News – Page 445 – Spaceflight Now

July 3, 2026

Breaking News

[ July 1, 2026 ] SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB Falcon 9
[ June 30, 2026 ] Astronauts ‘operate’ on space station’s broken robot arm Mission Reports
[ June 30, 2026 ] Blue Origin outlines return to flight logistics for its New Glenn rockets Moon Base
[ June 28, 2026 ] SpaceX launches 7.5-ton SiriusXM satellite as part of constellation refresh Falcon 9
[ June 28, 2026 ] SpaceX launches Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base Falcon 9

ULA announces takeover of commercial Atlas 5 launch sales

January 24, 2018 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance announced Monday that the company will assume responsibility for commercial marketing and sales for Atlas 5 rocket missions, taking over for a Lockheed Martin division that previously sold Atlas 5 launch services on the commercial market.

Organizers confirm no teams will win Google Lunar X Prize

January 24, 2018 Stephen Clark

None of the teams who have spent the last decade chasing a $20 million grand prize by placing a privately-funded lander on the moon will meet a deadline at the end of March to claim the award, the organizers of the Google Lunar X Prize announced Tuesday.

Hold-down firing nudges Falcon Heavy rocket closer to first liftoff

January 24, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy rocket fired up 27 main engines Wednesday on launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sending a crackling rumble across the swampy spaceport and moving the heavy-lifter a step closer to its oft-delayed maiden flight as soon as next week.

Falcon Heavy hot fire as seen from Kennedy Space Center Press Site

January 24, 2018 Spaceflight Now

Video of the Falcon Heavy engine test firing at launch pad 39A as seen from the Kennedy Space Center Press Site.

Watch the Falcon Heavy roar to life

January 24, 2018 Spaceflight Now

SpaceX ignited the engines of its Falcon Heavy at 12:30 p.m. EST (1730 GMT) on Jan. 24 as it prepares for the maiden flight of the three-core rocket.

Build-up of Ariane 5 rocket complete for launch Thursday

January 23, 2018 Stephen Clark

The first Ariane 5 rocket scheduled for launch in 2018 has been topped off with two communications satellites for SES and Yahsat, moving the European booster closer to liftoff Thursday from a tropical launch pad in French Guiana with payloads to serve commercial and scientific missions.

Spacewalkers complete repairs to station robotic arm

January 23, 2018 William Harwood

Two astronauts floated outside the International Space Station early Tuesday and replaced one of the grapple fixtures on the end of the lab’s robot arm, the first of two excursions over the next week to complete a complex overhaul that began with a pair of spacewalks last October.

Photos: Atlas 5 takes off with SBIRS GEO Flight 4

January 22, 2018 Stephen Clark

Revisit Friday night’s blastoff of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral with SBIRS GEO Flight 4, the fourth in an upgraded line of U.S. Air Force missile detection and warning satellites.

Testbed for Canadian data relay network successfully launched from China

January 22, 2018 Stephen Clark

A nanosatellite built in Scotland for Kepler Communications, a Toronto company planning a 140-satellite global data relay network, rode to orbit Friday with five Chinese satellites launched aboard a solid-fueled Long March 11 booster from the Gobi Desert.

End to government shutdown should limit impact on space operations

January 22, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA and the U.S. Air Force are expected to return to normal operations Tuesday after lawmakers passed a budget bill Monday evening, ending a government funding lapse that threatened to cut off live television coverage of an International Space Station spacewalk and interrupt SpaceX launch operations in Florida and California.