Space News & Blog Articles

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Construction of Chinese space station enters final phase with module launch

A Long March 5B rocket hauls the Mengtian module into orbit for China’s Tiangong space station. Credit: China Manned Space Agency

China launched a heavy-lift Long March 5B rocket Monday with the Mengtian lab module, the final major element to complete the initial assembly and outfitting of the Chinese Tiangong space station. The lab module docked with the space station complex 13 hours later.

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Falcon Heavy ‘simply outstanding’ on SpaceX’s first launch to geosynchronous orbit

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy climbs into space from Kennedy Space Center on the U.S. Space Force’s USSF-44 mission. Credit: Michael Cain / Spaceflight Now / Coldlife Photography

The U.S. Space Force confirmed Tuesday that a Falcon Heavy launcher placed two main payloads and at least three smaller rideshare satellites directly into a high-altitude geosynchronous orbit after liftoff from Florida, an achievement that checks off one of the final unproven capabilities for SpaceX’s rocket family.

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Live coverage: Falcon Heavy launch, double rocket landing on tap Tuesday

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center on the USSF-44 mission for the U.S. Space Force. The mission will deploy two main payloads into geosynchronous orbit, and the Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters will return to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for landing. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.

SFN Live

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NASA sets October 2023 launch date for Psyche asteroid mission

Artist’s concept of the Psyche spacecraft, which will conduct a direct exploration of an asteroid thought to be a stripped planetary core. Credit: SSL/ASU/P. Rubin/NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA says the Psyche mission, a robotic asteroid explorer that missed a launch opportunity this year due to software testing problems, has been rescheduled for liftoff from Florida in October 2023 on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

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Final Atlas 5 launch from California delayed for battery replacement

The first stage of ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket was lifted onto its launch stand at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on Sept. 28. Credit: USSF 30th Space Wing/Steve Gerlich

The final flight of an Atlas 5 rocket from California has been delayed from Tuesday until no earlier than Nov. 9 to replace a battery on the launcher’s Centaur upper stage, United Launch Alliance and NASA officials said.

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Falcon Heavy rocket on the launch pad for one of SpaceX’s most complex missions

The 27 Merlin engines on the Falcon Heavy’s three first stage boosters. Credit: SpaceX

The first Falcon Heavy rocket flight since 2019 is scheduled Tuesday to kick off SpaceX’s longest-duration launch mission to date, a roughly six-hour climb into geosynchronous orbit more than 20,000 miles over the equator with a bundle of payloads for the U.S. Space Force. The powerful rocket’s two reusable side boosters will return to Cape Canaveral for landing.

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SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy test-fired on launch pad in Florida

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket fires its 27 main engines Thursday night at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX fired up 27 engines on a Falcon Heavy rocket Thursday night at Kennedy Space Center, sending a rumble across the spaceport in a hold-down test-firing before a launch next week for the U.S. Space Force.

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SpaceX adds 53 more Starlink satellites to internet constellation

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket fires its upper stage engine to propel 53 Starlink internet satellites into orbit. The rocket’s first stage booster and two halves of the payload fairing are visible returning to Earth for recovery and reuse. Credit: Gene Blevins / LA Daily News

SpaceX fired a Falcon 9 rocket off a launching stand in California at sunset Thursday, producing a twilight sky show visible as far away as Texas as the mission delivered 53 more Starlink internet satellites into orbit.

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Watch live: Russian cargo ship on course for docking at space station

Russia’s Progress MS-21 resupply spacecraft is on course for an automated docking with the International Space Station at 10:51 p.m. EDT (0251 GMT) to deliver more than 2.7 tons of cargo to the lab’s seven-person crew.

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Live coverage: More Starlink satellites awaiting launch from California

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California with 53 Starlink internet satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.

SpaceX Webcast

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Live coverage: SpaceX preps for first Falcon Heavy launch in three years

Live coverage of preparations for launch of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket on the U.S. Space Force’s USSF-44 mission. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.

