Space News & Blog Articles

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION

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 Eutelsat’s Hotbird 13F geostationary communications satellites. Follow us on Twitter.

Eutelsat’s Hotbird 13F communications satellite. Credit: Airbus

The first in a new line of Airbus-built communications satellites is stowed for launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Friday night from Cape Canaveral, ready for a mission to beam hundreds of TV channels to Eutelsat customers across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.

Live coverage of the undocking, re-entry, and splashdown of NASA’s Crew-4 mission at the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.