Space News & Blog Articles

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft approaches the International space Station on May 20. Credit: NASA

The first test flight of Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule with astronauts has been delayed from February to April 2023, moving the mission after a busy stretch of crew and cargo missions to the International Space Station, and allowing more time for engineers to address problems discovered on an unpiloted test flight earlier this year, NASA said Thursday.

Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle takes off from Mahia Peninsula with the Swedish MATS research satellite. Credit: Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher placed a small Swedish atmospheric research satellite into an on-target polar orbit Friday, but an attempt to recover a booster stage with a helicopter was aborted after a brief telemetry loss from the rocket on descent.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an Antares rocket from Virginia with Northrop Grumman’s 18th operational Cygnus resupply flight to the International Space Station. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.

Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket, powered by two Russian RD-181 engines and a Ukrainian first stage, rolled to the launch pad in Virginia on Wednesday, Nov. 2. Credit: NASA

Northrop Grumman is set to launch the penultimate flight of its current Antares rocket configuration — with Russian engines and a Ukrainian first stage structure — to begin a resupply mission Sunday delivering more than four tons of cargo to the International Space Station.

NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket emerges from the Vehicle Assembly Building late Nov. 3. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket arrived back on its Florida launch pad Friday, ready for a series of overnight launch opportunities beginning Nov. 14 to begin a crucial, long-delayed test flight that officials hope will set the stage for future lunar missions with astronauts.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1B on Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand with the Swedish MATS atmospheric research satellite. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.

A camera on Rocket Lab’s recovery helicopter shows the Electron booster under its parachute following launch in May. Credit: Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab will try again Friday to catch an Electron first stage booster after launching from New Zealand with a small Swedish science satellite, six months after the company’s first mid-air recovery attempt.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 1:22 a.m. EDT (0522 GMT) Thursday with the Hotbird 13G communications satellite. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now

SpaceX launched the second in a series of three Falcon 9 rocket missions early Thursday for the European satellite operator Eutelsat, delivering to orbit a television broadcasting craft that also hosts an EU-funded payload to provide precise navigation data to airplanes.

NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket inside High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building. Credit: NASA

After replacing and recharging batteries in the Vehicle Assembly Building, NASA ground teams plan to roll the more than 30-story-tall Space Launch System rocket back to its launch pad early Friday at Kennedy Space Center for another try Nov. 14 to send the Artemis 1 test flight around the moon.

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 Eutelsat’s Hotbird 13G geostationary communications satellite. Follow us on Twitter.

An Airbus Beluga cargo plane delivered the Hotbird 13G communications satellite, seen here inside its shipping container, to Kennedy Space Center on Oct. 15. Credit: Airbus

One day after launching a triple-body Falcon Heavy rocket a few miles up the coast, SpaceX rolled its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket to a launch pad at Cape Canaveral Wednesday for a late night mission to haul a Eutelsat television broadcasting satellite into orbit.

A Long March 5B rocket hauls the Mengtian module into orbit for China’s Tiangong space station. Credit: China Manned Space Agency

China launched a heavy-lift Long March 5B rocket Monday with the Mengtian lab module, the final major element to complete the initial assembly and outfitting of the Chinese Tiangong space station. The lab module docked with the space station complex 13 hours later.

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy climbs into space from Kennedy Space Center on the U.S. Space Force’s USSF-44 mission. Credit: Michael Cain / Spaceflight Now / Coldlife Photography

The U.S. Space Force confirmed Tuesday that a Falcon Heavy launcher placed two main payloads and at least three smaller rideshare satellites directly into a high-altitude geosynchronous orbit after liftoff from Florida, an achievement that checks off one of the final unproven capabilities for SpaceX’s rocket family.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center on the USSF-44 mission for the U.S. Space Force. The mission will deploy two main payloads into geosynchronous orbit, and the Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters will return to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for landing. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.

Artist’s concept of the Psyche spacecraft, which will conduct a direct exploration of an asteroid thought to be a stripped planetary core. Credit: SSL/ASU/P. Rubin/NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA says the Psyche mission, a robotic asteroid explorer that missed a launch opportunity this year due to software testing problems, has been rescheduled for liftoff from Florida in October 2023 on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

The first stage of ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket was lifted onto its launch stand at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on Sept. 28. Credit: USSF 30th Space Wing/Steve Gerlich

The final flight of an Atlas 5 rocket from California has been delayed from Tuesday until no earlier than Nov. 9 to replace a battery on the launcher’s Centaur upper stage, United Launch Alliance and NASA officials said.

The 27 Merlin engines on the Falcon Heavy’s three first stage boosters. Credit: SpaceX

The first Falcon Heavy rocket flight since 2019 is scheduled Tuesday to kick off SpaceX’s longest-duration launch mission to date, a roughly six-hour climb into geosynchronous orbit more than 20,000 miles over the equator with a bundle of payloads for the U.S. Space Force. The powerful rocket’s two reusable side boosters will return to Cape Canaveral for landing.

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket fires its 27 main engines Thursday night at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX fired up 27 engines on a Falcon Heavy rocket Thursday night at Kennedy Space Center, sending a rumble across the spaceport in a hold-down test-firing before a launch next week for the U.S. Space Force.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket fires its upper stage engine to propel 53 Starlink internet satellites into orbit. The rocket’s first stage booster and two halves of the payload fairing are visible returning to Earth for recovery and reuse. Credit: Gene Blevins / LA Daily News

SpaceX fired a Falcon 9 rocket off a launching stand in California at sunset Thursday, producing a twilight sky show visible as far away as Texas as the mission delivered 53 more Starlink internet satellites into orbit.

Russia’s Progress MS-21 resupply spacecraft is on course for an automated docking with the International Space Station at 10:51 p.m. EDT (0251 GMT) to deliver more than 2.7 tons of cargo to the lab’s seven-person crew.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California with 53 Starlink internet satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.