Space News & Blog Articles

ULA’s Delta 4-Heavy rocket lifted vertical on pad 37B at Cape Canaveral ahead of launch on the NROL-68 mission. Credit: United Launch Alliance

United Launch Alliance’s second-to-last Delta 4-Heavy rocket is scheduled to blast off from Cape Canaveral April 20 with a classified cargo for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency, a mission that will mark ULA’s first flight of the year, officials announced this week.

Watch our live coverage of the countdown and launch of Relativity Space’s first 3D-printed Terran 1 rocket during a three-hour launch window opening at 10 p.m. EDT Wednesday, March 22 (0100 UTC Thursday, March 23). The Terran 1 will lift off from Launch Complex 16 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on its inaugural test flight. Follow us on Twitter.

Relativity Space’s Terran 1 rocket on Launch Complex 16 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Credit: Relativity Space

Relativity Space will try a third time to launch a 3D-printed rocket from Cape Canaveral Wednesday night, and weather forecasters predict a 95% chance of favorable conditions for the late-night test flight.

The luminous, hot star Wolf-Rayet 124 (WR 124) is prominent at the center of the James Webb Space Telescope’s composite image combining near-infrared and mid-infrared wavelengths of light from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera and Mid-Infrared Instrument. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team

A new image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows a rare glimpse of a massive star 15,000 light-years away shedding a halo of gas and dust, seeding the cosmos with elements necessary for forming other stars, planets, and the building blocks of life.

Virgin Orbit’s carrier aircraft, a modified Boeing 747 jumbo jet, takes off from Mojave Air and Space Port in California with a LauncherOne rocket under its left wing. Credit: Virgin Orbit

Virgin Orbit announced last week it is pausing operations after sustained financial losses, furloughing most of the company’s approximately 750 employees as officials seek funding to keep the small satellite launch provider afloat.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The Falcon 9 rocket will launch the SES 18 and SES 19 geostationary communications satellites. Follow us on Twitter.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on the Starlink 2-8 mission with 52 Starlink internet satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.

Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher climbs away from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia. Credit: NASA/Patrick Black

Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher delivered two all-weather radar Earth observation satellites into orbit for Capella Space Thursday night after liftoff from Wallops Island, Virginia, successfully completing the company’s second flight from the U.S. spaceport.

The SES 18 and 19 communications satellites inside a SpaceX payload processing facility at Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX

SES, the international communications satellite operator, plans to send two more C-band television broadcasting spacecraft into orbit from Cape Canaveral Friday night atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on a mission that will help clear spectrum for transition to 5G network services.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Launch Complex 2 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia. The Electron rocket will carry two commercial radar remote sensing satellites for Capella Space. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.



Axiom Space’s commercial spacesuit, designed for walking on the moon, is seen here under a black and orange cover. The suit’s outer layer will be mostly white during missions to the moon. Credit: Axiom Space

Houston-based Axiom Space on Wednesday showed off the new spacesuit NASA’s Artemis astronauts will wear when they return to the moon, a more flexible, dust resistant, insulated and radiation-shielded suit to protect them in the harsh environment near the lunar south pole.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Falcon 9 rocket will launch SpaceX’s 27th resupply mission to the International Space Station. Follow us on Twitter.

SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon spacecraft on top of a Falcon 9 rocket, awaiting liftoff Tuesday from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX’s next resupply mission to the International Space Station is set for liftoff Tuesday night from Kennedy Space Center, hauling more than 6,300 pounds of cargo to the complex, including a $35 million, half-ton payload package for the U.S. military with experiments ranging from in-space laser power beaming to weather monitoring.

A Proton rocket lifts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Credit: Roscosmos

A Proton rocket launched Sunday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, boosting into a high-altitude orbit a classified Russian government satellite Western analysts believe is designed to eavesdrop on other countries’ radio transmissions.

SpaceX’s Dragon Endurance spacecraft descends over the Gulf of Mexico. Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber

Two NASA astronauts, a Japanese space veteran and a Russian cosmonaut bid their seven space station crewmates farewell and returned to Earth Saturday night, splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico near Tampa after a fiery plunge back through the lower atmosphere.

Relativity Space’s Terran 1 rocket on Launch Complex 16 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Credit: Relativity Space / John Kraus

Relativity Space will try again Saturday to launch its 3D-printed Terran 1 rocket into orbit from Cape Canaveral after halting a countdown earlier in the week to ensure propellants loaded into the launcher were at the proper temperature.

SpaceX’s Dragon Endurance spacecraft flies into an orbital sunset after undocking from the International Space Station on Saturday. Credit: NASA TV / Spaceflight Now

Closing out five months on the International Space Station, two NASA astronauts, a five-time Japanese space flier, and a Russian cosmonaut departed the complex Saturday inside a SpaceX Dragon crew capsule, heading for a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico around 19 hours later.

This artist’s concept shows a Capella Whitney-class satellite in orbit with its solar arrays and radar reflector unfurled. Credit: Capella Space

Rocket Lab’s second mission from a new launch pad in Virginia is set to take off Saturday night with two commercial radar remote sensing satellites for Capella Space.

Live coverage of the undocking, re-entry, and splashdown of NASA’s Crew-5 mission at the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.

Watch our coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 2:13 p.m. EST (1913 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, with 40 OneWeb internet satellites. Follow us on Twitter.