Weekly Space Report 

Poland is set to launch its first suborbital rocket

Poland is preparing for a major milestone in its space ambitions with the upcoming sea-based launch of its first suborbital rocket, PERUN. Developed by SpaceForest, an aerospace company based in Gdynia, the rocket is scheduled to launch in the second half of 2026 from a floating platform in the North Sea, near Denmark. The mission will be conducted in partnership with EuroSpaceport and supported by the European Space Agency (ESA).

PERUN is an 11.5-meter, hybrid-powered rocket capable of carrying 50 kg of payload to an altitude of 150 km. he rocket’s design enables up to 220 seconds of microgravity conditions, creating new opportunities for research in fields like materials science, biology, and aerospace engineering.

The ESA’s Boost! program has contributed €2.4 million to support PERUN’s development and testing. The program aims to foster commercial space transportation solutions across Europe. With a successful launch, Poland could position itself as a regional leader in suborbital space access, microgravity research, and sustainable propulsion technologies.

Rubin Observatory reveals first time-lapse sky survey images

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has unveiled its first astronomical images. Their mission is to create the most comprehensive time-lapse survey of the universe. Located on to of Cerro Pachón in Chile, the observatory captured its first detailed views in late June 2025, as it prepares to begin its ten-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST).

Using the world’s largest digital camera the observatory delivered high-resolution images of the Trifid and Lagoon nebulae, as well as deep fields containing thousands of galaxies from the Virgo Cluster. Within its first 10 hours of operation, the observatory detected over 2,100 previously unknown asteroids, including seven near-Earth objects.

The LSST project will scan the southern hemisphere sky every three to four nights, collecting around 20 terabytes of data each night. Over the course of the decade, Rubin is expected to produce a dynamic, high-resolution “movie” of the sky.

Beyond planetary defense and dynamic object tracking, the LSST will probe some of the most profound mysteries in cosmology as mapping dark matter, investigating dark energy and possibly locating the hypothetical Planet Nine.

Venturi Space Unveils Mona Luna – All-European Lunar Rover

At the 2025 Paris Air Show, Monaco-based company Venturi Space introduced Mona Luna, a fully European-made lunar rover designed for future missions to the Moon’s South Pole. This marks a significant step in Europe’s ambition to establish a strategic presence on the lunar surface.

Weighing 750 kilograms and measuring 2.5 meters in length, Mona Luna is engineered to operate autonomously. It is capable of reaching speeds up to 20 km/h. It is equipped with hyper-deformable wheels developed in Switzerland, high-performance batteries from Monaco and a robotic arm for handling scientific instruments. The rover is designed to survive the extreme conditions of the lunar night, with temperatures dropping to -240°C, by utilizing solar panels and an intelligent heating system.

Mona Luna will launch in 2030 aboard an Ariane 6.4 rocket, landing on the Moon via the European Argonaut lander. The mission is supported by the European Space Agency (ESA) and France’s CNES, aiming to enhance Europe’s capabilities in lunar exploration and resource utilization.