Space News & Blog Articles

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION

NASA’s Artemis 1 moon rocket stands on Launch Complex 39B, behind the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: Walter Scriptunas II / Spaceflight Now

Spaceflight Now took an aerial tour around the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the days before the scheduled launch of NASA’s Artemis 1 moon rocket. These images captured by Walter Scriptunas II show the the powerful moon rocket on its launch pad, plus SpaceX’s ongoing work to ready the spaceport for the huge commercial Starship rocket.

NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket stands on pad 39B. Credit: United Launch Alliance

Five decades after the final flight of NASA’s legendary Saturn 5 moon rocket, the U.S. space agency is poised to launch its most powerful rocket yet Monday for a critical, long-overdue test flight, sending an unpiloted Orion crew capsule on a 42-day voyage 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 in Florida. The Starlink 4-23 mission will launch SpaceX’s next batch of 54 Starlink broadband satellites. Follow us on Twitter.

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft approaches the International Space Station for docking May 20 on the unpiloted Orbital Flight Test-2 mission. Credit: NASA

NASA and Boeing have penciled a launch date in February for the first piloted test flight of the Starliner commercial crew capsule, allowing time to implement fixes on the spacecraft after an unpiloted demo to the International Space Station earlier this year.

NASA’s Orion spacecraft on top of the Space Launch System moon rocket. The crew access arm and white room connecting to the Orion spacecraft’s hatch are visible near the top of the picture. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now

The Orion crew module hatch was closed for flight Thursday morning after technicians at pad 39B completed final closeouts and outfitting inside the spacecraft before launch next week on the unpiloted Artemis 1 test flight around the moon.

SpaceX has rolled a Falcon 9 rocket to its launch pad at Cape Canaveral for a test-firing ahead of a planned mission Saturday night carrying another group of Starlink internet satellites into orbit.

Team members work with the LunaH-Map CubeSat the Kennedy Space Center before integration with its dispenser on the Space Launch System. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

The 10 CubeSats hitching a ride to deep space on NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket promise new discoveries about the moon, space weather, and asteroids. But some of the small spacecraft will launch with their batteries only partially charged after sitting inside the rocket for more than a year.

A view of the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis 1 mission during launch preparations at the Kennedy Space Center. The U.S.-built crew module sits mounted atop the European-built service module, with its solar arrays folded up for launch. Credit: NASA

European space officials have hailed the importance of NASA’s upcoming inaugural Artemis mission and the vital role ESA is playing in supporting a return to the moon.

A member of NASA’s Artemis ground team is seen inside the white room near the Orion spacecraft’s hatch during rollback of the Space Launch System moon rocket to the Vehicle Assembly Building on July 2. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now

Ground teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center will load fuel into the Space Launch System moon rocket’s steering system and finish closeouts inside the Orion capsule on top of the launcher this week, setting the stage for the start of the two-day countdown sequence Saturday and liftoff Monday.

This composite infrared image of Jupiter was created using data from the NIRCam instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope. The Great Red Spot is located at lower right. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team; image processing by Judy Schmidt.

A few weeks after officially starting science operations, the James Webb Space Telescope turned its mirrors toward Jupiter and captured stunning new infrared views of the gas giant planet, its auroras, moons, and faint rings.

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION

Live coverage of preparations for the maiden flight of the Space Launch System on NASA’s Artemis 1 mission. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.

NASA’s first Space Launch System moon rocket arrived on pad 39B early Aug. 17 after an overnight rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

One of the three mannequins on the Artemis 1 mission, dubbed “Commander Moonikin Campos,” is shown inside he Orion crew module in this Aug. 3 photo. Credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

Three instrumented mannequins strapped into seats on NASA’s Orion spacecraft awaiting liftoff on the first flight of the huge Space Launch System rocket will help engineers evaluate the human experience for future astronauts trips to the moon.

Shane Clark, vice president of Astraius’ engineering and program execution division, poses with models of the Astraius rocket and a C-17 cargo aircraft. Credit: Astraius

UK-based horizontal launch company Astraius says it’s on track for a first launch in spring 2024 from Prestwick Spaceport in Scotland after signing deals with two key suppliers for its innovative rocket.

SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon spacecraft departs the International Space Station on Friday. Credit: NASA

SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon spacecraft splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean northeast of Cape Canaveral Saturday, wrapping up a 37-day flight to the International Space Station and returning home with experiments and a leaky spacesuit for troubleshooting.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral on the Starlink 4-27 mission. Credit: Michael Cain / Spaceflight Now / Coldlife Photography

Fifty-three new Starlink internet satellites launched Friday from Cape Canaveral aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, adding more capacity to the largest fleet of spacecraft ever put into orbit.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Starlink 4-27 mission will launch SpaceX’s next batch of 53 Starlink broadband satellites. Follow us on Twitter.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands vertical on pad 40 Friday in preparation for liftoff to begin the Starlink 4-27 mission. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now

Another 53 Starlink internet satellites are ready to rocket into orbit Friday from Cape Canaveral on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The two-stage Falcon 9, powered by a reusable booster, will place the 53 internet relay nodes into a low-altitude transfer orbit.