Science News Roundup: NASA to discontinue $2 billion satellite servicing project on higher costs, schedule delays; Iran's Pars 1 satellite enters space after Russian launch and more

The space agency said in October that the On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 (OSAM-1) project continues to face an increase in costs and is expected to exceed its $2.05 billion price tag and the December 2026 launch date. Iran's Pars 1 satellite enters space after Russian launch Russia launched into space an Iranian research satellite which will scan Iran's topography from an orbit of 500 km (310 miles), Iran's state media reported on Thursday.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

NASA to discontinue $2 billion satellite servicing project on higher costs, schedule delays

NASA said on Friday it is shutting down a more than $2 billion project to test satellite servicing like fueling in space, citing higher costs and schedule delays. The space agency said in October that the On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 (OSAM-1) project continues to face an increase in costs and is expected to exceed its $2.05 billion price tag and the December 2026 launch date.

Iran's Pars 1 satellite enters space after Russian launch

Russia launched into space an Iranian research satellite which will scan Iran's topography from an orbit of 500 km (310 miles), Iran's state media reported on Thursday. The remote Pars 1 research-sensing satellite, launched by a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, weighs 134 kg (295 pounds) and is equipped with three cameras.

China aims to put first Chinese on the moon before 2030

China said it aims to put the first Chinese on the moon before 2030, state television CCTV said on Thursday. China will coordinate and promote the application and development of its space station and manned lunar exploration this year, the state media said citing the China Manned Space Agency.

In risky space business, Intuitive Machines sets sights on second moon landing

Intuitive Machines and its space-cargo customers expect the company to emerge stronger from its problem-plagued moon landing this week, with improvements set for the company's second lander after its first went where no private firm has gone before. The company's Odysseus moon lander on Thursday ended its week-long mission near the lunar south pole after a mix of successes and failures that illustrated the type of risks the company and NASA, the mission's biggest backer, have come to embrace.

US moon lander Odysseus goes dormant a week after lopsided landing

Odysseus, the first U.S. spacecraft to land on the moon in half a century, lost power and went dormant on Thursday as it entered a frigid lunar nightfall, ending its mission a week after a lopsided touchdown that hindered operations and its scientific output. Intuitive Machines, the Texas-based aerospace company that NASA paid $118 million to build and fly Odysseus, said its ground control team had received a final "farewell transmission" from the spacecraft before it went dark on the moon's south pole region.