Mission Reports – Page 504

May 1, 2026

Breaking News

[ April 29, 2026 ] SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB Falcon 9
[ April 29, 2026 ] SpaceX launches 6-ton ViaSat-3 F3 satellite on Falcon Heavy rocket Falcon Heavy
[ April 28, 2026 ] Launch preview: SpaceX seeks second attempt at Falcon Heavy launch following weather scrub on Monday Falcon Heavy
[ April 27, 2026 ] ULA launches 29 Amazon Leo satellites on Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral Atlas 5
[ April 27, 2026 ] SpaceX scrubs Falcon Heavy launch of final ViaSat-3 satellite due to poor weather Falcon Heavy

Fire in the hole! Vega fires away from jungle spaceport

February 12, 2015 Stephen Clark

Check out photos of a solid-fueled Vega launcher as it zipped away from its launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana, with Europe’s IXV mission Wednesday.

SpaceX to forgo booster recovery on Wednesday’s launch

February 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

SpaceX says it is giving up on landing the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean after Wednesday’s launch of a NOAA space weather observatory due to rough seas in the booster recovery zone off Florida’s East Coast.

European space plane flies around the world on test flight

February 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

Europe launched a sleek space plane more than 250 miles above Earth on Wednesday, testing its maneuverability, on-board guidance systems, and a next-generation heat shield as the experimental vehicle glided through the atmosphere toward a pinpoint splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

Video: Europe’s IXV prepared for launch

February 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

Watch a time lapse video chronicling several days of activity to ready the European Space Agency’s sleek IXV re-entry demonstrator for flight.

Flight timeline for ESA’s re-entry demonstrator

February 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

An automobile-sized prototype space plane is ready for an around-the-world test flight to demonstrate technologies to fly on a future orbital space plane, reusable rocket stages, and interplanetary sample return probes. Follow the 102-minute flight with this timeline.

Commercial Dragon supply ship returns to Earth

February 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Dragon supply ship wrapped up a 29-day stay at the International Space Station on Tuesday, departing the complex with nearly 3,700 pounds of research specimens, a balky spacesuit and experimental 3D printed parts before re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.

Falcon 9 launch scrubbed by high winds aloft

February 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

Unfavorable high-altitude winds above Cape Canaveral on Tuesday kept a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket loaded with a NOAA space weather observatory on the ground another day.

Live coverage: European mini-shuttle back on Earth

February 10, 2015 Stephen Clark

A European re-entry demonstrator launched aboard a solid-fueled Vega rocket at 1340 GMT (8:40 a.m. EST) from French Guiana, kicking off a whirlwind 102-minute around-the-world test flight to validate technologies that could be used on future reusable launchers and spaceships.

ESA re-entry vehicle could pave way for reusable launcher

February 10, 2015 Stephen Clark

European engineers are eager to test an experimental re-entry demonstrator Wednesday to validate technologies for future robotic exploration probes, winged space planes, and reusable rocket boosters.

17 years later, Gore makes case for viewing Earth from deep space

February 9, 2015 Stephen Clark

After waiting nearly two decades for dream to become reality, former Vice President Al Gore said Sunday the mission he fostered in 1998 — finally ready for launch this week — will have important scientific and social impacts in humanity’s relationship with Earth.