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.

After weeks of taunts by Elon Musk's spunky space start-up, Amercia's most established rocket-launch company, ULA, is finally pushing back.

Google could soon be going Galactic if it joins forces with Sir Richard Branson's space division.

Lockheed Martin has won a highly anticipated contract to build a "space fence" for the Pentagon that can track pieces of debris floating in orbit around the Earth.

The creator of 'Big Brother' is to turn the "world's toughest job interview" - for a one-way ticket to Mars - into the ultimate reality show.

A German astronaut who used to study at a NZ university has tweeted a picture of Banks Peninsula from high above Earth.

SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk has accused one of his main competitors of hiring a high-ranking Air Force acquisitions official in exchange for awarding a lucrative contract without competition.

26 passengers, about to embark on a zero gravity journey aboard a Boeing 727 plunging and soaring in 3660m arcs over the North Atlantic.

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

Between 2000 and 2013, the Earth was hit by 26 asteroids that exploded with a force of between one and 600 kilotons – an average of one every six months. The asteroids weren't detected in space and only detonated in Earth's atmosphere. The B612 Foundation is a private foundation dedicated to protecting the Earth from asteroid strikes.

Most people don't realise that mobile phones, the internet, ATM machines and stock markets, many farms, and even emergency services rely on satellites.

Uranus - the planet with the unfortunate-sounding name - has long been the butt of jokes.

Apocalypse-mongerers are greeting a fairly rare (but foreseeable) astronomical event as the fulfilment of an ancient prophecy of global catastrophe.

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.

American scientists operating a $23 million telescope in Antarctica have announced the discovery of what could be described as the fingerprint of God.

Scientists have detected the enigmatic ripples in deep space that were triggered by the rapid expansion of the Universe during the earliest moments of its creation some 13.7 billion years ago.

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.

Scientists have finally come up with an explanation for a visual illusion that was first identified in the 16th century by Galileo Galilei.

British billionaire Richard Branson said his Virgin Galactic venture is on track to carry its first fare-paying passenger to the edge of space this year.

If your body was laid bare to the alien environment of Mars, the vacuum of space would boil every fluid in it, then freeze-dry your remains.