Mission Reports – Page 354

February 25, 2026

Breaking News

[ February 25, 2026 ] Live coverage: SpaceX launches 500th Starlink satellite in 2026 during Wednesday Falcon 9 flight Falcon 9
[ February 24, 2026 ] SpaceX’s Tuesday twilight Falcon 9 rocket launch sends 29 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit Falcon 9
[ February 21, 2026 ] SpaceX’s most-flown Falcon booster launches on record 33rd flight Falcon 9
[ February 21, 2026 ] NASA’s Artemis 2 rocket hit by new problem expected to bump moonshot into early April Artemis
[ February 20, 2026 ] Falcon 9 launches 25 Starlink satellites after weather delays Falcon 9

Asteroid Ryugu revealed by approaching Japanese spacecraft

June 20, 2018 Stephen Clark

In the final days of a three-and-a-half year pursuit, Japan’s Hayabusa 2 sample return spacecraft is beaming back clearer images of asteroid Ryugu, an unexplored object that scientists say resembles a spinning top or dumpling nearly 180 million miles from Earth.

Navigation satellite launched to join Russia’s Glonass network

June 18, 2018 Stephen Clark

A new Russian navigation satellite lifted off Saturday on top of a Soyuz rocket, riding the three-stage booster and a Fregat upper stage into orbit to supplement the country’s Glonass network providing precise global positioning and timing services.

Station astronauts install new cameras on successful spacewalk

June 14, 2018 William Harwood

Two astronauts floated outside the International Space Station Thursday and installed two new cameras on the front of the lab complex that will provide views of commercial crew ships during final approach and docking. The spacewalkers also replaced a faulty high-definition camera and closed a door that was jammed open on an external instrument.

Huge dust storm knocks aging Mars rover out of contact with Earth

June 13, 2018 William Harwood

NASA’s Opportunity Mars rover, 14 years past its original 90-day design life, has dropped out of contact with Earth after powering down everything but its master clock in a bid to weather a huge dust storm that is blotting out the sun, preventing the solar-powered rover from recharging its batteries, mission managers said Wednesday.

Japanese intelligence-gathering satellite successfully launched

June 12, 2018 Stephen Clark

An all-weather spy satellite for the Japanese government launched Tuesday on top of an H-2A rocket, extending the country’s surveillance reach with coverage of North Korea and other strategic locations worldwide.

Poor weather forecast delays H-2A rocket launch

June 9, 2018 Stephen Clark

Projected weather impacts from Tropical Storm Maliksi passing over the Pacific Ocean south of Japan have prompted officials to push back the launch of an H-2A rocket and an Earth-imaging reconnaissance by one day to Tuesday, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency announced Saturday.

NASA approves three-year extension for Juno mission orbiting Jupiter

June 8, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA’s robotic Juno spacecraft wil spend another three years probing the inside of Jupiter, giving the mission more time to meet its primary science objectives after concerns over the health of the probe’s engine prevented it from dropping into a lower, shorter orbit around the solar system’s biggest planet.

Carrier jet with Pegasus rocket returning to California, postponing NASA satellite launch

June 8, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA and Northrop Grumman officials decided Friday to return a Pegasus rocket and its carrier aircraft from Hawaii to California, aborting a trip to Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean for next week’s scheduled launch of a NASA research satellite to conduct additional testing.

Soyuz delivers crew of three to International Space Station

June 8, 2018 William Harwood

Two days after launch from Kazakhstan, a Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying a crew of three wrapped up a problem-free rendezvous Friday, docking at the International Space Station’s Earth-facing Rassvet port less than a week after three other crew members departed.

More signs of past — and possibly present — habitability of Mars

June 7, 2018 William Harwood

NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover, slowly making its way up the side of a towering mountain of sedimentary rock at the center of its Gale Crater landing site, has found fresh evidence for the red planet’s past — and possibly present — habitability, scientists reported Thursday.