Space News & Blog Articles

A streak shot of Firefly Aerospace’s fifth launch of its Alpha rocket on a mission named “Noise of Summer.” Image: Firefly Aerospace/Sean Parker

Coming on the heels of another large launch deal, Firefly Aerospace announced it sold up to 20 flights on its Alpha rocket to L3Harris. The agreement would see these missions fly between 2027 and 2031.

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft that launched astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station is pictured docked to the Harmony module’s forward port. Image: NASA.

As NASA debates the safety of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in the wake of multiple helium leaks and thruster issues, the agency is “getting more serious” about a backup plan to bring the ship’s two crew members back to Earth aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon, officials said Wednesday.

NASA officials aim to add context to some of its recent changes to the manifest of the International Space Station. It will host a media teleconference on Wednesday, Aug. 7, to discuss the timelines of the SpaceX Crew-9 launch, the Crew-8 return to Earth and the impacts to the schedule from the ongoing Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test.

The crew of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station poses during training at SpaceX’s Hawthorne facility. Image: SpaceX

NASA is delaying the launch of the next space station crew as it continues to work through thruster issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. In a blog post, the agency said the launch of the Crew-9 mission, aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule, is now targeted for no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 24.

A Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft separates from a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage during the NG-21 mission on Aug. 4, 2024. Image: SpaceX

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft is preparing to end a roughly 40-hour journey playing catchup with the International Space Station. After launching late Sunday morning from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the spacecraft is targeting its arrival at the orbiting outpost Tuesday morning.

The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft is pictured docked to the space-facing port on the International Space Station’s Harmony module. Dragon Freedom carried four Axiom Mission-2 astronauts to the orbital lab on May 22, 2023, including Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot John Shoffner, and Mission Specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi. Image: NASA

The full crew of the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station was announced on Monday as they officially began training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch a Starlink mission. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX is looking to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base Sunday morning. The launch attempt comes after it stood down from launching a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft from Florida due to poor weather.

On Tuesday, July 30, 2024, the Northrop Grumman Cygnus resupply spacecraft is seen being encapsulated inside the SpaceX Falcon 9 payload fairing as it prepares to launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida for the 21st Northrop Grumman commercial resupply services for NASA. The mission will carry 8,200 pounds of science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. Liftoff is scheduled for no earlier than 11:29 a.m. EDT Saturday, Aug. 3. Image: SpaceX

More than 8,200 pounds of science and cargo supplies are preparing to launch to the International Space Station. A Northrop Grumman-built Cygnus spacecraft will begin a roughly two-day journey to the orbiting outpost following its launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Rocket Lab’s 51st Electron rocket stands at Pad B in Mahia, New Zealand, in preparation for the launch of the “Owl for One, Owl for All” mission. Image: Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab is preparing for its ninth launch of 2024 and its 51st Electron rocket launch to date. The mission will send an Earth observing satellite to low Earth orbit on behalf of Japan-based Synspective.

File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands in launch position at Launch Complex 39A ahead of the Starlink 6-51 mission on April 17, 2024. Image: Spaceflight Now

SpaceX is preparing to launch its latest batch of Starlink satellites, increasing its mega-constellation in low Earth orbit. The mission comes as the company is simultaneously working towards the launch of a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station over the weekend.

An Atlas 5 551 rocket stands tall at Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) in anticipation of the USSF-51 mission launch. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now

United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket is preparing for its swan song when it comes to launching critical missions connected to U.S. national security. The launch provider is prepping to send up a classified payload as part of the United States Space Force-51 (USSF-51) mission, marking the 100th such operation for ULA.

A stack of SpaceX Starlink satellites, which included the first six featuring Direct to Cell capabilities. The batch launched on the Starlink 7-9 mission, which lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Jan. 2, 2024. Image: SpaceX

Update 2:43 a.m. EDT: SpaceX adjusted the T-0 liftoff time.

A Falcon 9 rocket stands at the ready to support the Starlink 10-4 mission, which will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on July 28, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now

Update 2:13 a.m. EDT: SpaceX confirmed successful deployment of the Starlink satellites.

United Launch Alliance rolled its Atlas 5 551 rocket to the launchpad at Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) on Saturday, July 27, 2024, ahead of the USSF-51 launch on Tuesday, July 30. Image: Will Robinson-Smith/Spaceflight Now

United Launch Alliance is preparing for a seminole moment for its Atlas 5 rocket. The launch vehicle is preparing to launch its 58th and final national security mission on Tuesday. The United States Space Force-51 (USSF-51) mission will also be the 100th national security mission launch for ULA.

The Falcon 9 returns to flight two weeks after an upper stage failure. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now.

A two-week launch hiatus for SpaceX came to a close after midnight on Saturday with the Starlink 10-9 mission returning the Falcon 9 to flight after an upper stage mishap on a July 11 grounded the workhorse rocket.

Watch live as NASA holds briefings at the Johnson Space Center in Houston on the upcoming Crew 9 mission. A SpaceX Dragon capsule is due to ferry NASA astronauts Zena Cardman, Nick Hague, and Stephanie Wilson and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov to the International Space Station in August. Meanwhile at Kennedy Space Center SpaceX is rolling out a Falcon 9 for the first launch of its workhorse rocket since an upper stage failure on July 11 suspended flights.

Boeing’s Starliner, docked at the International Space Station, pictured in a long-duration exposure as the craft soared 258 miles above western China. Image: NASA.

Critical tests are on tap this weekend to confirm Boeing’s Starliner capsule can safety carry its two-person crew back to Earth despite unexpected helium leaks and degraded maneuvering thrusters, officials said Thursday.

The Starliner spacecraft on NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test is pictured docked to the Harmony module’s forward port as the International Space Station orbited 263 miles above the Mediterranean Sea. Image: NASA.

NASA and Boeing leadership are set to provide an update on the ongoing Crew Flight Test of the Starliner spacecraft as the mission enters its 50th day since launch. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams launched to the International Space Station atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket back on June 5 and docked the following day.

SpaceX conducted a static fire test of its Falcon 9 rocket as it looks to resume launches in the near future. The launch provider was grounded following a July 11 anomaly that occurred with its upper stage during the Starlink 9-3 mission. Image: Spaceflight Now

SpaceX took another important step on its road to resuming launches of its Falcon 9 rocket. At the stroke of midnight on Thursday, July 25, it conducted a static fire test of its workhorse launch vehicle.

NASA’s Pegasus barge, carrying the agency’s massive SLS (Space Launch System) core stage, arrives at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Complex 39 turn basin wharf in Florida on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, after journeying from the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The core stage is the next piece of Artemis hardware to arrive at the spaceport and will be offloaded and moved to NASA Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building, where it will be prepared for integration ahead of the Artemis II launch. Image: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA’s took another important step in its Artemis program, designed to return humans to the Moon in preparation for missions to Mars. On Tuesday, the 212-foot-long Space launch System (SLS) core stage, nestled inside NASA’s massive Pegasus barge, completed its week-long voyage from eastern Louisiana to Florida.

An artist’s impression of SpaceX’s ISS Deorbit Vehicle pushing the lab toward a controlled re-entry and breakup in the 2030 timeframe, after a formal decision to retire the lab complex after three decades of operation. Graphic: SpaceX

SpaceX is building a souped-up version of its cargo Dragon spacecraft to drive the International Space Station out of orbit for a controlled re-entry and breakup over an uninhabited stretch of ocean when the lab is finally retired in the 2030 timeframe, NASA and company officials said Wednesday.