Space News & Blog Articles

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Live coverage: China to launch 3 taikonauts to the Tiangong space station

The trio of the Shenzhou-19 mission to the Tiangong space station salute before departing to the launchpad. Left to right: Wang Haoze, Chi Xuzhe (commander), Song Lingdong. Image: CCTV via livestream

Three of China’s taikonauts are preparing to journey to the Tiangong space station on the country’s eighth long-duration spaceflight.

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Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 20 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB

File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch a Starlink mission. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX is preparing to launch another Falcon 9 rocket in the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday morning The flight will add another 20 Starlink satellites to the megaconstellation.

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Live coverage: SpaceX to launch Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral

File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch a Starlink mission. Image: SpaceX

The day after it helped return three astronauts and a cosmonaut to Earth from the International Space Station, SpaceX is preparing its next Falcon 9 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

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Returning astronauts taken to “local medical facility” after initial checks aboard recovery ship

The four members of the SpaceX Crew-8 mission wave after the side hatch opens following their return to Earth on Oct. 25, 2024. Left to right: Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, pilot Michael Barratt, commander Matthew Dominick, astronaut Jeanette Epps. Image: SpaceX

Three NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut returned to Earth early Friday, splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico to close out an extended 235-day expedition to the International Space Station. After initial medical checks, all four were flown to a nearby medical facility for “additional evaluation,” NASA said.

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Live coverage: Crew-8 splashdown off the coast of Pensacola, Florida

Three U.S. astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut are closing in on their return to Earth after spending more than seven months in space.

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SpaceX launches 4th batch of Starshield satellites for the NRO on its 100th Falcon 9 rocket of 2024

The Falcon 9 at sunrise Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024 as final preparations were made for the NROL-167 mission. Image: SpaceX.

SpaceX launch its fourth mission of the year for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) carrying satellites for its so-called “proliferated architecture,” which are believed to be Starshield satellites.

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Live coverage: NASA, SpaceX to undock Crew-8 following weeks of weather-related delays, scheduling conflicts

The three astronauts and cosmonaut of the SpaceX Crew-8 mission finally have a return date to Earth following more than seven months in space.

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ULA begins stacking Vulcan rocket in anticipation of first national security mission

United Launch Alliance (ULA) hoists its Vulcan first stage booster into the Vertical Integration Facility-G (VIF-G) adjacent to Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The rocket will launch the USSF-106 mission for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command, Vulcan’s first national security flight. Image: United Launch Alliance

Less than a month after the second of two planned certification launches, United Launch Alliance is getting a Vulcan rocket ready for its first national security mission: United States Space Force 106 (USSF-106).

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Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 68th Starlink mission of 2024 as it seeks permission to operate nearly 30,000 Gen2 satellites

A Falcon 9 stands ready for a Starlink mission at Cape Canaveral’s pad 40. File photo: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now.

Update Oct. 21, 4:20 p.m.: SpaceX is pushing back its planned launch to no earlier than Tuesday, Oct. 22.

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SpaceX launches final Gen. 1 OneWeb satellites on 100th orbital flight of 2024

The final two satellites in a batch of 20 OneWeb Gen. 1 satellites are deployed at the tail end of the OneWeb Launch #20 mission. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX completed its 100th orbital launch of the year for its Falcon family of rockets late Saturday night in California. It reach this first-time milestone by launching OneWeb’s final batch of its first generation internet satellites.

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Live coverage: SpaceX to launch Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral

A Falcon 9 stands ready for a Starlink mission at Cape Canaveral’s pad 40. File photo: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now.

SpaceX is preparing to launch its third batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit since Monday morning. If the company is able to launch during its window of opportunity on Thursday, it will mark the fastest pad turnaround for Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at 2 days, 17 hours and 43 minutes.

