Space News & Blog Articles

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon Freedom spacecraft take off from pad 39A early Wednesday to begin the Crew-4 mission. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

Four astronauts rocketed into a clear predawn sky early Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, riding SpaceX’s newest Dragon spacecraft — named “Freedom” — to kick off a planned four-and-a-half month science expedition at the International Space Station.

The timeline below covers major vehicle and crew activities during the Crew-4 countdown and rendezvous with the International Space Station. All times assume liftoff of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 3:52:55 a.m. EDT (0752:55 GMT) on Wednesday, April 27. All times in Eastern Daylight Time (GMT-4).

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on NASA’s Crew-4 mission. The Crew-4 mission will carry astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Samantha Cristoforetti, and Jessica Watkins to the International Space Station. Follow us on Twitter.

NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins, commander Kjell Lindgren, pilot Bob Hines, and European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti on the tower at pad 39A, with SpaceX’s Dragon Freedom spacecraft in the background. Credit: SpaceX

Just 39 hours after SpaceX returned four private astronauts to Earth, the company’s next crew mission for NASA is set for launch from Florida early Wednesday with a planetary geologist, a veteran commander and medical doctor, and former U.S. Air Force and Italian Air Force fighter pilots on a planned five-month expedition on the International Space Station.

NASA’s Artemis 1 moon rocket arrives outside the Vehicle Assembly Building before dawn Tuesday. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now

NASA rolled the giant new rocket for the Artemis 1 moon mission off the launch pad back inside the Vehicle Assembly Building before dawn Tuesday at the Kennedy Space Center, moving into the hangar for repairs after technical problems prevented teams from completing a countdown dress rehearsal earlier this month.

SpaceX’s Dragon Endeavour spacecraft splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean Monday to end Axiom’s Ax-1 mission. Credit: SpaceX

A SpaceX crew capsule splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Georgia Monday with a retired NASA astronaut and three wealthy businessmen, closing out an extended 17-day mission on the first fully commercial, non-government visit to the International Space Station.

These images from pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center show NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket awaiting a rollback to the Vehicle Assembly Building for repairs.

SpaceX’s Dragon Endeavour spacecraft fires Draco thrusters after undocking from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV / Spaceflight Now

A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying four non-professional astronauts, the first fully commercial, non-government crew to visit the International Space Station, undocked from the outpost Sunday, heading for re-entry and splashdown Monday to close out an extended 17-day mission.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Watch live streaming video of the Space Launch System moon rocket on this page.

Live coverage of the undocking, re-entry, and splashdown of Axiom’s Ax-1 mission at the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.

A view of the Florida peninsula from the International Space Station earlier this month. Credit: NASA

With persistent high winds off the Florida coast, SpaceX on Saturday again waved off the undocking and return to Earth of a Dragon crew capsule from the International Space Station with four private astronauts. The decision delays the Axiom crew’s departure until no earlier than Sunday night, with splashdown Monday afternoon.

A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off Thursday with 53 more Starlink internet satellites. Credit: Michael Cain / Spaceflight Now / Coldlife Photography

SpaceX launched 53 more Starlink satellites Thursday from Cape Canaveral, growing the company’s commercial internet network while ground teams seek to increase the already-blistering pace of Falcon 9 rocket missions.

An Atlas 5 first stage, with its Russian-made RD-180 engine, is prepared for stacking outside ULA’s Vertical Integration Facility on Wednesday morning. Credit: United Launch Alliance

Final assembly of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket began Wednesday with the hoisting of a first stage booster onto a mobile launch platform at Cape Canaveral, kicking off a campaign to prepare for liftoff May 19 on a delayed unpiloted test flight of Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Starlink 4-14 mission will launch SpaceX’s next batch of 53 Starlink broadband satellites. Follow us on Twitter.

File photo of a stack of 53 Starlink satellites in a parking orbit during a previous Falcon 9 launch.Credit: SpaceX

While SpaceX’s next crew mission awaits a launch opportunity just up the coast, another Falcon 9 rocket is poised for liftoff from Cape Canaveral Thursday with another cluster of 53 Starlink internet satellites heading for a deployment orbit nearly 200 miles above Earth.

Astronauts Jessica Watkins, Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren, and Samantha Cristoforetti inside the Crew Access Arm at Launch Complex 39A early Wednesday for a dress rehearsal. Credit: SpaceX

The launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the next astronaut crew to the International Space Station has been postponed from Saturday after weather delays in returning a team of commercial astronauts from the outpost back to Earth, NASA officials said Wednesday.

SpaceX rolled a reused Falcon 9 booster and a brand new Dragon crew capsule to their launch pad Tuesday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for final tests, a day after the astronauts who will ride the spacecraft to the space station arrived for pre-flight preparations.

The 11-person crew currently on-board the International Space Station, including the Ax-1 commercial astronauts wearing blue flight suits. Credit: NASA TV / Spaceflight Now

The four-man crew flying on Axiom’s first private mission to the International Space Station is getting some extra time on the orbiting complex this week. Managers have extended their stay until at least Thursday night due to bad weather in SpaceX’s splashdown zones off the coast of Florida.

Credit: NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter imaged by the zoomable Mastcam-Z camera on the Perseverance rover. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

The first-ever powered flights over another planet have proved a resounding success for NASA’s JPL team, which is celebrating Ingenuity’s 12-month anniversary of its first helicopter hop on Mars Tuesday.

NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft, the only mission to visit Uranus up close, recorded this view of the planet as it approached on Jan. 14, 1986. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

In a long-awaited report released Tuesday, a panel of planetary scientists recommended NASA prioritize development of a flagship robotic science mission that would orbit Uranus, a distant world with 27 known moons that has not been explored since a fleeting visit by the Voyager 2 spacecraft 36 years ago.

NASA’s Artemis 1 moon rocket on pad 39B. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

NASA will move its first giant Space Launch System moon rocket off the launch pad and back to its hangar at the Kennedy Space Center as soon as next Tuesday, giving teams an opportunity to resolve several problems discovered during three attempts to load super-cold propellants into the launcher earlier this month.