News – Page 544 – Spaceflight Now

August 13, 2026

Breaking News

[ August 12, 2026 ] Mike Fincke, a 30-year astronaut with experience across four spacecraft, retires from NASA News
[ August 11, 2026 ] Firefly Aerospace pushes debut of Alpha Block 2 rocket to the fourth quarter of 2026 Alpha
[ August 11, 2026 ] SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB Falcon 9
[ August 10, 2026 ] Window for 2026 launch debut of Rocket Lab’s Neutron rocket ‘is narrowing’ as development continues Neutron
[ August 10, 2026 ] SpaceX launches Tuesday noontime Starlink mission following Monday scrub Falcon 9

Europe’s new Mars orbiter gives first taste of science data

November 30, 2016 Stephen Clark

A first look at the red planet from the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, now in its second month at Mars, gave scientists a sample of the three-dimensional imagery and detailed atmospheric measurements expected over the spacecraft’s five-year mission.

Russian Progress cargo capsule arrives at launch pad

November 29, 2016 Stephen Clark

Russia’s next Progress cargo freighter rolled out to its launch pad in Kazakhstan on Tuesday in a final move before blasting off Thursday at the tip of a Soyuz rocket to resupply and refuel the International Space Station.

Cargo ship-turned-research lab ends mission with re-entry

November 28, 2016 Stephen Clark

In the week since it departed the International Space Station to wrap up a successful cargo delivery mission, Orbital ATK’s Cygnus supply ship hosted a combustion research experiment, deployed four small satellites for a San Francisco-based startup, then descended into Earth’s atmosphere Sunday for a destructive re-entry.

NASA declares end for space station’s hurricane monitoring instrument

November 28, 2016 Stephen Clark

NASA’s RapidScat instrument mounted on a platform outside the International Space Station to track winds over the world’s oceans has ended its mission after a technical glitch disabled the sensor earlier this year, officials said Monday.

Atlas 5 rocket to finish year with commercial broadband satellite launch

November 28, 2016 Justin Ray

Preparing for its eighth launch of the year, the Atlas 5 rocket program has begun stacking the vehicle that will deploy a commercial satellite to provide Internet connectivity to rural America.

Turkish military satellite joined with Vega launcher

November 28, 2016 Stephen Clark

A European-built reconnaissance satellite for the Turkish armed forces has been fastened to the top of its Vega launcher for liftoff from French Guiana next week.

ESA says doomed Mars lander succumbed to bad altitude reading

November 25, 2016 Stephen Clark

One second of faulty data led to the destruction of a European spacecraft on final descent to Mars last month, officials said Wednesday.

Study shows Pluto should be counted among solar system’s ocean worlds

November 24, 2016 Stephen Clark

Scientists believe they can explain how an ocean of water is lurking beneath an ice sheet inside Pluto’s prominent heart-shaped region, an iconic frozen landscape discovered during the New Horizons spacecraft’s flyby last year.

China launches data relay satellite for future space station crews

November 22, 2016 Stephen Clark

China added a fourth craft Tuesday to a network of geostationary data relay satellites tasked with keeping mission control in steady contact with Shenzhou crew capsules and a planned space station.

Photos: America’s 100th EELV blasts off

November 22, 2016 Justin Ray

The 100th flight of America’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program — a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket — departed Cape Canaveral on Saturday evening carrying the most advanced U.S. weather satellite ever made.