Space News & Blog Articles

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION

Artist’s concept of the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer with all its antenna deployed. Credit: European Space Agency

After three weeks of intense analysis and troubleshooting, European Space Agency flight controllers have finally succeeded in freeing a jammed 52-foot (16-meter) boom critical to the Jupiter-bound JUICE probe’s ice-penetrating radar instrument.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California with 16 satellites for OneWeb’s internet network and five satellites for Iridium’s voice and data relay constellation. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.

Watch our live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the Starlink 6-3 mission at 12:41 a.m. EDT (0441 UTC) on May 19 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Follow us on Twitter.

This screenshot from NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System 3D visualization tool shows Lunar Flashlight making its close approach with Earth late on May 16. The CubeSat was expected to pass about 40,000 miles (65,000 kilometers) from our planet’s surface over Brazil’s east coast on May 17.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s small Lunar Flashlight spacecraft, sent to the moon last year to search for water ice deposits at the moon’s south pole, will not be able to complete its science mission after a problem with the probe’s propulsion system.

United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket rolls out to Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on May 11. Credit: United Launch Alliance

United Launch Alliance’s first Vulcan rocket was filled with methane and liquid oxygen propellants at Cape Canaveral last week for a tanking test, but managers decided to move the rocket back inside a hangar for a few adjustments before proceeding with an engine test-firing.

Watch a our live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the Starlink 5-9 mission at 1:03 a.m. EDT (0503 UTC) on May 14 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Follow us on Twitter.

SpaceX’s launch of 51 more Starlink internet satellites Wednesday from California marked the 200th consecutive successful mission for the company’s Falcon rocket family, a record unmatched by any other space launch vehicle.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on the Starlink 2-9 mission with 51 Starlink internet satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.

Six kerosene-fueled engines on the Long March 7 rocket generated 1.6 million pounds of thrust at full power. Credit: CCTV

China’s space station is set to receive delivery of fresh supplies, experiments, and fuel after the launch of the Tianzhou 6 cargo ship at 9:22 a.m. EDT (1322 UTC) Wednesday aboard a Long March 7 rocket.

Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher lifts off with two of NASA’s TROPICS hurricane research satellites. Credit: Rocket Lab

The first pair of four NASA CubeSats designed to provide frequent updates of typhoon and hurricane development for new insights into how tropical storms evolve and intensify were launched by Rocket Lab from its New Zealand spaceport on Sunday.

The ground-breaking ceremony to mark the start of construction was attended by a number of officials, including (from left): Richard Lochhead, Minister for Small Business, Innovation & Trade, Scottish Government; Kristian von Bengtson, Chief Development Officer & Interim CEO, Orbex; Dorothy Pritchard, Chair, Melness Crofters’ Estate; Bart Markus, Chairman, Orbex; Ian Annett, Deputy CEO, UK Space Agency; and David Oxley, Director of Strategic Projects, Highlands & Islands Enterprise (HIE). Credit: Orbex

Rocket and launch services company Orbex has begun construction at Sutherland Spaceport in Scotland with a ground-breaking ceremony on May 5 that marked the start of the first vertical launch spaceport to be built on mainland UK.

Artist’s illustration of two TROPICS satellites collecting data on hurricanes. Credit: NASA

Rocket Lab’s launch of NASA’s second pair of TROPICS hurricane research satellites, reassigned from Astra following a launch failure last year, has been rescheduled for Sunday (U.S. time) after a delay due to unfavorable weather at the the company’s New Zealand spaceport.

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Credit: SpaceX

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket thundered into the sky over Florida’s Space Coast Sunday night and deployed a sophisticated internet satellite for Viasat into a circular orbit more than 20,000 miles over the equator, delivering for a competitor to SpaceX’s own Starlink broadband network.

Watch our live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the Starlink 5-6 mission at 3:31 a.m. EDT (0731 GMT) on May 4 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Follow us on Twitter.

A full-scale test model of an Ariane 6 rocket stands on its launch pad in French Guiana last year. Credit:
ESA-Manuel Pedoussaut

While preparing for launch of its first ViaSat 3 internet satellite on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket this week, Viasat is considering bids from commercial launch service providers to carry an identical satellite into orbit next year, following a decision to move the spacecraft off of a European Ariane 6 rocket because of delays in its development and availability.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the ViaSat 3 Americas broadband satellite. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.

Watch a replay of our live coverage of the countdown and launch two SpaceX rockets — a Falcon 9 and a Falcon Heavy — less than two hours apart on Friday, April 28. Follow us on Twitter.

Lightning strikes Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center on Thursday night, with a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket awaiting liftoff. Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX says engineers completed checks of the Falcon Heavy rocket, its satellite payloads, and ground systems at the Kennedy Space Center after a lightning strike on the launch pad’s tower Thursday night, part of a wave of severe weather that forced officials to delay the launch attempt.