Space News & Blog Articles

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION



EDITOR’S NOTE: NASA TV’s live coverage of the Soyuz MS-18 relocation begins at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT).

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasts off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, with the Landsat 9 satellite. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

NASA and United Launch Alliance deployed a new Landsat satellite in orbit Monday after liftoff on an Atlas 5 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, marking the 2,000th launch from the West Coast spaceport since 1958 and extending a series of Earth observations used by farmers, urban planners, and climate scientists.

A United Launch Atlas 5 rocket is set for launch with the Landsat 9 satellite, a joint project between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, and four small CubeSat rideshare payloads.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an Atlas 5 rocket with the Landsat 9 Earth observation satellite for NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket awaits liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, with the Landsat 9 satellite. Credit: Alex Polimeni / Spaceflight Now

The launch of a Landsat environmental monitoring satellite Monday from California’s Central Coast will be the first liftoff of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket since the company confirmed there will be 29 more Atlas 5 flights before the Atlas family’s retirement.

The Landsat 9 satellite is set for launch Sept. 27 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. These photos show the encapsulation of the environmental monitoring spacecraft inside the payload fairing of its Atlas 5 launcher.

European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet snapped this view of two SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked at the International Space Station during a spacewalk Sept. 12. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft is seen docked at the top-facing port of the Harmony module, while a Cargo Dragon capsule is docked with the forward port in the background. Credit: NASA/ESA/Thomas Pesquet

With the all-civilian Inspiration4 crew mission back on Earth, SpaceX’s director of human spaceflight programs says the company is seeing increased interest in more private astronauts flights to orbit, and may expand its fleet of reusable Dragon spaceships to accommodate the growing demand.



Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft returned to the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center on Aug. 19 for troubleshooting. Credit: Boeing

The head of NASA’s space operations division said this week an unpiloted test flight of Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule to the International Space Station, delayed from August by valve problems, will likely not launch until next year.

Kathy Lueders, who has led NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate for more than a year, will be the associate administrator for the new Space Operations Mission Directorate. Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

NASA announced Tuesday that the agency’s human spaceflight division will split into two new mission directorates, one focused on space operations and another on deep space exploration, returning to the organizational structure of a decade ago.

A view of NASA’s Space Launch System inside High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building. This picture was taken Sept. 17 after retraction of work platforms ahead of the Umbilical Release and Retract Test. Credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

The swing arms on the mobile launch tower for NASA’s Space Launch System released and retracted Sunday night inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center, another key test on the march toward liftoff of the Artemis 1 moon mission.

The Landsat 9 Earth observation satellite inside the payload fairing of an Atlas 5 rocket at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Credit: NASA

The next Landsat observatory has been mounted on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket in California for liftoff Sept. 27, continuing an unbroken record of Earth observations to track urban sprawl, water usage, tropical deforestation, retreating glaciers, and more over the last half-century.

The first all-private crew to fly into Earth orbit launched Sept. 15 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, streaking into space on top of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket powered by nine Merlin main engines.

A Long March 7 rocket lifts off with the Tianzhou cargo mission. Credit: CASC

An unpiloted Chinese cargo ship launched and docked with the Tiangong space station Monday, delivering supplies to support the next three-person crew on the complex for six months after their arrival in October.

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Resilience spaceship descends to the Atlantic Ocean Saturday to end the Inspiration4 mission. Credit: Inspiration4 / SpaceX

Four civilian space travelers rode a SpaceX capsule through a blazing re-entry back into Earth’s atmosphere Saturday evening and safely splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean northeast of Cape Canaveral, completing a historic 71 hours in space as the first privately-funded, non-government crew to fly in orbit.

Live coverage of the re-entry and splashdown of a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft with the Inspiration4 mission, the first all-private human spaceflight to low Earth orbit. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION

The Inspiration4 crew downlinks a live update from SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft. Credit: SpaceX

On their final full day in space Friday, the all-civilian Inspiration4 crew circling Earth inside a SpaceX Dragon capsule chatted with Tom Cruise, rang the closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange, and downlinked a live video update showing views outside their dome cupola window.

Shenzhou 12 astronauts Tang Hongbo, Liu Boming, and Nie Haisheng outside their landing capsule Friday. Credit: Xinhua

Three Chinese astronauts landed in the remote Gobi Desert of northwestern China Friday, returning to Earth after a three-month mission on the country’s new Tiangong space station, and ending a historic day in human spaceflight that set a new record with 14 people in low Earth orbit.