Space News & Blog Articles

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION

Russia’s Nauka module, at left, docked with the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

Playing it safe, the seven-member crew of the International Space Station moved into the U.S. segment of the outpost Friday, closed hatches and window shutters and stood by while Russian flight controllers vented helium pressurization lines in the newly arrived Nauka lab module.

A Boeing Starliner crew capsule stands on top of an Atlas 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Credit: United Launch Alliance

An Atlas 5 rocket was hauled back to its seaside firing stand Monday for launch Tuesday on a flight to boost Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule into orbit for a second unpiloted test to prove the commercial ferry ship is ready to carry astronauts.

Live coverage of the unpiloted test flight of Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule on the Orbital Flight Test-2 mission. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.

An Ariane 5 rocket lifts off Friday from a launch pad in French Guiana. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – P. Piron

A European Ariane 5 rocket launched from French Guiana Friday, succeeding on its first flight in nearly a year to deploy a pair of geostationary communications satellites for commercial operators in Brazil and France.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an Ariane 5 rocket with Star One D2 and Eutelsat Quantum communications satellites. 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

Live coverage of the docking of Russia’s Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module at the International Space Station. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.

Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle lifts off at 2 a.m. EDT (0600 GMT; 6 p.m. local time) Thursday from Zealand. Credit: Rocket Lab

Resuming launches after a mission failure two months ago, Rocket Lab successfully placed a small U.S. military research and development satellite into orbit Thursday following a fiery liftoff from New Zealand on a flight that was originally supposed to launch from the company’s new pad in Virginia.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1 on Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand carrying the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Monolith microsatellite. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.

A technician at Rocket Lab’s launch base in New Zealand works with an Electron booster. Credit: Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab is set to launch a small U.S. military technology demonstration satellite from New Zealand Thursday on the company’s first flight since a second stage failure doomed a commercial mission in May.

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is stacked on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral. Credit: Boeing/Damon Tucci

The threat of lightning could thwart plans to launch an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral Friday with a Boeing commercial crew capsule on an unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station, according to the forecasters on the Space Coast.

Live coverage of the unpiloted test flight of Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule on the Orbital Flight Test-2 mission. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.

A Starlink ground terminal. Credit: SpaceX

After going through July with no launches, SpaceX is scheduled to resume missions in August with Falcon 9 rocket flights from California and Florida to commence deployment of the next generation of Starlink internet satellites.



A Long March 2C rocket lifts off with three more Yaogan 30 spy satellites for the Chinese military. Credit: Xinhua

China launched another trio of Yaogan 30 military spy satellites July 19, bringing to 30 the number of similar Chinese spacecraft shot into orbit since 2017 on suspected naval surveillance missions.

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION

EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated July 22 with Pirs undocking delay.

Russia’s Nauka module undergoes launch preparations at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Credit: Roscosmos

A Russian science module in development for more than 20 years is set for liftoff Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on top of a Proton rocket, kicking off an eight-day flight to the International Space Station to boost the lab’s capacity for research.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Russian Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with the Nauka science module for the International Space Station. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.