News – Page 353 – Spaceflight Now

April 20, 2024

Breaking News

[ April 18, 2024 ] SpaceX completes 40th Falcon 9 launch of the year with Starlink mission Falcon 9
[ April 17, 2024 ] SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket on Starlink mission from Kennedy Space Center Falcon 9
[ April 16, 2024 ] Boeing, ULA roll Starliner spacecraft out to pad 41 ahead of Crew Flight Test launch in May Atlas 5
[ April 16, 2024 ] NASA requests proposals to reduce cost, timeline of Mars Sample Return mission News
[ April 12, 2024 ] SpaceX launches Falcon 9 booster on record-breaking 20th flight Falcon 9

Live coverage: SpaceX rocket launches with SES 12 communications satellite

June 3, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX has launched a Falcon 9 rocket with a previously-flown first stage booster carrying the SES 12 communications satellite, an all-electric, multi-band video and data relay platform to serve the Asia-Pacific region. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral occurred at 12:45 a.m. EDT (0445 GMT), and SpaceX did not plan to recover the first stage.

Space station crew closes out 168-day mission

June 3, 2018 William Harwood

A Russian cosmonaut, a NASA flight engineer and a Japanese physician-astronaut strapped into their Soyuz ferry ship early Sunday, undocked from the International Space Station and plunged back to Earth, landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan to close out a 168-day mission.

Live coverage: Soyuz capsule brings home three-man crew

June 3, 2018 Stephen Clark

A three-man crew departed the International Space Station on Sunday, concluding more than five months aboard the orbiting research complex and heading for landing in Kazakhstan. Undocking of the Soyuz MS-07 spacecraft occurred at 0916 GMT (5:16 a.m. EDT), and the trio landed on the Kazakh steppe at 1239 GMT (8:39 a.m. EDT).

One station crew heads home, another preps for launch

June 2, 2018 William Harwood

With three space station fliers heading home Sunday after a 168-day mission, three fresh crew members made final preparations for launch three days later to boost the lab’s crew back to six in a rapid-fire rotation that will prevent any major interruption of research activity.

New photos illustrate progress in SpaceX’s fairing recovery attempts

June 1, 2018 Stephen Clark

Photos released by SpaceX this week show how close the company’s payload fairing retrieval ship got to catching two halves of a nose shroud jettisoned from a Falcon 9 rocket that launched May 22 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

SpaceX delays launch to run additional tests on rocket

May 31, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX has delayed the launch of the SES 12 commercial communications satellite from Cape Canaveral until Monday to conduct additional tests on the Falcon 9 rocket’s second stage, officials said Thursday.

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo completes second powered test flight

May 30, 2018 Stephen Clark

Helmed by two test pilots, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane set new altitude and speed records for the company’s test program Tuesday during a powered flight over California’s Mojave Desert.

Alan Bean, moonwalker turned artist, dies at 86

May 26, 2018 William Harwood

Alan Bean, a Navy test pilot and astronaut who walked on the moon and then spent two months aboard America’s first space station before leaving NASA and becoming an accomplished artist, painting moonscapes and space vistas that garnered widespread critical praise, died Saturday. He was 86.

New helium tank for SpaceX crew launches still waiting to fly

May 25, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX is still working on a new, safer helium tank design needed for launches with astronauts, and the debut of the company’s upgraded Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket earlier this month did not count as one of seven successful missions in “crew configuration” NASA says it requires before putting astronauts aboard the vehicle, officials said Thursday.

Rocket Lab updates launch window for first commercial mission

May 25, 2018 Stephen Clark

After a two-month delay to resolve a technical concern, Rocket Lab plans to launch its first commercial mission as soon as June 22, U.S. time, from the company’s rocket base in New Zealand, the company announced Friday.