Space News & Blog Articles

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft aboard is seen on the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test, Friday, May 31, 2024 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test is the first launch with astronauts of the Boeing CFT-100 spacecraft and United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. The flight test, targeted for launch at 12:25 p.m. EDT on Saturday, June 1, serves as an end-to-end demonstration of Boeing’s crew transportation system and will carry NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to and from the orbiting laboratory. Image: NASA/Joel Kowsky

Launch teams are hoping that the third time will be the charm for the first crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. It’s most recent launch attempt came within minutes of sending Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on their way to the International Space Station, but was tripped up at the finish line when one of three redundant computers ran into trouble.

Expedition 70 NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, left, Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko, and Nikolai Chub, right, are seen in quarantine behind glass during a press conference, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023 at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. O’Hara, Kononenko, Chub are launched aboard their Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft on Sept. 15. Image: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko continues to cement a place in the annals of space history with his historic mission on board the International Space Station. On Wednesday, he became the first person to reach 1,000 cumulative days in space.

The seemingly star-cross Boeing Starliner — within minutes of its long-delayed blastoff on the spacecraft’s first piloted test flight — was grounded again Saturday when one of three redundant computers managing the countdown from the base of the launch pad ran into a problem, triggering a last-minute scrub.

In this week’s edition of News from the Press Site, Spaceflight Now’s Will Robinson-Smith is joined by Mike Wall, Spaceflight and Tech Editor for Space.com; and Caleb Henry, Director of Research at Quilty Space.

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

Update 3:07 p.m. EDT: SpaceX pushed back the T-0 liftoff time of the Falcon 9 rocket.

A rendering of the Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) spacecraft onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 second stage as the payload fairings deploy. Graphic: ESA

The European Space Agency is preparing to launch its latest Earth observing satellite, designed to better understand the climate. The Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) has four instruments which will study clouds and aerosols around the Earth “to improve the accuracy of climate models and support numerical weather prediction.”

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

SpaceX is kicking off the morning of Memorial Day with a Falcon 9 flight about an hour after sunrise. The Starlink 6-60 mission will add another 23 spacecraft to the company’s growing mega-constellation of internet relay satellites, serving more than three million customers.

The PREFIRE mission will launch the first of two CubeSats – depicted in this artist’s concept orbiting Earth – into space on Saturday, May 25, 2024, to study how much heat the planet absorbs and emits from its polar regions. These measurements will inform climate and ice models. Graphic: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Update 4:36 a.m. EDT: Rocket Lab confirms a successful deployment of NASA’s PREFIRE-1 cubesat.
Update 3:52 a.m. EDT: Liftoff occurred at 3:41 a.m. EDT. Good first and second stage burns. Kick stage ignition
Update 3:30 a.m. EDT: Countdown resumed for a new T-0 of 3:41 a.m. EDT.
Update 3:20 a.m. EDT: Countdown holding due to high ground winds.
Update 10:44 p.m. EDT: Rocket Lab set the T-0 liftoff time for the mission.

Onboard cameras on the Starship upper stage flown during Flight 3 (Starship IFT-3) show the vehicle surrounded by plasma as it reenters the atmosphere on March 14, 2024. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX is preparing to launch its massive Starship rocket on its fourth flight test from its Starbase facilities in southern Texas as soon as June 5. The target launch date comes a little less than three months after Flight 3 on March 14.

Boeing’s Starliner capsule atop the Atlas 5 rocket inside United Launch Alliance’s Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral. Image: United Launch Alliance.

After nearly three weeks of exhaustive tests and data analysis, NASA managers said Friday they are confident Boeing’s oft-delayed Starliner crew capsule can safely launch “as is” June 1, saying a small helium leak in the ship’s propulsion system does not pose a flight safety concern.

A Falcon 9 rocket streaks across the sky over Central Florida amid the Starlink 6-63 mission on May 23, 2023. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now

Update 11:15 p.m. EDT: SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket was fueled for launch May 6, 2024 for the Starliner Crew Test Flight. Image: NASA TV

NASA is looking at the start of June for its next attempt to launch its astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, on board Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. The announcement came last Wednesday night in a blog post, stating that June 1 will be the earliest that the Crew Flight Test of Starliner can begin.

An elated Ed Dwight, at 90 the oldest person to fly in space, shows his emotion after finally reaching space more than 60 years after he was denied the opportunity to become the first African American astronaut. Image: Blue Origin.

Ed Dwight, a 90-year-old artist and former Air Force test pilot who was denied a chance to become the first African American astronaut six decades ago, finally rocketed into space Sunday, fulfilling a cherished dream in a brief up-and-down flight out of the lower atmosphere.

A Falcon 9 heads to orbit with a payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. Image: SpaceX.

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) began start building a constellation of unknown size with a middle-of-the-night launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The mission, dubbed NROL-146, featured an undisclosed number of satellites riding onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket that will carry Starliner, pictured on pad 40 at Cape Canaveral prior to its first launch attempt in early May 2024. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now.

Plans to launch Boeing’s oft-delayed Starliner spacecraft on its first crewed test flight Saturday were put on hold Tuesday night to give managers more time to evaluate a small helium leak in the ship’s propulsion system. A new launch target was not announced.

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

SpaceX will continue the expansion of its Starlink internet satellite mega-constellation with two planned Falcon 9 launches from Florida this week as the company boasts hitting more than three million users.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 second stage creates a so-called ‘jellyfish’ effect as it streaks across the sky over the Atlantic Ocean and a cruise ship out on the horizon. The Starlink 6-59 mission launched on May 17, 2024. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now

SpaceX reached a new reusability milestone with its Falcon 9 rocket with a Starlink launch from Florida on Friday night. The first stage booster, tail number B1062, launched for a record 21st time, the first in SpaceX’s rocket fleet to do so.

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas 5 N22 rocket with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on top as seen the day before its planned May 6 launch. A problematic valve caused the mission to scrub two hours before liftoff. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now

Ongoing analysis of a helium leak on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft forced NASA and Boeing to delay the Crew Flight Test mission further.

Artist’s illustration of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in orbit. Credit: Boeing

Launch of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket carrying Boeing’s Starliner capsule is slipping another four days, from Friday to next Tuesday, to give engineers time to make sure a helium leak in the crew ship’s propulsion system has been resolved, officials said Tuesday.

Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spaceplane shown inside a test chamber at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. Image: Sierra Space

Sierra Space is getting one step closer to finally seeing its Dream Chaser spaceplane reach the launch pad. The spacecraft completed its environmental testing at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio, last week.