Space News & Blog Articles

Chinese space officials announced the identities of the Shenzhou 16 crew members just one day before their launch to the Tiangong space station. From left to right: Payload specialist Gui Haichao, commander Jing Haipeng, and spaceflight engineer Zhu Yangzhu. Credit: China Manned Space Agency

The next three-man crew to live on China’s Tiangong space station will launch Monday night on a Long March rocket, heading for a half-year expedition on the orbiting outpost to replace an outgoing team of astronauts set to return to Earth this weekend.

Artist’s concept of ClearSpace’s spacecraft approaching a piece of space debris from a previous Vega rocket launch in 2013. Credit: ClearSpace

Swiss-based in-orbit servicing startup ClearSpace has contracted Arianespace to launch its first debris removal mission to capture and deorbit a 100-kilogram (220-pound) piece of space debris.



South Korea’s Danuri spacecraft captured this view of Tsiolkovskiy crater March 22 on the far side of the moon. Credit: Korea Aerospace Research Institute

Nearly halfway through its primary mission, South Korea’s first spacecraft to explore the moon has been collecting data and snapping pictures of lunar landscapes and craters since maneuvering into orbit late last year.

ULA stacked the first stage for the first Vulcan rocket test flight onto a mobile launch platform Jan. 25 inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Credit: United Launch Alliance

United Launch Alliance called off a test-firing of the company’s first flight-rated Vulcan Centaur rocket at Cape Canaveral Thursday to troubleshoot a problem with the booster’s engine ignition system.

Watch our live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Arabsat’s Badr 8 communications satellite from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The launch window opens at 11:25 p.m. EDT Friday, May 26 (0325 UTC Saturday, May 27). Follow us on Twitter.

Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher lifts off from Launch Complex 1B in New Zealand with NASA’s fifth and sixth TROPICS hurricane research satellites. Credit: Rocket Lab

The last two spacecraft in a four-satellite constellation of tropical cyclone research platforms took off late Thursday from New Zealand on a Rocket Lab Electron launcher, helping ensure NASA’s TROPICS mission is ready for observations in time for the peak of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season.

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1 on Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand with the final pair of NASA’s TROPICS hurricane research satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.

Russia’s next Progress cargo freighter is set for launch Wednesday from Kazakhstan on a mission to carry more than 2.7 tons of fuel, food, experiments, and supplies to the International Space Station.





Watch our coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 5:37 p.m. EDT (2137 UTC) on Sunday, May 21, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Falcon 9 will launch SpaceX’s Dragon Freedom spacecraft with four commercial astronauts on the Ax-2 mission to the International Space Station. Follow us on Twitter.

Ax-2 mission commander Peggy Whitson, mission specialist Rayyanah Barnawi, pilot John Shoffner, and mission specialist Ali Alqarni train at the European Astronaut Center in Germany. Credit: Axiom Space / European Space Agency

The second fully commercial astronaut flight to the International Space Station will have just two opportunities to launch Sunday and Monday, or else wait until after an upcoming SpaceX resupply mission next month to deliver a new set of high-priority solar arrays to the complex.

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION

Artist’s concept of the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer with all its antenna deployed. Credit: European Space Agency

After three weeks of intense analysis and troubleshooting, European Space Agency flight controllers have finally succeeded in freeing a jammed 52-foot (16-meter) boom critical to the Jupiter-bound JUICE probe’s ice-penetrating radar instrument.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California with 16 satellites for OneWeb’s internet network and five satellites for Iridium’s voice and data relay constellation. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.

Watch our live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the Starlink 6-3 mission at 12:41 a.m. EDT (0441 UTC) on May 19 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Follow us on Twitter.

This screenshot from NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System 3D visualization tool shows Lunar Flashlight making its close approach with Earth late on May 16. The CubeSat was expected to pass about 40,000 miles (65,000 kilometers) from our planet’s surface over Brazil’s east coast on May 17.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s small Lunar Flashlight spacecraft, sent to the moon last year to search for water ice deposits at the moon’s south pole, will not be able to complete its science mission after a problem with the probe’s propulsion system.

United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket rolls out to Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on May 11. Credit: United Launch Alliance

United Launch Alliance’s first Vulcan rocket was filled with methane and liquid oxygen propellants at Cape Canaveral last week for a tanking test, but managers decided to move the rocket back inside a hangar for a few adjustments before proceeding with an engine test-firing.