First time submitter - would appreciate feedback on what I can do to avoid being rejected in the future

Hi ​@rgalans,

This would be more suitable as a utility image for background, which possibly limits your sale because it’s in space. Zooming in on a subject would change everything. It would now be suited for education, and utility for creative ads probably. Therefore I tend to agree with ​@RALPH_L suggestion.

Best wishes

Jacquelin

Most probably, this kind of photo won’t have a huge commercial interest.

Also, probably not sharp enough for commercial use as well.

Astrophotography often gets rejected. Is this the Orion Nebulae? You need to crop way in. The subject is lost in the vastness of space.

Perhaps it’s just the nature of this type of photograph, but it seems to lack sharp focus,

All I can tell you is Stock isn’t a science or astrophotography site. It’s a global assets business that serves customers in print, social media, marketing, product packaging, film, TV, advertising and merchandise sectors.

This is what you’re competing with in Stock. If you notice, many shots contain earthbound elements that add visual interest & scale to the composition. 

https://stock.adobe.com/search?k=astrophotography

Hope that helps.