Space News & Blog Articles

A Falcon 9 rocket stands at pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base ahead of the planned launch of the Sentinel-6B mission. Image: SpaceX.

Update: Launch occurred on time and Sentinel-6B was successfully deployed. Read launch story.

A Falcon 9 rocket launches Nov. 17, 2025, carrying the Sentinel-6B ocean monitoring satellite. Image: SpaceX.

SpaceX launched a joint NASA-European environmental research satellite early Monday, the second in an ongoing billion-dollar project to measure long-term changes in sea level, a key indicator of climate change.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soars away from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base on the Starlink 11-14 mission on Nov. 6, 2025. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX launched another batch of Starlink broadband satellites Thursday on a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, bringing the total launched in 2025 to 2,600.

A long-exposure shot of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket as it soars away from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to begin the Starlink 10-51 mission on Nov. 9, 2025. Image: Michael Cain / Spaceflight Now

Update Nov. 9, 3:50 a.m. EST (0850 UTC): SpaceX landed its booster on the drone ship.

Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket that will launch NASA’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration Dynamics Explorers) mission along with a technology demonstration from Viasat. Image: Blue Origin

Blue Origin is stepping back up to the plate and will take another crack at launching its 98-meter-tall (321 ft) rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Thursday, Nov. 13.

New Glenn lifts off from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral, carrying twin Mars probes for NASA. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now.

Blue Origin launched its second heavy-lift New Glenn rocket Thursday, putting two small NASA satellites onto a long, looping course to Mars to learn more about how the sun has slowly blown away the red planet’s once thick atmosphere.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 551 rocket stands at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of launching Viasat’s ViaSat-3 Flight 2 satellite to a geosynchronous transfer orbit. Image: Adam Bernstein / Spaceflight Now

United Launch Alliance is preparing to launch an Atlas 5 rocket Thursday night, which will carry a communications satellite for California-based communications company, Viasat.

A long-exposure shot of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blasting off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Nov. 10, 2025. Image: John Pisani / Spaceflight Now

Update Nov. 10, 11:30 p.m. EST (04130UTC): SpaceX confirms deployment of the 29 Starlink satellites.

Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket designed for the NG-2 mission is pictured at sunset at Launch Complex 36, the evening of Nov. 8, 2025. The rocket will carry NASA’s ESCAPADE mission along with a payload demonstration for Viasat. Image: Adam Bernstein / Spaceflight Now

Blue Origin is stepping back up to the plate to take another crack at launching its 98-meter-tall (321 ft) New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Wednesday, Nov. 12.

An artist’s rendering of a Rocket Lab Neutron rocket during stage separation. Illustration: Rocket Lab

The inaugural flight of Rocket Lab’s reusable, medium-lift Neutron rocket is now set for 2026, instead of this year. The company said more testing and qualification work was needed.

Blue Origin scrubbed a launch attempt of the NG-2 mission on Nov. 9, 2025, due to cumulus clouds in the area. Image: Spaceflight Now

Update Nov. 9, 5 p.m. EST (2200 UTC): Blue Origin scrubbed the mission and is assessing its next launch opportunity.

United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 551 rocket sits on the pad at Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch attempt on Nov. 6, 2025, was scrubbed due to a persistent issue with the booster’s liquid oxygen tank vent valve. Image: Adam Bernstein / Spaceflight Now

Update Nov. 6, 9:10 p.m. EST (0210 UTC): ULA scrubbed the launch and will target a new, yet to be announced, launch date.

The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas 5 rocket sits on Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral at sunset. The Atlas V will launch the ViaSat-3 F2 ultra-high-capacity broadband satellite. Image: United Launch Alliance

Update Nov. 5, 11:30 p.m. EST (0430 UTC): ULA scrubbed the mission due to a valve issue.

Polaris Dawn Commander Jared Isaacman sits down with Matt Anderson, the chief growth officer for the Space Force Association, during the second annual Spacepower Conference to discuss human spaceflight. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now

Update Nov. 5, 8:10 a.m. EST (1310 UTC): Added comments from Sean Duffy.

File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands in the launch position at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ahead of the planned liftoff of the Starlink 6-61 mission on Oct. 22, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now

SpaceX is preparing to launch its first batch of Starlink satellites in November. The company has at least eight such missions planned before the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soars away from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at the beginning of the Starlink 11-23 mission on Oct. 31, 2025. Image: SpaceX

Update Oct. 31, 6:30 p.m. EDT (2230 UTC): SpaceX deployed the 28 Starlink satellites.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to begin the Bandwagon-4 ride share mission to a mid-inclination orbit. Image: Adam Bernstein / Spaceflight Now

An Nvidia-backed data center demo, a testbed for Vast’s future commercial space station and artificial intelligence-powered weather satellites were among the spacecraft deployed on SpaceX’s latest Bandwagon ride share mission to low Earth orbit.

Blue Origin conducted a roughly 40-second-long static fire of its New Glenn rocket on Oct. 30, 2025. This hotfire of the seven BE-4 engines is a precursor to the launch of NASA’s EscaPADE mission. Image: Adam Bernstein / Spaceflight Now

Blue Origin lit up a pocket of Florida’s Space Coast Thursday night when it hot fired its New Glenn rocket for an engine test lasting roughly 40 seconds in duration.

Mike French (left) hosted a fireside chat with former NASA administrators Jim Bridenstine (center) and Charles Bolden (right) at the 2025 von Braun Space Exploration Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama. Image: American Astronautical Society via livestream

Two former NASA Administrators called on the space agency to rethink its plans to land astronauts on the Moon using SpaceX’s Starship, saying development of the revolutionary vehicle was taking too long and required unnecessary complexity.

Astrobotic staff examine a propulsion tank sitting in front of Griffin-1’s structure. Image: Astrobotic

Astrobotic is now eyeing the summer of 2026 for the launch of its second mission with the goal of landing on the surface of the Moon.

An artist’s rendering of Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 lunar lander on the surface of the Moon. Graphic: Blue Origin

Blue Origin is still several years off from its currently contracted mission to bring astronauts to the Moon’s South Pole on the Artemis 5 mission. But it has a number of spacecraft in development with at least one set to fly to the lunar surface as soon as potentially later this year.