Space News & Blog Articles

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.

Next month, ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) will carry out the first combined lunar-Earth flyby. Preparations are under way at ESA mission control for this highly precise manoeuvre, which will harness the gravitational forces of the Moon and Earth in quick succession to line Juice up for the next stage of its journey to Jupiter.

NASA’s VIPER – short for the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover – sits assembled inside the cleanroom at the agency’s Johnson Space Center. Image: NASA/Helen Arase Vargas

NASA announced Wednesday it was pulling the plug on the VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) project. It was the second time in less than a decade, NASA scrapped plans for a roving scout to explore the Moon for water ice, the decision coming six years after cancelling a similar mission, the Resource Prospector.

The Farnborough International Airshow is set to return for its 76th edition from 22 to 26 July 2024, and ESA will be there to showcase the agency’s latest achievements and to highlight its next steps and future vision for Europe in space. 

An interview with showrunners Dean Devlin and Jonathan Glassner for "The Ark" season 2.

The development of the VIPER lunar rover has been discontinued.

NASA announced it has ended the VIPER rover project, which was intended to explore the moon in search of ice near the lunar south pole.

We've picked out 25 skywatching targets to celebrate Space.com's 25th anniversary. Can you catch them all?

It will take some time for the ISS to come down to Earth in the 2030s. NASA says it will take about 12 to 18 months to naturally fall back to our planet before a new SpaceX deorbit vehicle pushes it back into Earth's atmosphere.

A liquid oxygen tank shell was delivered from Scorpius Space Launch Company in California to Vaya Space in Florida on Monday, July 15, 2024. This will serve as a pathfinding test article as Vaya Space continues working on its forthcoming Dauntless rocket. Image: Will Robinson-Smith/Spaceflight Now

A delivery from California to Florida on Monday marked a new milestone for aerospace company, Vaya Space. It received its first, full-sized liquid oxygen tank shell for its two-stage Dauntless rocket.

"The Acolyte" sticks the landing with a strong season 1 finale that gives closure to the main plot while offering a look at the series' future.

A tidally locked gas giant experiences eternal sunshine on one side, and eternal darkness on the other.

Get these attractive, yet rugged, waterproof and fog-proof binoculars before they return to full price tomorrow.

The Best Prime Day binocular deals to snap up before midnight tonight (July 17)

The lava tube is likely one of many on the lunar surface.

A meteor crashed into Earth over New York City on July 16. Watch the rare daytime fireball light up the skies above New Jersey and Connecticut in this dramatic footage.

SpaceX's Elon Musk, father to a transgender daughter, says he will move his space company to Texas because he feels California is being too protective of LGBTQ+ kids.