquisition company and go public. They closed the first day down slightly at $10.45 per share, under the ticker $RKLB.
“We are super excited to bring a high-quality space asset to the market” Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck told CNBC. “I don’t think it will take long for investors to differentiate between the company that’s consistently delivering and the ones that have aspirations to deliver sometime in the future” he later added.
Astra Special Event (2021):
Astra ($ASTR) goes public
On Wednesday, June 30th of 2021, Astra became the first launch company to be traded publicly on NASDAQ. Trading under the ticker $ASTR, with shares previously listed under the special purpose acquisition company Holicity, the announcement expects to bring in around $500 million in proceeds. Astra's idea is to use the funding to continue to develop their rockets - with a goal of launching as many of it's 40ft tall rockets as it can, aiming to launch one per day by 2025.
“Now we have a space company that everyone can invest in on the public markets,” Astra CEO Chris Kemp told CNBC. “The same kinds of things you do to make a rocket great are the same behaviors that you have to invest in to make a company great. You don’t want any inefficiencies.”
About Rocket Downrange
Breaking boundaries, setting standards and transforming humanity for the better. Space has always been the final frontier that keeps on giving. This site serves to be a side project that informs and inspires the next generation of explorers.
Rocket Downrange is an independent hobby project by a guy learning Vue. No endorsements or partnerships exist between Rocket Downrange and the included organizations.
Contact Rocket Downrange
If you love the site or think something needs changed - we want to know! Questions, comments, suggestions and more can be sent below. If you know of any free and interesting API's we should include in the site - include information about where to find necessary documentation and we'll get to it!
