News – Page 340 – Spaceflight Now

October 1, 2026

Breaking News

[ September 29, 2026 ] NASA plans unpiloted Starliner test flight at end of year News
[ September 28, 2026 ] Starship returns to Earth; rocket splashes down north of Hawaii after three-hour flight Mission Reports
[ September 28, 2026 ] Launch preview: SpaceX to launch first Starlink V3 satellites to orbit on Starship Mission Reports
[ September 26, 2026 ] Next crew bound for the space station arrive in Florida Mission Reports
[ September 25, 2026 ] SpaceX Falcon 9 launches classified mission for U.S. Space Force from West Coast Falcon 9

SLS pathfinder stage arrives at Florida launch site

October 1, 2019 Stephen Clark

A steel tube built as a stand-in for the core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System has arrived at the Kennedy Space Center for a series of rehearsals to hone the skills of technicians before the real rocket reaches the spaceport, an oft-delayed milestone that could still be a year or more away.

Boeing closing in on Starliner pad abort test

October 1, 2019 Stephen Clark

Boeing engineers in New Mexico are readying a Starliner spacecraft for a critical pad abort test this fall to demonstrate the capsule’s ability to escape an emergency on the launch pad before green-lighting the capsule to carry astronauts.

Photos: SpaceX’s first full-size Starship prototype

September 30, 2019 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s first full-size stainless steel Starship test vehicle stands some 164 feet tall and measures wider than the cabin of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet. If Elon Musk has his way, it will fly to an altitude of 65,000 feet before the end of the year.

Elon Musk wants to move fast with SpaceX’s Starship

September 29, 2019 Stephen Clark

Standing in front of a shiny full-scale prototype of SpaceX’s Starship vehicle in South Texas, Elon Musk said Saturday night he wants the company’s gigantic next-generation rocket to fly into orbit within six months, a bold schedule that he acknowledged requires “exponential” improvements in design and manufacturing.

HTV delivers batteries and experiments to space station

September 28, 2019 Stephen Clark

Japan’s eighth robotic resupply mission to the International Space Station arrived at its destination Saturday, delivering six fresh lithium-ion batteries, science experiments, CubeSats and other gear to the research outpost.

NASA announces funding for moon and Mars mission tech

September 27, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA announced agreements worth a combined $43.2 million with 14 commercial partners Friday — including Blue Origin and SpaceX — to fund experiments in propellant and power generation, in-space refueling, efficient propulsion systems, and lunar rover technology.

Elon Musk to provide update on SpaceX’s Starship this weekend

September 27, 2019 Stephen Clark

In the last few months, teams of SpaceX engineers working on the flat coastal plains of South Texas and in a nondescript industrial yard on Florida’s Space Coast have been building two futuristic-looking stainless steel rockets — or Starships — prototypes for a reusable vehicle the company claims could one day ferry people to Mars.

Russia launches missile warning satellite

September 26, 2019 Stephen Clark

A Russian military satellite designed to detect missile launches arrived in orbit Thursday following a successful liftoff aboard a Soyuz rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.

NASA to fly CubeSat pathfinder for Gateway in unique lunar orbit

September 26, 2019 Stephen Clark

As soon as next year, NASA plans to launch a CubeSat the size of a microwave oven into a unique elliptical orbit around the moon as a scout for the future lunar Gateway, a mini-space station NASA intends to use as a staging point for crewed lunar landings beginning as soon as 2024.

Soyuz ferries three crew members to space station

September 25, 2019 William Harwood

A Soyuz rocket carrying a Russian commander, a NASA co-pilot and a United Arab Emirates guest cosmonaut blasted off from Kazakhstan Wednesday, chased down the International Space Station and glided in for a picture-perfect docking, kicking off an unprecedented end-of-year schedule that includes up to a dozen spacewalks.