Space News & Blog Articles

By thirty-seven seconds after liftoff, it was clear one of two strap-on solid fuel boostersvwas suffered an anomaly as can be seen by sparks and debris falling away from the rocket. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now

United Launch Alliance fired off a next-generation Vulcan rocket Friday in the second of two “certification” test flights needed before the new launcher can be used to carry high-priority national security payloads for the U.S. Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office.

United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket sits at launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) ahead of the planned Cert-2 launch on Oct. 4, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now

United Launch Alliance is preparing for its final planned test flight with its new Vulcan rocket in the pre-dawn hours of Friday morning. The mission, dubbed Cert-2, is the second of two missions needed before ULA can begin launching U.S. national security payloads on Vulcan.

An artist’s rendering of the Hera spacecraft alongside the CubeSats, Juventas and Milani. Graphic: ESA

The European Space Agency is on the cusp of launching its first planetary defense mission, a complement to NASA’s 2022 Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission. The goal of these missions is to understand how Earth can be protected from a potentially destructive asteroid strike.

United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket made the one-third of a mile journey from its Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station late in the morning on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. The rocket will fly ULA’s second certification mission set to launch no earlier than Friday, Oct. 4. Image: Will Robinson-Smith/Spaceflight Now

United Launch Alliance returned to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 with its Vulcan rocket ahead of the vehicle’s second launch. ULA needs to successfully fly this second certification mission before it can begin launching national security payloads for the U.S. Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office.

The Falcon 9 second stage firing during the climb to orbit with Crew 9. Dragon Freedom reached orbit normally but the upper stage failed to perform a deorbit burn correctly. Image: SpaceX.

SpaceX’s Falcon rocket fleet was grounded for the third time in three months after a second stage problem occurred Saturday following the successful launch of a Dragon Capsule carrying two crew to the International Space Station. The suspension in flights comes as the company prepares to launch two solar system exploration missions in October with narrow launch windows.

Cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov (left) will assist commander Nick Hague (right) during the Crew 9’s climb to space. The two empty seats will be used by Starliner commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and pilot Sunita Williams when all four return to Earth next February. Image: SpaceX

NASA’s 10th Crew Dragon flight to the International Space Station is ready for launch Saturday with two long-duration crew members on board along with two empty seats that will be used next February to carry Boeing’s Starliner astronauts back to Earth after an extended stay in orbit.

SpaceX static fires its Falcon 9 rocket at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) in preparation for the Crew-9 mission on Saturday, Sept. 28. The test came following a dry dress rehearsal of launch activities earlier in the day. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now

NASA and SpaceX pushed ahead with planned prelaunch activities Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s pad 40 on Tuesday even as the date of liftoff for the Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station had to be delayed due to expected impacts from Tropical Storm Helene.

A stack of SpaceX Starlink satellites, which included the first six featuring Direct to Cell capabilities. The batch launched on the Starlink 7-9 mission, which lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Jan. 2, 2024. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX is preparing to launch its latest Falcon 9 rocket on a Starlink mission as Tropical Storm Helene threatens the timeline for the next mission to the International Space Station.

Representatives from NASA participate in a media event at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, Sept. 21, upon the arrival of NASA astronaut Nick Hague, commander, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, mission specialist, in advance of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Image: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Update Sept. 23, 2:54 p.m.: NASA’s Kennedy Space Center shifted its status to HURCON 4, due to Potential Tropical Cyclone 9.

The Soyuz MS-25/71S spacecraft carrying commander Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub and NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson undocked from the International Space Station early Monday as the two spacecraft were passing 260 miles above eastern Mongolia. Image: NASA

Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, now the world’s most experienced spaceman, first-time flier Nikolai Chub and NASA veteran Tracy Dyson undocked from the International Space Station and returned to Earth Monday, closing out a record-setting mission with a picture-perfect landing in Kazakhstan.

File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch a Starlink mission. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX sent 20 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit on a Friday morning Falcon 9 rocket departing from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Right before Rocket Lab’s 53rd Electron rocket lifted off from its Launch Complex-1 in Mahia, New Zealand, the vehicle experienced a T-0 abort. The engines began firing as expected at T-2 seconds, but the vehicle remained on the pad. Image: Rocket Lab via launch livestream

Update Sept. 18, 9:47 p.m. EDT: Rocket Lab noted the scrub was due to “a ground systems sensor trigger.”

A rendering of a Galileo satellite in medium Earth orbit. Graphic: European Space Agency

SpaceX is preparing to launch the latest pair of Galileo spacecraft for the European Union’s navigation satellite constellation.

Update: Splashdown occurred at 3:37 a.m. EDT (0737 UTC)

File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch a Starlink mission. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX launched its latest batch of 21 Starlink satellites on a Thursday night Falcon 9 launch from California.

Isaacman floats above the Crew Dragon’s hatch, taking in a spectacular view of Earth from 458 miles above the southern Indian Ocean. Image: SpaceX.

In another SpaceX milestone, billionaire Jared Isaacman and company crew trainer Sarah Gillis took turns floating just outside their Crew Dragon capsule early Thursday in the first privately-financed spacewalk in the history of space exploration.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch five of AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird satellites from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Image: SpaceX

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set to launch with the first five commercial satellites for AST SpaceMobile’s new cellular constellation. The satellites, called ‘BlueBird,’ are a precursor to the next generation of its satellites.

An artist’s impression of a Polaris Dawn astronaut flowing just outside the Crew Dragon capsule in the first commercial spacewalk. Graphic: SpaceX

Billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX crew trainer Sarah Gillis prepared to open the forward hatch of their Polaris Dawn spacecraft early Thursday to take turns floating outside in the first non-government spacewalk in the history of space exploration.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit is seen in quarantine, behind glass, during a press conference, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024 a the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Expedition 72 crew members: NASA astronaut Don Pettit, Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner, are scheduled to launch aboard their Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft on September 11. Photo Image: NASA/Bill Ingalls

An astronaut and avid photographer is heading back to space for a fourth time on Wednesday. NASA astronaut Don Pettit, first ventured to the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 6 in November 2003 and last returned from a trip to the orbiting outpost on July 1, 2012.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch the Polaris Dawn mission. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX is preparing to try once again to launch the Polaris Dawn commercial astronaut mission, even as weather continues to prove challenging in and around Florida.

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft rests in the desert of the White Sands Space Harbor following its return to Earth from the International Space Station. Image: Boeing

Leaving its crew behind in orbit, Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station Friday and chalked up a successful unpiloted return to Earth, closing out a disappointing test flight with an on-target and apparently problem-free New Mexico touchdown.