Space News & Blog Articles

Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket on the launch pad ahead of the NS-23 mission. Credit: Blue Origin

After more than a year of being sidelined, Blue Origin is preparing for a resurgence of its New Shepard rocket suborbital flights.

A Falcon 9 stands ready for launch with 23 Starlink satellites on pad 40. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now.

SpaceX scrubbed the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket after delaying a Falcon Heavy launch for the U.S. military. It had planned the launch Monday night, less than three hours after the scheduled launch of a Falcon Heavy from nearby pad 39A. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 with 23 Starlink satellites was tentatively rescheduled for 11:02 p.m. EST (0402 UTC) Tuesday.

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket stands ready to launch the USSF-52 mission. The two side boosters are making their fifth flight while the center booster is launching on its first and only flight. Image: Michael Cain

The fifth and final Falcon Heavy mission of 2023 is preparing to launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center carrying the X-37B, a secretive spaceplane operated by the U.S. military. The mission, code-named U.S. Space Force (USSF)-52, is set for liftoff during a ten-minute window on Monday, Dec. 10, that opens at 8:14 p.m. EST (0114 UTC).

ULA’s Vulcan rocket sits at the pad at Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) ahead of the start of a wet dress rehearsal tanking test on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023. Image: ULA

The debut of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket may slip from late December into early January, according to the company’s president and CEO, Tory Bruno. In a social media post on Sunday, Bruno said the planned Dec. 24 launch date is “likely out.”

A Falcon 9 carrying 22 Starlink satellites lifts off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Dec. 8, 2023. Image: SpaceX.

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted from the West Coast with another batch of satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink network at 12:03 a.m. PST Friday (3:03 a.m. EST / 0803 UTC). Including Starship test flights this was SpaceX’s 100th launch in 365 days.

File photo a a Falcon 9 prior to a Starlink satellite delivery mission. Image: SpaceX.

SpaceX is preparing to hit another milestone with its late Wednesday night Starlink mission launch. The flight from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station will mark the company’s 90th orbital launch in 2023 and its 280th Falcon 9 launch to date.

Intuitive Machines engineers loading the IM-1 mission Nova-C lunar lander into its custom container in Houston, TX. Image: Intuitive Machines

In a blend of interesting circumstances and happenstance, two private companies and Japan’s space agency are all poised to land on the Moon in the back half of January 2024.

The Falcon Heavy for the USSF 52 mission to launch the U.S. military’s X-37B spaceplane inside the hangar at launch complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. Image: SpaceX.

Following two Falcon 9 launches from both California and Florida, SpaceX closed out the first weekend of December with a Falcon Heavy static fire test. The ignition of the 27 Merlin engines came a week ahead of the planned launch of a national security mission that has been on the books for half a decade.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket streaks across the sky above Florida’s Space Coast amid the Starlink 6-31 mission. Image: Adam Bernstein

SpaceX continued a busy weekend with the launch of another batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station late Saturday night. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40 occurred at 11:00 p.m. EST (0400 UTC).

A pair of prototype satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper internet constellation are encapsulated in a pair of payload fairings for launch aboard a ULA Atlas 5 rocket. Image: ULA

Tech giant Amazon is adding a fifth rocket to launch its satellite internet constellation. In a surprise move on Friday afternoon, the company announced it purchased three flights aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets to send batched of its Project Kuiper satellites to low Earth orbit.

A Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch the Korea 425 mission from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Image: SpaceX

Kicking off the month of December for SpaceX was a Falcon 9 ride share mission with a payload of 25 spacecraft on board. The launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base was headlined by the Korea 425 mission.

A Soyuz 2.1a rocket blasts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying a Progress cargo ship loaded with 5,500 pounds of equipment, supplies and propellant bound for the International Space Station. Image: NASA TV.

A Russian Progress cargo ship loaded with more than 5,500 pounds of supplies and equipment bound for the International Space Station blasted off from Kazakhstan early Friday, kicking off a two-day orbital chase.

The Ariane 6 rocket photographed at dusk in French Guiana. During a briefing on Thursday, Nov. 30, ESA officials discussed a summer timeframe for the first launch of the rocket. Image: ESA

Lengthy delays for the debut of Europe’s future flagship rocket may have an end in sight. During a briefing with press on Thursday, European Space Agency Director General Josef Aschbacher announced that Ariane 6 would have its first launch between mid-June and the end of July in 2024.

A Dual Engine Centaur upper stage for Atlas V nears completion at the factory in Decatur, Alabama. The RL10 engine marked 60 years of flight on Nov. 27, 2023. Image: United Launch Alliance

A rocket engine with a long pedigree marked a big milestone on Monday. It’s 60 years since the hydrogen-fueled RL10 engine debuted onboard a Centaur upper stage launched from Cape Canaveral on Nov. 27, 1963.

A Falcon 9 heads on a south-easterly trajectory from Cape Canaveral on Nov. 28, 2023, carrying a batch of Starlink satellites into orbit. Image: Pete Carstens.

The next batch of Starlink satellites for SpaceX’s space-based internet service soared into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket Monday night from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

SpaceX was racing to get a Falcon 9 rocket ready to fly from Cape Canaveral Tuesday evening as launch preparations fell behind schedule. Currently liftoff with a batch of 23 Starlink satellites is planned for 1:47 a.m. EST (0647 UTC) Wednesday morning.

A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California carrying 22 Starlink satellites on Nov 20, 2023. Image: Space X.

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from the West Coast with another batch of 22 Starlink satellites at 2:30 a.m. PST Monday (5:30 a.m. EST / 1030 UTC).

Starship thunders away from its launch pad on its second test flight, trailing a one thousand foot exhaust plume. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now.

SpaceX’s gargantuan Super Heavy-Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, blasted off on its second test flight Saturday and while the initial stages of the mission went smoothly, the first stage broke apart moments after separation from the Starship upper stage, which then blew itself up as it neared space.

Our live webcast from Starbase, Texas, will get underway at 5 a.m. CST / 6 a.m. EST / 1300 UTC. Our coverage of the countdown and launch is brought to you in partnership with our colleagues at LabPadre.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 stands ready for launch on a Starlink delivery mission. Image: Spaceflight Now.

A Falcon 9 rocket is to launch tonight with another batch of satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink internet service. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is planned for 11:15 p.m. EDT (0415 UTC).

Starship and Super Heavy stand ready for a second test flight on Nov. 15, 2023. Image: Will Robinson-Smith/Spaceflight Now.

SpaceX’s huge Super Heavy-Starship rocket has been cleared for a second test flight Friday in an attempt to boost the unpiloted Starship upper stage into space for the first time, the company announced Wednesday.