William Harwood – Spaceflight Now

Blue Origin launches third New Glenn rocket, but payload ends up in wrong orbit

April 20, 2026 William Harwood

Blue Origin launched the company’s third New Glenn rocket Sunday, re-flying and successfully recovering a previously used first stage. But the rocket’s payload, a direct-to-cellphone communications satellite, ended up in the wrong orbit, the company said.

NASA confident Artemis 2 heat shield will protect crew during re-entry

April 10, 2026 William Harwood

When the Artemis 2 Orion crew capsule returns to Earth after flying around the moon, it will hit the discernible atmosphere some 75 miles above the Pacific Ocean at a blistering 24,000 mph, fast enough to fly from New York to London in less than 10 minutes.

Artemis astronauts send down Easter message, prep for lunar fly around Monday

April 5, 2026 William Harwood

Taking time out to send Easter greetings down to Earth, the four Artemis II astronauts closed in on the moon Sunday, already seeing unexpected detail on the surface and giving scientists a taste of things to come during a pass over the lunar far side Monday evening.

Artemis 2 crew blasts off on historic moon mission

April 2, 2026 William Harwood

A three-man one-woman crew blasted off on a voyage to the moon Wednesday, riding atop the world’s most powerful operational rocket as it roared away on a trail-blazing flight to help pave the way for upcoming lunar landings and an American moon base.

NASA outlines ambitious $20 billion plan for moon base

March 25, 2026 William Harwood

Along with plans for a moon base, senior NASA managers also outlined work to develop nuclear power systems for use on the moon and Mars to keep astronauts, habitats and other equipment warm while providing the electricity needed for research, construction and daily operations.

NASA ready for another shot at launching Artemis 2 moon mission

March 13, 2026 William Harwood

At the conclusion of a two-day flight readiness review, “all the teams polled ‘go’ to launch and fly Artemis 2 around the moon, pending completion of some of the work before we roll out to the launch pad,” said Lori Glaze, associate administrator of Exploration Systems Development at NASA Headquarters.

NASA inspector general assesses agency’s management of moon lander risk

March 10, 2026 William Harwood

NASA’s Office of Inspector General said that while NASA is working to “mitigate and prevent hazards” associated with lunar landers being built by SpaceX and Blue Origin, “there are currently gaps in the agency’s approach, including in its testing posture and crew survival analyses,” including what might happen after a catastrophic but non-fatal event.

NASA announces major overhaul of Artemis moon program: “We’ve got to get back to basics”

February 27, 2026 William Harwood

New NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced a major overhaul of the agency’s Artemis moon program Friday, acknowledging that the agency’s plan to land astronauts on the moon in 2028 was not realistic without another preparatory mission first to lay the groundwork.

SLS rocket hauled back to VAB for repairs

February 25, 2026 William Harwood

A 6.6-million-pound Apollo-era crawler-transporter rolled up the ramp to pad 38B on Tuesday and was positioned directly under the 3.5-million-pound Space Launch System rocket and its 11.3-million-pound mobile launch platform.

NASA’s Artemis 2 rocket hit by new problem expected to bump moonshot into early April

February 21, 2026 William Harwood

Engineers ran into problems repressurizing the Artemis 2 moon rocket’s upper stage helium tanks overnight Friday, a problem that will require rolling the huge rocket off the launch pad and back to its processing hangar for troubleshooting. The work will push the already delayed mission from March to at least early April, officials said Saturday.