News – Page 330 – Spaceflight Now

September 19, 2025

Breaking News

[ September 17, 2025 ] SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Falcon 9
[ September 16, 2025 ] NASA, Northrop Grumman postpone Cygnus XL arrival to ISS following propulsion issue Mission Reports
[ September 16, 2025 ] SpaceX scrubs launch of 24 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg SFB for a second day Falcon 9
[ September 15, 2025 ] Northrop Grumman’s 1st Cygnus XL spacecraft launches on cargo run to the space station Falcon 9
[ September 14, 2025 ] Launch preview: SpaceX to launch new, improved Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL resupply ship to the space station Falcon 9

NASA successfully tests Orion launch abort system before moon flights

July 2, 2019 Stephen Clark

Officials hailed an action-packed three-minute test flight Tuesday over Cape Canaveral that exercised the Orion spacecraft’s launch abort rocket, a key safety system on the capsule NASA is developing to carry astronauts back to the moon.

Mars lander’s ground team begins inspection of stuck instrument

July 2, 2019 Stephen Clark

In a bit of interplanetary troubleshooting, the robot arm on NASA’s InSight Mars lander has lifted a support structure to reveal an underground thermal probe that got stuck soon after it started hammering into the Red Planet’s surface earlier this year.

Orion data recorders come with return-to-sender instructions

July 1, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA has a plan to retrieve 12 ejectable data recorders released from an Orion test capsule in the waters off Cape Canaveral following a launch abort test Tuesday, but local boaters and beachgoers could still find the floating orange devices.

Live coverage: NASA conducts Orion abort test over Cape Canaveral

July 1, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA and industry teams at Cape Canaveral launched an Orion capsule on a three-minute atmospheric test flight Tuesday to prove the spaceship’s ability to escape from an exploding rocket during launch, demonstrating a key safety feature before astronauts ride the vehicle into deep space. Liftoff occurred at 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT).

Critical abort test of NASA’s Orion crew capsule set for Tuesday

July 1, 2019 Stephen Clark

A three-minute test flight Tuesday morning over Cape Canaveral will help ensure NASA’s Orion crew capsule — the vehicle being built to carry astronauts back to the moon — can safely escape from a catastrophic failure on launch.

Barring a surprise, SpaceX’s next Falcon Heavy flight is planned in late 2020

June 30, 2019 Stephen Clark

After two successful Falcon Heavy missions in less than 11 weeks, launch fans will likely have to wait until late 2020 for SpaceX’s next Falcon Heavy flight, barring a surprise mission for an unannounced customer.

More photos from SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy night launch

June 30, 2019 Stephen Clark

The predawn launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center of a Falcon Heavy rocket June 25 was the first nighttime liftoff of SpaceX’s heavy-lifter, the most powerful launcher currently operational anywhere in the world. The Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters returned to Cape Canaveral less than nine minutes later.

Rocket Lab flies again from New Zealand as work progresses at Virginia launch pad

June 29, 2019 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab’s third flight of the year delivered seven small commercial, military and educational satellites into orbit Saturday after a launch from New Zealand, while construction of a new launch pad in Virginia continues on pace for completion by the end of the year.

SLS mobile launcher moves to pad 39B for final exams

June 28, 2019 Stephen Clark

A towering mobile platform for the agency’s Space Launch System arrived at launch pad 39B Friday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a sequence of water and propellant flow tests, swing arm checkouts and other rehearsals that should conclude with managers declaring the spaceport’s ground systems ready to support the first SLS launch campaign by the end of the year.

NASA approves development of flying drone to explore Saturn’s moon Titan

June 27, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA officials announced Thursday that the agency will move forward with the development of a plutonium-powered robotic quadcopter drone to explore Saturn’s moon Titan, a hazy world covered with dunes and methane lakes that scientists say is reminiscent of the ancient Earth.