Space News & Blog Articles

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Falcon 9 second stage firing during the climb to orbit with Crew 9. Dragon Freedom reached orbit normally but the upper stage failed to perform a deorbit burn correctly. Image: SpaceX.

SpaceX’s Falcon rocket fleet was grounded for the third time in three months after a second stage problem occurred Saturday following the successful launch of a Dragon Capsule carrying two crew to the International Space Station. The suspension in flights comes as the company prepares to launch two solar system exploration missions in October with narrow launch windows.

Cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov (left) will assist commander Nick Hague (right) during the Crew 9’s climb to space. The two empty seats will be used by Starliner commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and pilot Sunita Williams when all four return to Earth next February. Image: SpaceX

NASA’s 10th Crew Dragon flight to the International Space Station is ready for launch Saturday with two long-duration crew members on board along with two empty seats that will be used next February to carry Boeing’s Starliner astronauts back to Earth after an extended stay in orbit.

SpaceX static fires its Falcon 9 rocket at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) in preparation for the Crew-9 mission on Saturday, Sept. 28. The test came following a dry dress rehearsal of launch activities earlier in the day. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now

NASA and SpaceX pushed ahead with planned prelaunch activities Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s pad 40 on Tuesday even as the date of liftoff for the Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station had to be delayed due to expected impacts from Tropical Storm Helene.

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 preparing to launch its latest Falcon 9 rocket on a Starlink mission as Tropical Storm Helene threatens the timeline for the next mission to the International Space Station.

Representatives from NASA participate in a media event at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, Sept. 21, upon the arrival of NASA astronaut Nick Hague, commander, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, mission specialist, in advance of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Image: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Update Sept. 23, 2:54 p.m.: NASA’s Kennedy Space Center shifted its status to HURCON 4, due to Potential Tropical Cyclone 9.

The Soyuz MS-25/71S spacecraft carrying commander Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub and NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson undocked from the International Space Station early Monday as the two spacecraft were passing 260 miles above eastern Mongolia. Image: NASA

Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, now the world’s most experienced spaceman, first-time flier Nikolai Chub and NASA veteran Tracy Dyson undocked from the International Space Station and returned to Earth Monday, closing out a record-setting mission with a picture-perfect landing in Kazakhstan.