Space News for Saturday, July 18, 2026

In this episode, we aggregate and summarize today's top space news stories. Enjoy!(00:10) Podcast Introduction(00:22) Skyroot Aerospace reaches orbit on first Vikram-1 launch(01:07) NASA terminates Draper lunar lander mission(01:45) Serbia signs the Artemis Accords(02:29) NASA Pushes New Wing Design to Find Structural Limits(03:05) Establishing a VTE Risk Score for Astronauts Algorithm(03:36) NASA Awards Facilities Support Services Contract for Ames Research Center(04:16) Beyond Reach Labs Raises $10M Seed, Moves to NYC(05:08) NASA Selects Starlink for Artemis III Mission(05:46) ISU Founder Shares a Vision Beyond Liquidation(06:26) These 'metallic' dunes on Mars look like sci-fi. What are they really?(06:51) Earth's largest particle accelerator opens new window into the early universe just after the Big Bang: 'A culmination of a decades-long quest'(07:36) 'The dawn of a new space era': Vikram-1, India's 1st private orbital rocket, aces debut launch(08:32) 'The Starry Night' in space: Dark Energy Camera channels a cosmic Van Gogh (video)