Space News & Blog Articles

NASA officials continue to review data on the Starliner spacecraft as they determine how best to conclude the mission and return both the spacecraft as well as its crew back to Earth.

The Fram2 crew, seen during a visit to SpaceX’s Hawthorn, Calif., manufacturing facility. Left to right: Eric Philips, Jannicke Mikkelse, commander Chun Wang and Rabea Rogge. Image: SpaceX.

A blockchain entrepreneur, a cinematographer, a polar adventurer and a robotics researcher plan to fly around Earth’s poles aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule by end of year, becoming the first humans to observe the ice caps and extreme polar environments from orbit, SpaceX announced Monday.

An illustration of the two Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM) program satellites on orbit. Illustration: Northrop Grumman

SpaceX is looking to complete its second launch of the weekend with a mission for Space Norway. The company is targeting a Sunday evening launch of its Falcon 9 rocket for the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM).

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands at Launch Complex 39A in preparation for launching the Starlink 10-7 mission. Image: Spaceflight Now

SpaceX is preparing for the second of three planned launches over the weekend. A Falcon 9 rocket will send 23 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit after launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

This 2013 artist’s concept shows the NASA’s WISE spacecraft, in its orbit around Earth. In September of 2013, engineers brought the mission out of hibernation to hunt for more asteroids and comets in a project called NEOWISE. Graphic: NASA

A spacecraft that helped bolster planetary defense is now at the end of its operational mission. On Thursday, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California sent the Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft into its final hibernation mode by shutting off its transmitter.

A Falcon 9 stands ready for a Starlink mission at Cape Canaveral’s pad 40. File photo: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now.

SpaceX is preparing to launch its latest batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Friday morning launch will add another 21 satellites to the mega-constellation in low Earth orbit.

A streak shot of Firefly Aerospace’s fifth launch of its Alpha rocket on a mission named “Noise of Summer.” Image: Firefly Aerospace/Sean Parker

Coming on the heels of another large launch deal, Firefly Aerospace announced it sold up to 20 flights on its Alpha rocket to L3Harris. The agreement would see these missions fly between 2027 and 2031.

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft that launched astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station is pictured docked to the Harmony module’s forward port. Image: NASA.

As NASA debates the safety of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in the wake of multiple helium leaks and thruster issues, the agency is “getting more serious” about a backup plan to bring the ship’s two crew members back to Earth aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon, officials said Wednesday.

NASA officials aim to add context to some of its recent changes to the manifest of the International Space Station. It will host a media teleconference on Wednesday, Aug. 7, to discuss the timelines of the SpaceX Crew-9 launch, the Crew-8 return to Earth and the impacts to the schedule from the ongoing Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test.

The crew of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station poses during training at SpaceX’s Hawthorne facility. Image: SpaceX

NASA is delaying the launch of the next space station crew as it continues to work through thruster issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. In a blog post, the agency said the launch of the Crew-9 mission, aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule, is now targeted for no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 24.

A Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft separates from a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage during the NG-21 mission on Aug. 4, 2024. Image: SpaceX

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft is preparing to end a roughly 40-hour journey playing catchup with the International Space Station. After launching late Sunday morning from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the spacecraft is targeting its arrival at the orbiting outpost Tuesday morning.

The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft is pictured docked to the space-facing port on the International Space Station’s Harmony module. Dragon Freedom carried four Axiom Mission-2 astronauts to the orbital lab on May 22, 2023, including Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot John Shoffner, and Mission Specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi. Image: NASA

The full crew of the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station was announced on Monday as they officially began training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

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

SpaceX is looking to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base Sunday morning. The launch attempt comes after it stood down from launching a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft from Florida due to poor weather.

On Tuesday, July 30, 2024, the Northrop Grumman Cygnus resupply spacecraft is seen being encapsulated inside the SpaceX Falcon 9 payload fairing as it prepares to launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida for the 21st Northrop Grumman commercial resupply services for NASA. The mission will carry 8,200 pounds of science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. Liftoff is scheduled for no earlier than 11:29 a.m. EDT Saturday, Aug. 3. Image: SpaceX

More than 8,200 pounds of science and cargo supplies are preparing to launch to the International Space Station. A Northrop Grumman-built Cygnus spacecraft will begin a roughly two-day journey to the orbiting outpost following its launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Rocket Lab’s 51st Electron rocket stands at Pad B in Mahia, New Zealand, in preparation for the launch of the “Owl for One, Owl for All” mission. Image: Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab is preparing for its ninth launch of 2024 and its 51st Electron rocket launch to date. The mission will send an Earth observing satellite to low Earth orbit on behalf of Japan-based Synspective.

File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands in launch position at Launch Complex 39A ahead of the Starlink 6-51 mission on April 17, 2024. Image: Spaceflight Now

SpaceX is preparing to launch its latest batch of Starlink satellites, increasing its mega-constellation in low Earth orbit. The mission comes as the company is simultaneously working towards the launch of a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station over the weekend.

An Atlas 5 551 rocket stands tall at Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) in anticipation of the USSF-51 mission launch. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now

United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket is preparing for its swan song when it comes to launching critical missions connected to U.S. national security. The launch provider is prepping to send up a classified payload as part of the United States Space Force-51 (USSF-51) mission, marking the 100th such operation for ULA.

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

Update 2:43 a.m. EDT: SpaceX adjusted the T-0 liftoff time.

A Falcon 9 rocket stands at the ready to support the Starlink 10-4 mission, which will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on July 28, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now

Update 2:13 a.m. EDT: SpaceX confirmed successful deployment of the Starlink satellites.

United Launch Alliance rolled its Atlas 5 551 rocket to the launchpad at Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) on Saturday, July 27, 2024, ahead of the USSF-51 launch on Tuesday, July 30. Image: Will Robinson-Smith/Spaceflight Now

United Launch Alliance is preparing for a seminole moment for its Atlas 5 rocket. The launch vehicle is preparing to launch its 58th and final national security mission on Tuesday. The United States Space Force-51 (USSF-51) mission will also be the 100th national security mission launch for ULA.

The Falcon 9 returns to flight two weeks after an upper stage failure. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now.

A two-week launch hiatus for SpaceX came to a close after midnight on Saturday with the Starlink 10-9 mission returning the Falcon 9 to flight after an upper stage mishap on a July 11 grounded the workhorse rocket.