The X-59 successfully completed its inaugural flight—a step toward developing quieter supersonic jets that could one day fly customers more than twice as fast as commercial airliners.

As NASA’s moon-landing plans with SpaceX hang in the balance, other bold ideas are quietly starting to take shape.

Blue Origin has test fired its New Glenn rocket engine as it makes final preparations for the launch of NASA’s ESCAPADE mission involving twin Mars orbiters. The static test fire of the heavy-lift rocket, captured by NASASpaceflight and shared below, lasted around 40 seconds and appeared to proceed without a hitch.

SpaceX said it has pitched NASA a "simplified mission" to put astronauts back on the moon following criticisms over delays by Sean Duffy, the space agency's acting administrator.

NASA and Lockheed Martin have successfully tested a supersonic jet designed to minimize noise. The X-59 jet took its first flight over the southern California desert, marking a potential step toward faster commercial travel.

Elon Musk's SpaceX on Thursday said it proposed to NASA a simplified plan to send humans to the moon using its Starship rocket, as the agency presses its contractors to move more quickly toward beating China to the lunar surface this decade.

Former NASA officials warn that the U.S. looks poised to lose its self-declared race to beat China to the moon

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is briefly out of view as it travels around the sun this week, but researchers and amateur astronomers used spacecraft data to track its progress right up until perihelion.