Night-time images captured by US defence satellites show a New Zealand much brighter than it was in the early 1990s.

Satellites in orbit are routinely used for communication, imaging and navigation - yet many people don't understand how these satellites remain in space.

The US space agency's Opportunity rover has now clocked more kilometres on Mars than any man-made vehicle to reach another celestial body, Nasa has said.

Astrophysicists are mystified after concluding that 80 per cent of the light in the universe appears to be missing.

A galaxy more than 12 billion light years from Earth is heading for a "red and dead" future because it is running out of the fuel needed to make new stars.

India has declared itself the world's leader in cheap space exploration after its prime minister claimed that its Mars mission will cost less than the Oscar-winning science fiction film Gravity.

Astronomers have discovered an alien planet that could offer some of the most Earth-like conditions seen to date in the galaxy.

Sovereignty in outer space is always a tricky subject, but out of all the lifeless rocks in the Solar System it was safe to say Mars was more American than most.

Most people associate Nasa with rocket science but now the American space agency has turned its attention to rocket salad.

Nasa has revealed that one twin will be put in a rocket and the other kept on the ground as part of a study on the effects of orbiting the Earth.

Modern civilisation is heading for collapse within a matter of decades, according to a scientific study funded by Nasa.

Scientists in Australia say they have begun work on a project that will see lasers fired from Earth to blast away the thousands of tonnes of space debris orbiting our planet.

Following the release of Oscar-winning film Gravity, NASA has released a series of photographs depicting the 'real-life Gravity'. Including photos on the International Space Station, Space Shuttle, NASA astronauts and various images of Earth captured from space.

A mysterious rock which appeared in front of the Opportunity rover is “like nothing we’ve ever seen before”, according to Mars exploration scientists at Nasa.

The sun has fully "flipped upside down", with its north and south poles reversed to reach the midpoint of Solar Cycle 24, Nasa has said.

The European Space Agency says one of its research satellites re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on an orbit that passed over Siberia, the western Pacific Ocean, the eastern Indian Ocean and Antarctica.

A one-tonne satellite operated by the European Space Agency has run out of fuel and will fall back to Earth in an unknown location sometime in the next few days.

The Curse of Mars also applies to Asian countries, writes Gwynne Dyer. About two-thirds of the attempted missions to Mars have failed, many of them even before leaving Earth's orbit.

Qantas is rolling out a near life-size replica of Mars rover Curiosity around New Zealand to promote its frequent flyer programme.

NASA's Jupiter-bound spacecraft hit a snag soon after it used Earth as a gravity slingshot to hurtle toward the outer solar system, but mission managers said it's on course to arrive at the giant planet in 2016.

Some prominent American astronomers are boycotting a meeting on exoplanets because Nasa has banned Chinese scientists from attending.

Space thriller Gravity has been hailed as "the best space film ever", a movie that is one giant leap for Hollywood.

An Italian astronaut aboard the International Space Station has captured glimpses of New Zealand in images posted on social media this week.

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield and American colleague Thomas Marshburn who are avid users of Twitter aboard the International Space Station have taken several stunning photos of New Zealand as they orbit 370km above the Earth.