X Home Page Highlight – Spaceflight Now

March 25, 2025

Breaking News

[ March 24, 2025 ] SpaceX launches national security satellite for NRO on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Falcon 9
[ March 20, 2025 ] SpaceX launches 450th Falcon 9 rocket, breaks booster turnaround record on NRO mission Falcon 9
[ March 18, 2025 ] SpaceX Dragon Freedom splashes down off coast of Florida, ending Crew-9 mission Mission Reports
[ March 18, 2025 ] SpaceX launches 23 Starlink satellites Tuesday afternoon Falcon 9 flight Falcon 9
[ March 18, 2025 ] Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 concludes successful, 14-day mission on the Moon Mission Reports

SpaceX launches national security satellite for NRO on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral

March 24, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The mission was the fifth of 2025 featuring spacecraft developed by the National Reconnaissance Office. Liftoff of the NROL-69 mission from pad 40 happened at 1:48 p.m. EDT (1748 UTC).

GPS satellite moves to Atlas 5 facility for launch next Friday

January 30, 2016 Justin Ray

After a quarter-century readying Global Positioning System satellites for launch at a Cape Canaveral Air Force Station processing hub, the final bird rolled out Saturday as the navigation program transitions to a new era.

Photos: Ariane 5 climbs away from jungle launch pad

January 28, 2016 Stephen Clark

A European Ariane 5 rocket took off on its first flight of the year Wednesday with a new-generation communications satellite for Intelsat, lighting up the sky over its French Guiana launch base as it arced over the Atlantic Ocean.

Laser-equipped satellite to inaugurate European data relay system

January 28, 2016 Stephen Clark

The first node of a space-based European laser communications network will soar into orbit Friday aboard a commercial Eutelsat broadcasting spacecraft, setting the keystone for a satellite system to relay vast volumes of imagery at lightning fast speeds.

Families, NASA honor fallen astronauts

January 28, 2016 William Harwood

On the 30th anniversary of the Challenger disaster, crew families, friends and space workers gathered Thursday to remember the 17 men and women who lost their lives on the high frontier, 14 in two space shuttle disasters and three in an Apollo-era launch pad fire 49 years ago Wednesday.

First Intelsat Epic satellite deployed by Ariane 5 rocket

January 28, 2016 Stephen Clark

A powerhouse communications satellite with up to five times the capacity of most existing telecom craft reached orbit Wednesday after a nighttime blastoff from French Guiana aboard an Ariane 5 rocket, marking an auspicious start to the deployment of Intelsat’s $2 billion next-generation satellite network.

Reporters remember Challenger coverage

January 27, 2016 William Harwood

Veteran CBS News correspondent Bruce Hall was not on the air when the shuttle Challenger blasted off 30 years ago Thursday. It was, after all, the 25th shuttle flight, the first of 16 planned for 1986, and news agencies were backing off expensive, remote coverage of what increasingly appeared to be a routine event.

Proton rocket rolled out for launch of Eutelsat satellite

January 26, 2016 Stephen Clark

Riding on its side aboard a rail car, a Proton rocket trekked to its launch pad Tuesday at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with a Eutelsat television broadcast satellite ready for liftoff Friday.

First Ariane 5 launch of the year set for Wednesday

January 26, 2016 Stephen Clark

An Ariane 5 rocket journeyed from its assembly hangar to a nearby launch pad in French Guiana on Tuesday, a day before the heavy-duty launcher is scheduled for liftoff with the first in a new generation of high-capacity communications satellites for Intelsat.

Challenger remembered

January 26, 2016 William Harwood

Thirty years after the space shuttle Challenger disintegrated in the clear, cold sky high above Cape Canaveral, the commander’s widow no longer feels anger at NASA and the management missteps and schedule pressure that kept the orbiters flying despite a fatal flaw in their solid-fuel boosters.