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Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 20 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB

A stack of SpaceX Starlink satellites, which included the first six featuring Direct to Cell capabilities. The batch launched on the Starlink 7-9 mission, which lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Jan. 2, 2024. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX is looking to complete a double launch day on Tuesday with a Starlink mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The Starlink 9-7 mission is scheduled just a few hours after the Starlink 10-10 mission is set to conclude after launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

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SpaceX notches 100th launch of 2024 with Starlink mission on Falcon 9 rocket

File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch a Starlink mission. Image: SpaceX

Update 2:31 a.m. EDT: SpaceX launched the Starlink 10-10 mission at 2:10 a.m. EDT (0610 UTC).

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Live coverage: SpaceX to launch NASA’s Europa Clipper on Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Center

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket stands in launch position in preparation of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, which is set to launch on Oct. 14, 2024. Image: SpaceX

Hot on the heels of its successful mid-air booster catch during its Sunday Starship Flight 5 mission, SpaceX is preparing to launch a Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center around lunchtime on Monday.

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SpaceX pulls off mid-air launch pad capture of descending Super Heavy booster

Super Heavy Booster 12 returns to the pad it launched from just seven minutes earlier. Image: Adam Bernstein / Spaceflight Now.

In one of the most dramatic, high-risk space flights to date, SpaceX launched a gargantuan Super Heavy-Starship rocket on an unpiloted test flight Sunday and then used giant “mechazilla” robot arms on the pad gantry to pluck the returning first stage out of the sky in an unprecedented feat of engineering.

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Live coverage: SpaceX to attempt first booster catch during the Starship Flight 5 mission

SpaceX’s fully stacked Starship rocket stands atop the Orbital Launch Mount at Starbase in southern Texas. The Starship Flight 5 mission is poised to feature the first booster catch using the arms of the launch tower. Image: Will Robinson-Smith/Spaceflight Now

Update 4:00 a.m. EDT: Because of poor weather off the coast of Florida, Crew Dragon Endeavour will not undock from the International Space Station on Sunday, Oct. 13. A new undocking date will be determined 

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Live coverage: ESA’s Hera spacecraft aims to launch on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket as Hurricane Milton takes aim at Florida

An artist’s rendering of the Hera spacecraft along with CubeSats Milani and Juventas around the asteroid, Dimorphous. Graphic: ESA

The European Space Agency and SpaceX are hoping for good enough weather as they prepare to launch a mission to a binary asteroid Monday morning.

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ULA launches second Vulcan flight, encounters strap-on booster anomaly

By thirty-seven seconds after liftoff, it was clear one of two strap-on solid fuel boostersvwas suffered an anomaly as can be seen by sparks and debris falling away from the rocket. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now

United Launch Alliance fired off a next-generation Vulcan rocket Friday in the second of two “certification” test flights needed before the new launcher can be used to carry high-priority national security payloads for the U.S. Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office.

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Live coverage: ULA to launch second test flight of its Vulcan rocket from Cape Canaveral

United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket sits at launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) ahead of the planned Cert-2 launch on Oct. 4, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now

United Launch Alliance is preparing for its final planned test flight with its new Vulcan rocket in the pre-dawn hours of Friday morning. The mission, dubbed Cert-2, is the second of two missions needed before ULA can begin launching U.S. national security payloads on Vulcan.

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ESA’s Hera mission progresses towards launch pending Falcon 9 readiness

An artist’s rendering of the Hera spacecraft alongside the CubeSats, Juventas and Milani. Graphic: ESA

The European Space Agency is on the cusp of launching its first planetary defense mission, a complement to NASA’s 2022 Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission. The goal of these missions is to understand how Earth can be protected from a potentially destructive asteroid strike.

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ULA rolls its Vulcan rocket to the launch pad ahead of second test flight

United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket made the one-third of a mile journey from its Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station late in the morning on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. The rocket will fly ULA’s second certification mission set to launch no earlier than Friday, Oct. 4. Image: Will Robinson-Smith/Spaceflight Now

United Launch Alliance returned to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 with its Vulcan rocket ahead of the vehicle’s second launch. ULA needs to successfully fly this second certification mission before it can begin launching national security payloads for the U.S. Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office.

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