Space News & Blog Articles

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

SpaceX sent 20 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit on a Friday morning Falcon 9 rocket departing from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Right before Rocket Lab’s 53rd Electron rocket lifted off from its Launch Complex-1 in Mahia, New Zealand, the vehicle experienced a T-0 abort. The engines began firing as expected at T-2 seconds, but the vehicle remained on the pad. Image: Rocket Lab via launch livestream

Update Sept. 18, 9:47 p.m. EDT: Rocket Lab noted the scrub was due to “a ground systems sensor trigger.”

A rendering of a Galileo satellite in medium Earth orbit. Graphic: European Space Agency

SpaceX is preparing to launch the latest pair of Galileo spacecraft for the European Union’s navigation satellite constellation.

Update: Splashdown occurred at 3:37 a.m. EDT (0737 UTC)

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

SpaceX launched its latest batch of 21 Starlink satellites on a Thursday night Falcon 9 launch from California.

Isaacman floats above the Crew Dragon’s hatch, taking in a spectacular view of Earth from 458 miles above the southern Indian Ocean. Image: SpaceX.

In another SpaceX milestone, billionaire Jared Isaacman and company crew trainer Sarah Gillis took turns floating just outside their Crew Dragon capsule early Thursday in the first privately-financed spacewalk in the history of space exploration.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch five of AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird satellites from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Image: SpaceX

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set to launch with the first five commercial satellites for AST SpaceMobile’s new cellular constellation. The satellites, called ‘BlueBird,’ are a precursor to the next generation of its satellites.

An artist’s impression of a Polaris Dawn astronaut flowing just outside the Crew Dragon capsule in the first commercial spacewalk. Graphic: SpaceX

Billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX crew trainer Sarah Gillis prepared to open the forward hatch of their Polaris Dawn spacecraft early Thursday to take turns floating outside in the first non-government spacewalk in the history of space exploration.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit is seen in quarantine, behind glass, during a press conference, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024 a the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Expedition 72 crew members: NASA astronaut Don Pettit, Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner, are scheduled to launch aboard their Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft on September 11. Photo Image: NASA/Bill Ingalls

An astronaut and avid photographer is heading back to space for a fourth time on Wednesday. NASA astronaut Don Pettit, first ventured to the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 6 in November 2003 and last returned from a trip to the orbiting outpost on July 1, 2012.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch the Polaris Dawn mission. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX is preparing to try once again to launch the Polaris Dawn commercial astronaut mission, even as weather continues to prove challenging in and around Florida.

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft rests in the desert of the White Sands Space Harbor following its return to Earth from the International Space Station. Image: Boeing

Leaving its crew behind in orbit, Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station Friday and chalked up a successful unpiloted return to Earth, closing out a disappointing test flight with an on-target and apparently problem-free New Mexico touchdown.

The summer-long saga of the Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test is set to come to an end on Friday. Landing at the White Sands Space Harbor shortly after midnight on Saturday. Starliner will make its final journey without crew onboard. NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams will remain onboard the International Space Station as members of Expedition 71/72 before their return onboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft no earlier than February 2025.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands at Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) prior to the launch of the NROL-113 mission. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket with an undisclosed number of satellites on behalf of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The spacecraft, which are believed to be Starshield satellites, make up the third batch of what the NRO calls its “proliferated architecture.”

File: 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

SpaceX is targeting Wednesday morning for the 85th launch Falcon 9 rocket so far in 2024. The mission, dubbed Starlink 8-11, will add another 21 Starlink satellites to the company’s megaconstellation.

Sentinel-2 in the Vega launch tower. Image: ESA-CNES-ARIANESPACE/Optique vidéo du CSG–T. Leduc

Update 6:41 p.m. EDT: Arianespace announced that the mission is scrubbed for a Tuesday night launch attempt and is working towards an opportunity on Wednesday, Sept. 4.

A Falcon 9 rocket streaks across the skies above Florida’s Space Coast during the Starlink 8-10 mission. This was SpaceX’s return to flight mission, following a failed booster landing on Wednesday. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now

Update 4:04 a.m. EDT: SpaceX launched the mission and landed its first stage booster on its droneship, ‘Just Read the Instructions.’

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

Update 5:06 a.m. EDT: SpaceX launched the mission and landed B1081 on the droneship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’

The crew of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station poses for a group photo at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Image: SpaceX.

NASA has bumped two female astronauts. including the commander, from the next SpaceX crew rotation flight to the international space station, freeing up two seats to give the agency’s Starliner astronauts a ride home next February.

A streak shot of the Starlink 8-6 mission showing the Falcon 9 rocket flying away from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Aug. 28, 2024. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has been grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration for the second time in less than two months, following the failed landing of a first stage booster, which had earlier helped launch a batch of satellites for the Starlink network.

File: 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 1:46 a.m. EDT: SpaceX pushed back the liftoff time of the mission.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft stand ready to launch the Polaris Dawn commercial astronaut mission from Launch Complex 39A. Liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is set for no earlier than 3:38 a.m. EDT (0738 UTC) on Aug. 27, 2024. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now

A commercial astronaut mission of historic firsts is set to launch in the predawn hours of Tuesday morning. The four members of the Polaris Dawn flight will climb aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon to embark on a roughly five-day, free-flying mission orbiting the Earth.