Space News & Blog Articles

NASA’s Space Launch System rocket stands atop pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. After working around a hydrogen leak at the base of the rocket, engineers spent the day Monday pumping more than 750,000 gallons of supercold liquid oxygen and hydrogen fuel into the 32-story-tall launcher in a dress rehearsal countdown. How the leak might play into plans to launch four astronauts on a moon mission as early as Sunday is not yet clear. Image: NASA

A hydrogen leak at the base of NASA’s giant SLS moon rocket Monday threw a wrench into a carefully planned countdown “wet dress” rehearsal, but engineers were able to manage a workaround and the test proceeded toward a delayed, simulated launch.

File – SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket stands in the vertical launch position at Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base ahead of the launch of the Starlink 17-5 mission on Aug. 18, 2025. This was the ninth flight for Falcon 9 booster, tail number B1088. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX is kicking off the month of February with a Monday morning Falcon 9 rocket launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

A full moon rises behind NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket atop pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. If a practice countdown and fueling test Monday go well, NASA is expected to press ahead with launch of the Artemis 2 mission on Feb. 8, sending four astronauts on a flight around the moon. Image: NASA/Sam Lott

Braving rare sub-freezing temperatures, Kennedy Space Center workers pressed ahead with a dress-rehearsal countdown Sunday, readying NASA’s huge SLS rocket for a critical fueling test Monday to clear the way for launch on a flight to send four astronauts on a flight around the moon.

NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft sit atop the Mobile Launch at Launch Complex 39B the morning of Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now

Abnormally cold weather forecast over the weekend for Florida delayed both the earliest possible launch date for the Artemis 2 mission and a crucial fueling test for the Space Launch System rocket.

SpaceX launches the Starlink 6-101 mission from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral on Jan. 30, 2026. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now.
SpaceX completed its 13th and final Falcon 9 rocket launch of the month, which flew from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on in the predawn hours of Thursday morning.

File photo of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at pad 4E ready to launch a Starlink mission. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX is set to launch its penultimate Falcon 9 rocket of the month with a mid-morning flight from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Thursday.

The GPS 3 Space Vehicle 09 satellite is encapsulated inside Falcon 9 rocket payload fairings at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Florida. Image: SpaceX

The U.S. Space Force is set to send its ninth third-generation Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite into medium Earth orbit on Monday night. The satellite will ride to space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket after the government moved the spacecraft from a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket.

File: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands in launch position at Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base ahead of the launch of the NROL-57 mission. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX plans to launch 25 of its Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites from California on Sunday morning.

NASA’s Space Launch System rocket at Launch Complex 39B (left) and United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket inside its Vertical Integration Facility (right): Image: NASA/Keegan Barber (left), United Launch Alliance (right)

February 2026 is shaping up to be a blockbuster month for launches from Florida’s Space Coast. In addition to a now regular cadence of Falcon 9 launches from SpaceX, Cape Canaveral is poised to see launches from Blue Origin, United Launch Alliance and potentially NASA via its Space Launch System rocket.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base on Jan. 21, 2026, to begin the Starlink 17-30 mission. Image: SpaceX

Update Jan. 21 2:20 a.m. EST (0720 UTC): SpaceX confirms deployment of the 25 Starlink satellites.

A file photo of a stack of Starlink satellites prior to deployment from a Falcon 9 upper stage. Image: SpaceX

Update Jan. 18, 3:12 p.m. EST (2012 UTC): SpaceX pushed back the T-0 liftoff time.

The mission patch symbolizing the National Reconnaissance Office’s proliferated architecture satellite constellation. Graphic: NRO

SpaceX is preparing for a late night Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Friday, which will carry an undisclosed number of intelligence-gathering satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office.

(Left to Right) Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya You inside the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour shortly after splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Long Beach, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. Photo: NASA/Bill Ingalls.

Four space station crewmates undocked and plunged back to Earth Thursday, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast six days after NASA ordered them home early because of a medical issue.

The four members of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission are shown suited in their intra-vehicular activity (IVA) flight suits ahead of their departure from the International Space Station. From left to right: Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, and JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui. Image: Mike Fincke/NASA

The SpaceX Crew-11 mission is coming to a close with the crew preparing to depart the International Space Station Wednesday afternoon and splashdown off the coast of California in the predawn hours on Thursday.

File: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ahead of the planned launch of the Starlink 6-71 mission. Image: Spaceflight Now

SpaceX aims to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Wednesday afternoon, but faces difficult weather.

The GPS III Space Vehicle 09, the ninth GPS III spacecraft, is pictured traveling by road from Lockheed Martin facilities in Denver, CO, to Florida’s Space Coast. Image: Lockheed Martin

The next Global Positioning System satellite is switching from a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket to a SpaceX Falcon 9, a spokesperson for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command System Delta 80 said Tuesday.

Four SpaceX Crew-11 members gather together for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module on Jan. 9, 2026. Clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui. Image: NASA

NASA astronaut Mike Fincke wrapped up his time as commander of the International Space Station on Monday, Jan. 12, after just over a month in the position.

The PSLV-C62 rocket lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre carrying the EOS-N1 Earth observing satellite along with 15 other rideshare satellites. The four-stage rocket suffered an anomaly with its third stage. Image: ISRO via livestream

India’s first launch of 2026 ended in failure due to an issue with the third stage of its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, supported by the first stage booster with the tail number 1078, stands in the launch position at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ahead of the launch of the Starlink 6-97 mission. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now

Update Jan. 12, 12:55 p.m. EST (1555 UTC): SpaceX pushed back the T-0 liftoff time.

File: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is vertical at Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base ahead of the launch of the Starlink 9-10 mission on Nov. 8, 2024. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX will debut a new class of rideshare mission on Sunday with the launch of its first Twilight flight. The mission is described by the company as flying to a “dawn-dusk Sun-synchronous orbit” after departing from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

A Dual Engine Centaur upper stage for Atlas V nears completion at the factory in Decatur, Alabama. The RL10 engine marked 60 years of flight on Nov. 27, 2023. Image: United Launch Alliance

On Monday, L3Harris Technologies, announced the intended sale of a majority stake in its Space Propulsion and Power Systems business to AE Industrial Partners, shifting control over one of its marquee engines: the RL10.