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Russian cargo ship arrives at launch pad for flight to space station

A Russian Soyuz 2-1a rocket rolled out to its launch pad Oct. 22 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome with the Progress MS-21 cargo ship. Credit: Roscosmos

Russia is set to launch a Progress supply freighter Tuesday on a two-day trek to the International Space Station to deliver 5,556 pounds (2,520 kilograms) of cargo, fuel, water, and nitrogen to the orbiting research laboratory.

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OneWeb celebrates successful launch on Indian rocket

India’s GSLV Mk.3 rocket, also called LVM3, lifts off with 36 OneWeb internet satellites. Credit: ISRO

OneWeb confirmed it established contact with all 36 new satellites launched Saturday on top of India’s most powerful rocket, resuming the deployment of the company’s fleet of internet relay platforms after suspending launches with Russia earlier this year.

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Watch live: Soyuz rocket set to launch from Vostochny Cosmodrome

A Soyuz launcher lifts off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome with four satellites at 3:57 p.m. EDT (1957 GMT) Saturday. Credit: Roscosmos TV

A Russian Soyuz rocket launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome at 3:57 p.m. EDT (1957 GMT) Saturday with three Gonets data relay payloads and a demonstrator spacecraft for a proposed constellation of Russian broadband internet satellites.

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Live coverage: Indian rocket poised to launch 36 OneWeb satellites

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk.3 with 36 OneWeb internet satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.

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OneWeb set to resume launches on Indian rocket

Thirty-six OneWeb internet satellites are mounted on a dispenser inside the nose cone of India’s GSLV Mk.3 rocket. This photo was taken earlier this month during encapsulation inside the rocket’s payload fairing. Credit: ISRO

After the suspension of commercial launches on Russia’s Soyuz rocket earlier this year, OneWeb is set to resume deploying satellites for its global internet network Saturday with an Indian GSLV Mk.3 launcher, one of five OneWeb missions planned before mid-2023 to finish the company’s first-generation constellation.

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NASA’s Juno spacecraft captures closest views of Europa since 2000

This view of Jovian moon Europa was created by processing an image JunoCam captured during Juno’s close flyby on Sept. 29, 2022. Credit: Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSSImage processing by Björn Jónsson CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Continuing to gather bonus science data in an extended mission around Jupiter, NASA’s Juno spacecraft recorded sharp views of the icy moon Europa Sept. 29 as the solar-powered probe raced by at a relative velocity of nearly 53,000 mph (85,000 kilometers per hour).

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Live coverage: Another batch of Starlink satellites set for launch Thursday

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Starlink 4-36 mission will launch SpaceX’s next batch of 54 Starlink broadband satellites. Follow us on Twitter.

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Russia launches three satellite deployment missions in one week

A Finnish pilot submitted this spectacular photo of the Soyuz rocket’s exhaust plume at sunrise after launch Oct. 10 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. Credit: Tuomas Syrjäniemi

All three of Russia’s major rockets — the Soyuz, Proton, and Angara — launched last week on missions to deploy a Russian navigation satellite, an Angolan communications spacecraft, and a top secret military spy payload.

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Failure of Japan’s Epsilon rocket blamed on attitude control system

A Japanese Epsilon rocket lifts off Oct. 12 with eight small satellites. Credit: JAXA

Engineers investigating the Oct. 12 launch failure of a Japanese Epsilon rocket have traced the problem to the attitude control system on the second stage, Japan’s space agency said Tuesday.

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SpaceX launches European TV broadcasting satellite

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket streaks into a moonlit sky over Cape Canaveral in this long exposure photo. Credit: Michael Cain / Spaceflight Now / Coldlife Photography

An Airbus-built communications satellite rocketed into orbit early Saturday from Cape Canaveral on top of a SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher, bound for a high-altitude perch in geostationary orbit to beam hundreds of TV and radio channels to Eutelsat customers across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.

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