Mission Reports – Spaceflight Now

February 18, 2019

Breaking News

[ February 15, 2019 ] SpaceX files protest of NASA’s Lucy launch contract awarded to ULA Atlas 5
[ February 15, 2019 ] Experimental British satellite tests harpoon in orbit Mission Reports
[ February 14, 2019 ] NASA selects mission to probe the history of galaxies Mission Reports
[ February 13, 2019 ] NASA declares Opportunity rover dead after 15 years on Mars Mission Reports
[ February 13, 2019 ] CubeSat deployed from space station to test sample return technology Mission Reports

SpaceX files protest of NASA’s Lucy launch contract awarded to ULA

February 15, 2019

SpaceX has filed a protest challenging a nearly $150 million NASA contract awarded to United Launch Alliance last month to send a robotic asteroid probe into space.

Experimental British satellite tests harpoon in orbit

February 15, 2019

A British satellite released from the International Space Station last year has successfully demonstrated a harpoon that could be used on future missions to clean up space debris, officials announced Friday.

NASA selects mission to probe the history of galaxies

February 14, 2019

NASA has selected a space telescope named SPHEREx for launch in 2023 on a mission to survey the sky in near-infrared wavelengths, collecting spectral data to study the origins of the universe and ices in our own galaxy that could help seed life on planets.

NASA declares Opportunity rover dead after 15 years on Mars

February 13, 2019

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.

CubeSat deployed from space station to test sample return technology

February 13, 2019

One of five CubeSats deployed from the International Space Station last month is testing a steerable drag brake that could find use in future smallsats to return experiment samples to the ground from low Earth orbit, or on low-cost micro-probes to explore other planets.

Watch a spectacular slow-motion replay of last week’s Ariane 5 launch

February 11, 2019

Arianespace and CNES, the French space agency, have released sensational slow-motion video from shielded engineering cameras at the Ariane 5 rocket’s launch pad in French Guiana, showing the launcher’s fiery evening takeoff Feb. 5 with communications satellites for Saudi Arabia and India.

Second Iranian satellite launch attempt in a month fails

February 11, 2019

Iran’s second try in less than a month to send a satellite into orbit apparently failed shortly after liftoff from a remote desert launch pad under daily surveillance from a fleet of commercial imaging spacecraft, according to U.S. government officials and independent analysts.

Cygnus supply ship departs space station for extended mission

February 8, 2019

A commercial Cygnus supply ship departed the International Space Station on Friday for an extended mission to deploy five nanosatellites and conduct other experiments before re-entering the atmosphere and burning up with more than two tons of trash.

NASA’s first interplanetary CubeSats fall silent beyond Mars

February 6, 2019

After a successful mission that pushed the limits of small satellite technology, ground controllers have lost contact with two briefcase-sized CubeSats beyond Mars, NASA said Tuesday.

First unpiloted test flight of SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule reset for March 2

February 6, 2019

As expected, NASA announced Wednesday that the first unpiloted test flight of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and a Crew Dragon astronaut ferry ship has slipped from later this month to March 2. The first unpiloted flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule is now targeted for the April timeframe.

1 2 3 … 199 »