Space News & Blog Articles

A Delta 4-Heavy rocket stands on its launch pad Friday at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, ready for liftoff on the NROL-91 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. Credit: United Launch Alliance

United Launch Alliance will move out of historic Space Launch Complex 6 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California following the flight of a Delta 4-Heavy rocket set for Saturday, leaving the military to find a new tenant for the storied launch pad once intended to host space shuttle missions on the West Coast.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Delta 4-Heavy rocket with the classified NROL-91 payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.

In this image by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), a smattering of hundreds of background galaxies, varying in size and shape, appear alongside the Neptune system. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

Fresh images from the James Webb Space Telescope show the faraway planet Neptune hung amid a tapestry of even more distant galaxies, the latest view from a now-regular flow of observations from astronomers’ new eye on the universe. Scientists released Webb’s first views of Neptune and Mars this week.

Live coverage of pre-launch preparations for NASA’s Artemis 1 mission. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.

Vapors stream away from NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket during a cryogenic tanking test Wednesday. Credit: NASA

Engineers filled up the Artemis 1 moon rocket with more than 750,000 gallons of super-cold propellants in a tanking test Wednesday at Kennedy Space Center after troubleshooting a persistent hydrogen leak. NASA’s launch director said she was “extremely encouraged” by the test, but officials have not yet committed to another attempt to launch the uncrewed test flight to the moon at the next opportunity Sept. 27.

A Soyuz rocket lifts off Sept. 21 with a crew of three heading for the International Space Station. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Despite severely strained U.S.-Russian foreign relations, an American astronaut joined two Russian cosmonauts aboard a Soyuz spacecraft in Kazakhstan and rocketed into orbit Wednesday on a two-orbit flight to the International Space Station.

Live coverage of the test flight of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft on a mission to the International Space Station. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.

Live coverage of the tanking test for 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.

The payload fairing containing the National Reconnaissance Office’s classified spy satellite is lifted atop ULA’s Delta 4-Heavy rocket before the NROL-91 mission. Credit: United Launch Alliance

United Launch Alliance’s ground team recently completed a countdown dress rehearsal and installed a classified spy satellite payload on top of a Delta 4-Heavy rocket at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, readying the triple-body launcher for liftoff Saturday.

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION

A Soyuz-2.1a rocket stands on its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome after rollout from its hangar Monday at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Ground teams at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan rolled a Soyuz rocket to its launch pad Sunday, moving a step closer to liftoff Wednesday with a team of two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut heading for the International Space Station, the first flight of a U.S. crew member on a Russian spacecraft since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION

A Long March 7A rocket lifts off from the Wenchang launch bae with the Zhongxing 1E military communications satellite. Credit: CASC

One of China’s newest rockets, the Long March 7A, launched Tuesday with a military communications satellite, potentially signaling the start of a transition of launches for the country’s armed forces from aging booster designs with toxic propellants to newer rockets with more environmentally friendly fuels.

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 4-34 mission will launch SpaceX’s next batch of 54 Starlink broadband satellites. Follow us on Twitter.

Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle lifts off from Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand with the StriX 1 radar observation satellite. Credit: Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab’s 30th mission delivered the StriX 1 radar imaging satellite into orbit for the Japanese Earth observation company Synspective, beginning the deployment of a constellation of 30 commercial  radar satellites planned over the next four years.

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 StriX 1 radar remote sensing satellite for the Japanese company Synspective. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.

A kerosene-fueled Rutherford engine undergoing a test-firing. Credit: Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab is set to launch its 30th mission from New Zealand Thursday with a commercial Japanese radar remote sensing satellite. While the company does not plan to retrieve the Electron rocket on this mission, engineers recently test-fired an engine recovered from a flight earlier this year, another step toward Rocket Lab’s goal of reusing first stage boosters.

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 4-34 mission will launch SpaceX’s next batch of 54 Starlink broadband satellites. Follow us on Twitter.

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 4-34 mission will launch SpaceX’s next batch of 54 Starlink broadband satellites. Follow us on Twitter.

NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket on its launch pad. Credit: Michael Cain / Spaceflight Now / Coldlife Photography

NASA said Monday it is now targeting Wednesday, Sept. 21, for a critical fueling test on the Space Launch System moon rocket, which could allow for another attempt to launch the unpiloted Artemis 1 lunar test flight as soon as Sept. 27, assuming engineers find no problems and the Space Force approves an extension for the rocket’s range safety system. The updated schedule is a four-day delay for the SLS tanking test and next launch opportunity.

Firefly’s launch pad crew works on the Alpha rocket Monday, Sept. 12, at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Credit: Brian Sandoval / Spaceflight Now

Firefly Aerospace said Monday it will try again Sept. 19 to launch its second Alpha rocket from California after scrubbing back-to-back launch attempts due to a helium pressure issue and unfavorable wind conditions.