Space News & Blog Articles

Mission Status Center

A double-exposure captures the launch of a Falcon 9 on a mission for the Space Development Agency and its landing seven and half minutes later. Image: SpaceX.

A Falcon 9 rocket launched 13 demonstration satellites for a planned U.S. military mega-constellation from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Saturday. It was the 61st orbital launch of the year for SpaceX.

Update 7:05 p.m. EDT: SpaceX pushed back the T-0 liftoff to 8:40 p.m. EDT (0040 UTC on Sept. 1). SpaceX noted in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that its launch teams were keeping an eye on the impacts of Hurricane Idalia on the Cape.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch 13 Tranche 0 demonstration satellites for the U.S. military’s Space Development Agency (SDA). Liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California is scheduled for 7:26 a.m. PDT (10:26 a.m. EDT / 1426 UTC).

The Atlas 5 for the Silentbarker mission, pictured on the launch pad Monday. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now.A tropical storm barreling towards the Florida peninsula caused United Launch Alliance (ULA) to stand down from an Atlas 5 launch planned for Tuesday.

The 11 astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station: Crew-7, front row, left to right: Konstantin Borisov, Andreas Mogensen, Jasmin Moghbeli and Satoshi Furukawa; second row, left to right: UAE astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, Soyuz MS-23/69S astronaut Frank Rubio, MS 23/69S commander Sergey Prokopyev, Crew-6 pilot Woody Hoburg and Crew-6 commander Stephen Bowen; floating upside down, left to right: Soyuz MS-23/69S cosmonaut Dmitri Petelin and Crew-6 cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. Image: NASA TV.

A SpaceX Crew Dragon ferry ship docked at the International Space Station Sunday after a 29-hour rendezvous, bringing four fresh crew members to the lab to replace four others wrapping up a six-month stay in orbit.

A next-generation X-ray space telescope and an experimental lunar lander are poised for launch Sunday from Japan. An H-2A rocket is scheduled to liftoff from the Tanegashima Space Center at 8:26 p.m. EDT (9:26 a.m. local time / 0026 UTC).

Dragon Endurance features crew members representing four different nations. The mission is commanded by NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli. The pilot is the European Space Agency’s Andreas Mogensen from Denmark. Mission specialists are Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov.

Mission Status Center

SpaceX is getting ready for its second Falcon 9 mission of the day. Following the successful launch of a four-member crew to the International Space Station early Saturday, it will send 22 second-generation Starlink satellites into orbit at 9:05 p.m. EDT (0105 UTC).

A SpaceX Falcon 9 liftoff with an international crew riding aboard a Dragon capsule on Aug. 26, 2023. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now.Running a day late, a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying a NASA commander, a Danish co-pilot, a Japanese astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut rocketed into orbit early Saturday and set off after the International Space Station for a six-month tour of duty.

Our live broadcast of the Crew 7 launch starts at 10:45 p.m. EDT (0245 UTC). Watch live views of the Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon at the Kennedy Space Center in our 24-7 Launch Pad Live stream.

Mission Status Center

Rocket Lab launched its 40th Electron mission Wednesday, Aug. 23, after a switch to a recoverable rocket, which was fitted for the first time with a previously-flown engine. The rocket lifted off from the company’s privately-owned spaceport on the North Island of New Zealand, carrying a radar-imaging satellite, at 7:45 p.m. EDT (11:45 a.m. NZST on the 24th / 2345 UTC).

Mission Status Center

File photo of a supply ship approaching the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now

A Russian Progress cargo ship is scheduled to blast off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Tuesday carrying supplies and equipment to the International Space Station. Liftoff is scheduled for 9:08 p.m. EDT (0108 UTC).

An upcoming player in the space tourism game offered a look inside their Florida manufacturing site as they continue to ramp up towards customer flights in 2024. Space Perspective is offering a balloon-based opportunity for customers to experience the overview effect in a manner less jarring than launching aboard a rocket or a space plane.

A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on SpaceX’s 100th Starlink mission. Image: SpaceX.

After delays caused by Hurricane Hilary, SpaceX launched its 100th Starlink mission on Tuesday. A Falcon 9 carrying 21 second-generation Starlink satellites lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 2:37 a.m. PDT (5:37 a.m. EDT / 0937 UTC).

A SpaceX Falcon 9 and Dragon Endurance capsule stand ready on pad 39A for the Crew 7 mission. Image: NASA.

NASA, SpaceX and its international partners meet at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday and gave the go ahead for the launch of the seventh operational Crew Dragon mission to the space station.

The crew members for the next space station mission pose for photographers after arriving at the Kennedy Space Center on August 20, 2023. From left to right: Mission Specialist Konstantin Borisov, Pilot Andreas Mogensen, Commander Jasmin Moghbeli, and Mission Specialist Satoshi Furukawa. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now.

The next four crew members bound for a six-month stay aboard the International Space Station flew to the Kennedy Space Center Sunday to prepare for launch early Friday atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.