News – Page 469 – Spaceflight Now

February 22, 2026

Breaking News

[ February 21, 2026 ] SpaceX’s most-flown Falcon booster launches on record 33rd flight Falcon 9
[ February 21, 2026 ] NASA’s Artemis 2 rocket hit by new problem expected to bump moonshot into early April Artemis
[ February 20, 2026 ] Falcon 9 launches 25 Starlink satellites after weather delays Falcon 9
[ February 20, 2026 ] Moon mission fueling test concludes with no major problems Artemis
[ February 19, 2026 ] Independent report sharply criticizes NASA management, Boeing for troubled Starliner flight Mission Reports

Pioneering ESA mission aims to create artificial solar eclipses

August 20, 2017 Stephen Clark

As skywatchers and scientists converge on a transcontinental band of totality for Monday’s solar eclipse in the United States, engineers in Europe are building a unique pair of satellites to create artificial eclipses lasting for hours — a feat that that could be a boon for solar physicists but will escape the view of Earth-bound spectators.

Assembly complete for Minotaur launcher at Cape Canaveral

August 19, 2017 Stephen Clark

Using industrial cranes at a no-frills launch pad on the eastern tip of Cape Canaveral, a team of Orbital ATK and U.S. Air Force technicians have fully stacked a modified Cold War-era missile set for launch next week with a $49 million satellite built to track other objects in orbit.

Falcon 9 rocket test-fired for California launch next week

August 19, 2017 Stephen Clark

A commercial Falcon 9 rocket in the final stages of launch preparations fired its nine Merlin main engines Saturday at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, verifying its readiness for liftoff with a Taiwanese Earth-imaging payload Thursday.

Photos: Atlas sends up new NASA satellite

August 19, 2017 Justin Ray

NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M, a communications router for the space station and dozens of science spacecraft, blasted off from Cape Canaveral at 8:29 a.m. EDT on Friday atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket.

Japan launches navigation satellite after week-long delay

August 19, 2017 Stephen Clark

A Japanese H-2A rocket soared away from a launch pad on a rocky overlook on the Pacific Ocean on Saturday, hauling into orbit the country’s third Michibiki satellite to join a constellation of navigation aids to improve positioning services across the country.

Video: H-2A rocket lifts off from Tanegashima

August 19, 2017 Stephen Clark

Japan’s 35th H-2A rocket blasted off Saturday from the Tanegashima Space Center, flying into orbit in its most powerful configuration with a geostationary navigation satellite.

Videos: Replays from successful Atlas 5 launch of TDRS-M

August 18, 2017 Justin Ray

Isolated camera views from various locations around Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center show the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifting off with NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M.

SpaceX informed NASA of slowdown in its commercial Mars program

August 18, 2017 Stephen Clark

Confirming rumors and suspicions that SpaceX is adjusting its plans to begin dispatching robotic landers to Mars, NASA officials said the commercial space company has informed the agency that it has put its Red Dragon program on the back burner.

Atlas 5 rocket delivers NASA data router into space for astronauts and satellites

August 18, 2017 Justin Ray

Bulking up NASA’s constellation of tracking stations in the sky that provides critical links between orbiting spacecraft and ground control, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket successfully deployed a new communications hub in space today.

Video: TDRS-M takes flight atop Atlas 5

August 18, 2017 Justin Ray

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, standing 191 feet tall and and weighing 745,000 pounds, generates 860,000 pounds of thrust from its main engine to launch NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M.