Skip to Content

NASA Now Allowing Astronauts to Bring Their iPhones on Space Missions

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on Wednesday announced that NASA astronauts will soon be permitted to fly with "the latest smartphones," beginning with the SpaceX Crew-12 and Artemis II missions over the next few months.

Apple Event Far Out Banner
In an email, an Apple spokesperson said this will mark the first time the iPhone has been fully qualified for extended use in orbit and beyond.

NASA astronauts were previously not allowed to carry their own personal smartphones on space flights, but they did allow some approved DSLR cameras and other equipment. With smartphones, Isaacman said astronauts will be able to "capture special moments for their families and share inspiring images and video with the world."

It is unclear exactly which iPhone models have been qualified.

Tag: NASA

Popular Stories

Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

Apple Planning 'MacBook Ultra' With Touchscreen and Higher Price

Sunday March 8, 2026 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is planning to launch an all-new "MacBook Ultra" model this year, featuring an OLED display, touchscreen, and a higher price point, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Gurman revealed the information in his latest "Power On" newsletter. While Apple has been widely expected to launch new M6-series MacBook Pro models with OLED displays, touchscreen functionality, and a new, thinner design...
imac video apple feature

Apple Unveils Seven New Products

Friday March 6, 2026 11:48 am PST by
Apple this week unveiled seven products, including an iPhone 17e, an iPad Air with the M4 chip, updated MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models, a new Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, and an all-new MacBook Neo that starts at just $599. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as the iPhone 16e, but it gains Apple's A19 chip, MagSafe for magnetic wireless charging and magnetic...
ios 26 4 yellow

Everything New in iOS 26.4 Beta 4

Monday March 9, 2026 3:50 pm PDT by
Apple is continuing to test the iOS 26.4 beta, and the latest update is now available for developers and public beta testers. As testing goes on, there are fewer new features in each beta, but today’s release adds new emoji characters and a few other changes. New Emoji Apple added new emoji characters, including trombone, treasure chest, distorted face, hairy creature, fight cloud, orca,...

Top Rated Comments

5 weeks ago
Time for the first ever Shot on iPhone, shot in space.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
5 weeks ago
Those roaming charges are going to be.....astronomical.....

I'll just show myself out.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
repoman016 Avatar
5 weeks ago
Forget airplane mode. We need to turn on space mode!!!!
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
5 weeks ago
iPhone 17 Pro Max, compatible with Space 1.05.

EDIT: iPhone Air, not supported.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alexandr Avatar
5 weeks ago
But it has to be a Space Gray iPhone.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vegetassj4 Avatar
5 weeks ago
One small step for man, one giant leap for selfiekind
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)