Space News & Blog Articles

Just over a year since Smile arrived in the Netherlands in two parts, the now-complete and thoroughly-tested spacecraft has left for good. With a launch window set for 8 April – 7 May on a Vega-C rocket, the joint European-Chinese mission is almost ready to embark upon its unique space mission.

Image: The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over south-central Morocco, near the city of Ouarzazate.

The countdown clock at the Kennedy Space Center Press Site stops at T-29 seconds at the end of the second terminal countdown demonstration, bringing an end to the wet dress rehearsal tanking test on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. Image: John Pisani/Spaceflight Now

NASA and contractor engineers pumped more than 750,000 gallons of supercold propellants into the agency’s huge Space Launch System rocket Thursday without any signs of hydrogen leaks or any other significant problems in a major step toward launching four astronauts on a flight around the moon as early as March 6.

A file photo shows Boeing’s Starliner capsule docked to the International Space Station as the two spacecraft fly over northern Africa toward the Nile Delta. Image: NASA

An independent review of the first, and so far only, piloted flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft concluded the test represented a potentially life-threatening “type A” mishap resulting from multiple technical problems and management miscues, NASA officials said Thursday.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to begin the Starlink 10-36 mission on Feb. 19, 2026. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now

Update Feb. 19, 9:34 p.m. EST (0234 UTC): SpaceX confirms successful landing on the droneship.

"This is a crucial step towards characterizing giant planets beyond our solar system."

Our solar system is home to hundreds of moons, but a select few stand out for their sheer size. These largest satellites are not merely rocks in orbit; they are diverse, geologically active worlds that rival the size of some planets.

"This was a really challenging event in our recent history."

For the first time ever, scientists have observed in near real time a cloud of air pollution created as a SpaceX rocket burned up in Earth's atmosphere.

Space debris are contaminating our atmosphere at very high altitudes – and we don't yet understand the effects.

'Together for liberty!' Director Justin Lin will helm this iron-fisted adaptation of 'Helldivers 2'

Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered what seems to be a galaxy that is the most heavily dominated by dark matter ever seen.

Look out for "Earthshine" brightening the shadowed region of the lunar disk close to the new moon phase.

The RAMSES mission to the asteroid Apophis will launch in 2028 to meet the asteroid before its close encounter with Earth.

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