News – Page 5 – Spaceflight Now

February 23, 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

SpaceX deploys NASA’s Pandora, other smallsats amid 1st ‘Twilight’ rideshare mission

January 10, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The flight included 40 deployment events for a variety of payloads, including NASA’s Pandora spacecraft. Liftoff from pad 4E happened at 5:44 a.m. PST (8:44 a.m. EST / 1344 UTC).

L3Harris announces $845 million majority sale of Space Propulsion and Power Systems business

January 9, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The deal with AE Industrial Partners is expected to close in the second half of 2026. L3Harris will retain full control over the RS-25 engine.

Crew-11 to cut mission short and return to Earth due to medical issue

January 9, 2026 William Harwood

In keeping with the agency’s strict medical privacy policy, NASA officials have not identified the astronaut in question or provided any details about the nature of the medical issue.

FCC gives SpaceX “green light” to expand Starlink constellation to 15,000 satellites

January 8, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The Starlink 6-96 mission added another 29 broadband internet satellites to the low Earth orbit constellation. SpaceX launched from Space Launch Complex 40 on Friday, Jan. 9, at 4:41 p.m. EST (2141 UTC).

NASA weighs an earlier end to the Crew-11 mission after a ‘medical situation’ with an ISS crew member postpones first spacewalk of 2026

January 7, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

U.S. spacewalk 94 was slated to have NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman perform a variety of operations around the orbiting outpost during the roughly 6.5-hour-long event. A new date for the spacewalk hasn’t been announced.

Dept. of the Air Force opens bidding for Space Launch Complex 14 at Vandenberg SFB

January 6, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The U.S. Space Force aims to attract new launch capabilities for the Western Range to bolster domestic access to space. Responses are due by Feb. 12, 2026.

SpaceX launches first Starlink deployment mission since problem strikes satellite

January 4, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The Starlink 6-88 added 29 broadband internet satellites to the constellation of more than 9,300 in low Earth orbit. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 1:48 a.m. EST (0648 UTC).

SpaceX opens 2026 with launch of Cosmo-SkyMed Earth observation satellite for Italy

January 2, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The spacecraft was originally slated to launch nearly a week prior, but SpaceX ran into ground systems issues. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 6:09 p.m. PST (9:09 p.m. EST / 0209 UTC).

Launch pad issue delays again Falcon 9 launch of Italian Earth observation satellite

December 27, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

For the second night running SpaceX scrubbed the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation satellite for Italy.

Former ULA president and CEO Tory Bruno joins Blue Origin

December 26, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

Bruno’s resignation from United Launch Alliance was announced just four days ago on Dec. 22. He led that company for nearly 12 years.