Space News & Blog Articles

File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands in the launch position at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ahead of the planned liftoff of the Starlink 6-61 mission on Oct. 22, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now

SpaceX will continue to test the limits of its Falcon 9 rocket with its next launch of Starlink satellites. The Starlink 6-69 mission features 24 of the V2 Mini variety of the satellite, which appears to be the maximum that can flown on a single Falcon 9 launch to this particular shell.

A merging of multiple photographs of SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster as it made its way down to be caught my the ‘Mechazilla’ launch tower during the Starlink Flight 5 mission on Oct. 13, 2024. Image: SpaceX

Less than a month after launching its Starship rocket and catching its booster, SpaceX is targeting a sixth test flight of its gleaming stainless steel rocket which towers almost 400 feet tall (121 meters).

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

SpaceX has delayed a Falcon 9 rocket launch from California on Wednesday, just hours after it scrubbed a Falcon 9 launch from Florida.

File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands in the launch position at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ahead of the planned liftoff of the Starlink 6-61 mission on Oct. 22, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now

Update Nov. 6, 2:56 p.m. EST: SpaceX pushed the planned T-0 liftoff time to the end of the launch window.

Watch the @SpaceX #Dragon cargo spacecraft approach the station and dock at 9:55am ET today to deliver over 6,000 pounds of science, supplies, and hardware to the Exp 72 crew live on @NASA+ now. https://t.co/z5EioO2GTf

Gilmour Space Technology’s Eris Block 1 rocket pictured at the launchpad at the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in Australia. Image: Gilmour Space

Spaceflight is gearing up to introduce commercial, orbital spaceflight to Australia in the coming months. On Tuesday, Gilmour Space Technologies announced it received a launch permit from the Australian Space Agency and the Minister for Industry and Science for the inaugural launch of its three-stage Eris rocket.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the company’s Dragon spacecraft atop, stands in a vertical position at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in preparation for the 31st commercial resupply services launch to the International Space Station. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX is preparing to launch its 31st resupply mission to the International Space Station on Monday night, weather permitting.

United Launch Alliance (ULA) hoists its Centaur V upper stage atop the 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. Image: United Launch Alliance

United Launch Alliance continues to make strides towards launching its first national security mission with its Vulcan rocket, but the exact timing of that launch remains uncertain.

File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands in the launch position at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ahead of the planned liftoff of the Starlink 6-61 mission on Oct. 22, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now

Update Nov. 3, 1:42 p.m. EST: Added information about the booster flying this mission.

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

NASA’s plan to return humans to the surface of the Moon needs several puzzle pieces to come together in time, one of which is the lunar lander itself. For the first two planned crewed landings, that capability is coming from SpaceX and its Starship rocket.

File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands in the launch position at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ahead of the planned liftoff of the Starlink 6-61 mission on Oct. 22, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now

SpaceX is preparing for its second launch of the day with another Starlink flight. This Falcon 9 rocket will add another 23 Starlink satellites to the growing megaconstellation.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.