Space News & Blog Articles

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket fires through cloud cover over Cape Canaveral to deliver the Eutelsat 10B satellite into orbit. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now

Despite a bleak weather forecast, SpaceX took advantage of a break in cloud cover over Cape Canaveral Tuesday night to launch a Falcon 9 rocket with the Eutelsat 10B satellite, a high-throughput relay platform to beam in-flight WiFi signals and maritime data services across a coverage zone from the North Atlantic to the Middle East.

ABL Space Systems’ RS1 rocket on its launch pad in Alaska. Credit: ABL Space Systems

The first test flight of ABL Space Systems’ new small satellite launcher from Alaska has been delayed until no earlier than December after technical issues cut short three launch attempts in the last week.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Falcon 9 rocket will launch SpaceX’s 26th resupply mission to the International Space Station. Follow us on Twitter.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Cargo Dragon capsule on pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. Credit: SpaceX

A second pair of new roll-out solar arrays to upgrade the International Space Station’s power system is set for launch as soon as Tuesday on a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship. Astronauts will help deploy the power-generating solar wings during a pair of spacewalks next week.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Eutelsat 10B broadband communications satellite for aviation and maritime connectivity. Follow us on Twitter.

The Eutelsat 10B communications satellite inside an antenna test range at Thales Alenia Space in Cannes, France. Credit: Eutelsat

A 12,000-pound European broadband communications satellite designed to beam internet signals to airplanes and ships is ready to rocket into a high-altitude orbit from Cape Canaveral Monday night, marking the 11th and final flight for SpaceX’s oldest active Falcon 9 booster. The rocket will devote all of its lift capability to deploying the Eutelsat 10B satellite into as high of an orbit as possible.

A camera on one of the Orion spacecraft’s solar arrays captured this view of the moon, with distant Earth in the background a quarter-million miles away. Credit: NASA TV / Spaceflight Now

NASA’s unpiloted Orion spacecraft fired its main engine for two-and-a-half minutes Monday just before the capsule soared 81 miles from the surface of the moon, completing a flyby maneuver to bend its trajectory toward a distant orbit for more testing ahead of future lunar missions with astronauts.

Live coverage of the flight of the Space Launch System moon rocket and Orion spacecraft on NASA’s Artemis 1 mission . Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.

A camera mounted on the trip of one of the Orion spacecraft’s solar array wings captured this view of the capsule during an exterior survey Nov. 18. Credit: NASA

Nearly five days after its sky-lighting launch, NASA’s unpiloted Orion crew capsule closed in on the moon Sunday, on course for a critical rocket firing and lunar flyby Monday to whip the craft into a distant orbit. The goal is to pave the way toward a piloted flight around the moon in 2024.

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson (left) meets with members of the “red crew” after they repaired a hydrogen leak at the Artemis 1 moon rocket’s launch pad. The red crew members, from left to right, were Billy Cairns, cryogenic engineering technician; Chad Garrett, safety engineer; and Trent Annis, cryogenic engineering technician. Credit: NASA/Sam Lott

NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket relied on advanced guidance algorithms, powerful cryogenic engines, and millions of lines of software code to get it off the ground for the first time Wednesday. But “there are also times when you’ve just got to put a wrench on a nut,” NASA’s Artemis ground systems program manager said.

NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket lifts off with 8.8 million pounds of thrust from two powerful solid rocket boosters and four core stage engines. Credit: Michael Cain / Spaceflight Now / Coldlife Photography

NASA’s huge Space Launch System moon rocket finally took off from Florida early Wednesday after a decade in development, sending an unpiloted Orion crew capsule toward lunar orbit on a 25-day test flight to lay a path for astronauts to return to the moon for the first time since 1972.

Live coverage of the countdown and maiden flight of the Space Launch System on NASA’s Artemis 1 mission. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION

ABL Space Systems’ RS1 rocket horizontal at Launch Pad 3C at Alaska Aerospace’s Pacific Spaceport Complex. Credit: ABL Space Systems

ABL Space Systems could launch the first test flight of its one-ton class RS1 rocket from Alaska as soon as this week, after securing a launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration, the company said Sunday.

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION

ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 3-East at Vandenberg Space Force Base with NOAA’s JPSS 2 weather satellite and NASA’s LOFTID re-entry tech demo experiment. Credit: Alex Polimeni / Spaceflight Now

The 301st and final Atlas rocket to launch from California blasted off Thursday with a NOAA weather satellite and a first-of-its-kind re-entry tech demo experiment, clearing the way for modifications to ready the Atlas launch pad for United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan rocket.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The Falcon 9 rocket will launch Intelsat’s Galaxy 31 and 32 geostationary communications satellites. Follow us on Twitter.

Credit: NASA

NASA’s $4.1 billion Artemis moon rocket, exposed to the elements atop its Kennedy Space Center launch pad, was rocked by high winds and driving rain early Thursday as Hurricane Nicole roared ashore just south of the spaceport.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an Atlas 5 rocket with the JPSS 2 weather satellite for NOAA, and the Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, or LOFTID, re-entry tech demo experiment for NASA and United Launch Alliance. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.