Space News & Blog Articles

Get a big discount on this Prime Day camera deal and save $300 on the Panasonic LUMIX FZ2500.

Video: 00:06:42

Flight VV21 clears the launch pad to begin the inaugural mission of ESA’s new Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

Save over $100 on a mirrorless camera that we've named in our best beginner cameras guide.

Yes, two SVBONY SV503 telescopes are on offer this Amazon Prime Day which also feature in our best telescopes guide.

"Light & Magic" is a six-part miniseries on Disney Plus saluting the mighty magic of ILM.

The XL-Calibur telescope will measure the X-ray emissions from black holes and neutron stars in our galaxy.

The annual Summer sales event has given lift-off to another telescope deal worth scoping out now for $70 off.

Sony A7R IV camera is discounted over $500 thanks to Amazon Prime Day for a limited time only deal.

Two excellent Holy Stone drones are on offer with up to $106 off, but only for Prime Day.

Get one of these planetary printers at their lowest ever prices in the Amazon Prime Day sale.

Adorama and Amazon fight it out this Prime Day to help you save a massive $1600 on the Fujifilm GFX 50R camera, but hurry as stocks are low.

Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher lifts off from New Zealand on the NROL-162 mission. Credit: Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab launched a classified payload into orbit Wednesday for the National Reconnaissance Office, the first of two back-to-back Rocket Lab missions for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency.

The Electron rocket lifted off from Pad A on Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand at 2:30 a.m. EDT (0630 GMT) Wednesday, carrying the NRO’s top secret cargo on a mission the spy satellite agency codenamed NROL-162.

The launch Wednesday occurred 15 days after Rocket Lab’s previous flight, which hauled NASA’s CAPSTONE spacecraft into space on the way to the moon. The 15-day turnaround was the shortest span between missions in Rocket Lab’s history, but the company aims to improve on that record with another NRO launch from Pad B scheduled July 22.

The U.S. government’s spy satellite agency partnered with the Australian Department of Defence on the two Rocket Lab missions, which will also demonstrate Rocket Lab’s responsive launch capability. The two missions — designated NROL-162 and NROL-199 — are scheduled as little as nine days apart.

The higher launch rate is enabled by the operation of two launch pads at Rocket Lab’s privately-owned spaceport on the North Island of New Zealand. Rocket Lab launched the first mission from Pad B at Launch Complex 1 in February. The new site is located 383 feet (117 meters) from Pad A, which Rocket Lab has used since the first Electron launch in 2017.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Vega-C rocket with the Italian Space Agency’s LARES 2 satellite for experimental physics research. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.

Arianespace’s live video webcast begins at approximately 1045 GMT (6:45 a.m. EDT), and will be available on this page.

July's full moon known as the 'Buck Moon' will rise tonight (July 13) above the eastern horizon. It will be the biggest supermoon of the year.

A new PBS documentary explores the two decades of teamwork it took to get NASA's $10 billion deep space observatory ready for science.

A new study has revealed why red supergiant stars appear to dance around in the space.

ESA’s new Vega-C rocket has completed its inaugural flight, placing main payload LARES-2 – a scientific mission of the Italian Space Agency ASI – into its planned orbit. Six research CubeSats from France, Italy and Slovenia flew as secondary payloads. The launch caps a multi-year effort by ESA, prime contractor Avio and industrial partners in 13 ESA member states to build on the heritage of its predecessor, Vega. 

Rocket Lab has delivered another satellite to orbit for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).

An ESA-financed nanosatellite, due to lift off aboard the inaugural flight of Vega-C today, will operate an AI system in the harsh, radiation-wracked environment of the Van Allen Belts. The shoebox-sized Trisat-R – one of six ‘CubeSats’ on the flight, headed up to a rarely-trafficked close to 6000 km altitude orbit – is also carrying radiation-detection payloads from CERN, the European Council for Nuclear Research, Slovenian firm SkyLabs and ESA itself.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1A on Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand on a satellite delivery mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.

Rocket Lab’s live video webcast begins approximately 20 minutes prior to launch, and will be available on this page.