Mission Reports – Page 49 – Spaceflight Now

April 12, 2026

Breaking News

[ April 10, 2026 ] NASA confident Artemis 2 heat shield will protect crew during re-entry Artemis
[ April 5, 2026 ] Artemis astronauts send down Easter message, prep for lunar fly around Monday Artemis
[ April 3, 2026 ] ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket launches its heaviest payload ever with fifth Amazon Leo mission Atlas 5
[ April 2, 2026 ] Artemis 2 crew blasts off on historic moon mission Artemis
[ April 1, 2026 ] Live coverage: NASA to launch Artemis 2, its first Moon-bound mission with astronauts since 1972 Artemis

SpaceX accomplishes first soft splashdown of Starship, Super Heavy Booster on Flight 4 mission

June 6, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The development mission includes fewer additional mission milestones compared to the third flight with a focus on demonstrating the reusability model that Starship promises. Liftoff happened at 7:50 a.m. CDT (8:50 a.m. EDT, 1250 UTC), near the opening of a 120-minute window.

Third time’s the charm for the Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test

June 5, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The launch of two NASA astronauts dealt with two previous scrubs due to a valve issue on the Atlas 5 rocket and then a ground system issue at the launchpad. Liftoff happened at 10:52 a.m. EDT (1452 UTC) on Wednesday, June 5.

SpaceX launches 20 Starlink satellites on 14th anniversary of the first Falcon 9 launch

June 5, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The flight marked the first launch of Direct to Cell-capable Starlink satellites from Florida. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 10:16 p.m. EDT (0216 UTC) on Tuesday.

NASA foregoes Sunday launch, delaying Starliner takeoff to at least Wednesday

June 1, 2024 William Harwood

The seemingly star-cross Boeing Starliner — within minutes of its long-delayed blastoff on the spacecraft’s first piloted test flight — was grounded again Saturday when one of three redundant computers managing the countdown from the base of the launch pad ran into a problem, triggering a last-minute scrub.

SpaceX launches 14th Falcon 9 rocket of May using booster flying for 14th time

May 31, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The mission broke another record for SpaceX, marking the first time the company has achieved 14 launches in a single month. Liftoff happened Friday at 10:37 p.m. EDT (0237 UTC on Saturday).

SpaceX launches ESA’s EarthCARE on a Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base

May 27, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The Earth observing spacecraft will study clouds and aerosols to further our understanding of climate change. Liftoff happened at 3:20 p.m. PDT (6:20 p.m. EDT, 2220 UTC).

SpaceX completes Tuesday Starlink launch after Memorial Day scrub

May 26, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The mission comes on the heels of SpaceX outlining the next test flight of its Starship rocket in southern Texas. Liftoff of the Starlink 6-60 mission happened at 10:24 a.m. EDT (1424 UTC) on Tuesday.

SpaceX details learnings from Starship Flight 3, sets June 5 as target launch date for Flight 4

May 25, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The mission will focus on proving the reusability of the rocket and not on additional flight objectives, like operating the payload bay door or reigniting the vacuum engines on the Ship upper stage. The June 5 launch window opens at 7 a.m. CDT (8 a.m. EDT (1200 UTC).

Rocket Lab launches first of NASA’s climate-monitoring PREFIRE spacecraft

May 24, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The two missions will be launched within roughly three weeks of one another from New Zealand. Liftoff of the Electron rocket with the PREFIRE-1 satellite occurred at 7:41 p.m. NZST (3:41 a.m. EDT, 0741 UTC) on Saturday.

NASA says Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule can safely fly ‘as is’ with propulsion system helium leak

May 24, 2024 William Harwood

After nearly three weeks of exhaustive tests and data analysis, NASA managers said Friday they are confident Boeing’s oft-delayed Starliner crew capsule can safely launch “as is” June 1, saying a small helium leak in the ship’s propulsion system does not pose a flight safety concern.