Live coverage of the countdown and launch of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk.3 with the Chandrayaan 2 moon mission. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.
Mission Reports
NASA declares Opportunity rover dead after 15 years on Mars
Eight months after last hearing from the Opportunity rover, NASA officials announced the end of the craft’s 15-year mission Wednesday, closing out an ambitious chapter of Mars exploration that proved the Red Planet once harbored running water and demonstrated the promise of mobile robotic scouts to survey other worlds.
Mission Reports
SpaceX releases preliminary results from Crew Dragon abort test
Data from the Jan. 19 in-flight launch escape demonstration of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft indicate the performance of the capsule’s SuperDraco abort engines was “flawless” as the thrusters boosted the ship away from the top of a Falcon 9 rocket with a peak acceleration of about 3.3Gs, officials said Thursday.
News
Bezos says space industry stalwarts will help Blue Origin build moon lander
Blue Origin has partnered with Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman to build elements of the company’s human-rated lunar lander, and Draper will lead development of the lander’s avionics and guidance systems, with an aim to be ready to land a crew on the moon by 2024, company founder Jeff Bezos announced Tuesday.