News – Page 541 – Spaceflight Now

October 19, 2026

Breaking News

[ October 16, 2026 ] Blue Origin to add new Florida launch pads, seeks aggressive increase in New Glenn flight rate New Glenn
[ October 15, 2026 ] SpaceX launches a classified payload for U.S. Space Force Falcon 9
[ October 13, 2026 ] SpaceX launches NASA science and cargo to the International Space Station Falcon 9
[ October 13, 2026 ] Launch preview: NASA, SpaceX to launch new solar arrays, 6,300 pounds of cargo to the space station Falcon 9
[ October 12, 2026 ] SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 27 Starlink satellites from California Falcon 9

Engineers examine unexpected readings from JWST shake test

December 20, 2016 Stephen Clark

NASA says engineers are diagnosing the source of “anomalous readings” during a recent vibration test of the sensitive optics and sensors at the heart of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.

Photos: Ariane 5’s journey to the launch pad

December 20, 2016 Stephen Clark

Topped with Brazilian and Japanese television broadcasting satellites, an Ariane 5 rocket rolled out to its launch pad in French Guiana on Tuesday, a day before its scheduled blastoff on the way to geostationary transfer orbit.

Research platform launched to brave Van Allen radiation belts

December 20, 2016 Stephen Clark

Japan launched a research satellite Tuesday to repeatedly fly through the Van Allen belts high above Earth, helping scientists sort out how chaotic geomagnetic storms form and evolve and potentially endanger astronauts, spacecraft and infrastructure vital to life on the ground.

Live coverage: Japan’s enhanced Epsilon booster blasts off

December 20, 2016 Stephen Clark

A Japanese Epsilon rocket launched Tuesday from the Uchinoura Space Center, a shoreline spaceport on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, with a space weather research probe to study phenomena inside the turbulent Van Allen radiation belts. Liftoff of the 85-foot-tall rocket occurred at 1100 GMT (6 a.m. EST).

Photos: Final batch of EchoStar 19 launch shots

December 20, 2016 Justin Ray

With a 2-to-1 thrust-to-weight ratio, the million-pound United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket unleashed two-million pounds of ground-shaking thrust to power away from its seaside launch complex at 2:13 p.m. EST (1913 GMT) Sunday with the EchoStar 19 satellite.

Last Ariane 5 flight of the year cleared for launch

December 19, 2016 Stephen Clark

Arianespace officials have approved the rollout and launch of the final Ariane 5 flight of the year, set to blast off Wednesday from French Guiana to haul Brazilian and Japanese communications stations toward their orbital perches more than 22,000 miles above the equator.

Timeline of events during Epsilon rocket’s launch with the ERG mission

December 19, 2016 Stephen Clark

An Epsilon rocket is set to send a Japanese space weather research probe into an orbit stretching more than 20,000 miles above Earth to investigate how the Van Allen radiation belts shrink and swell with variable solar activity.

Japan prepares launch of satellite to probe Earth’s radiation belts

December 19, 2016 Stephen Clark

Japanese engineers aim to launch an upgraded Epsilon booster Tuesday with a satellite to study the origins of powerful geomagnetic storms, phenomena that trigger picturesque polar auroras but could disrupt communications and and damage electric grids.

Photos: Atlas 5 launches EchoStar 19 broadband satellite

December 19, 2016 Justin Ray

Launching a high-capacity satellite to beam the Internet into homes across rural America, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket thunders away from Cape Canaveral on Sunday afternoon.

Photos: Final ULA mission of the year blasts off successfully

December 18, 2016 Justin Ray

Marking United Launch Alliance’s 12th and last rocket flight in 2016, the Atlas 5 rocket departed Cape Canaveral on Sunday afternoon carrying EchoStar 19 to provide Internet connectivity across North America.