News – Page 572 – Spaceflight Now

May 9, 2026

Breaking News

[ May 8, 2026 ] Rescue mission for NASA’s $500 million space telescope passes key testing milestone Mission Reports
[ May 7, 2026 ] Rocket Lab announces five-launch Neutron deal as it continues aiming for late 2026 debut Mission Reports
[ May 5, 2026 ] SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB Falcon 9
[ May 4, 2026 ] Lockheed Martin joins collaboration with Firefly Aerospace and Seagate for off-shore launches Alpha
[ May 2, 2026 ] SpaceX launches South Korean Earth observation satellite, plus 44 more payloads on midnight Falcon 9 rideshare mission Falcon 9

Space Launch System booster fired in final preflight qualification test

June 28, 2016 Stephen Clark

A solid-fueled rocket motor mounted horizontally on a Utah hillside ignited and powered up to more than 3 million pounds of thrust Tuesday in a final full-up test-firing before a similar booster helps propel NASA’s huge Space Launch System away from Earth on a demonstration flight in 2018.

Oxygen finding strengthens case that Mars was once habitable

June 27, 2016 Stephen Clark

High concentrations of manganese oxides found in Martian rocks by NASA’s Curiosity rover indicate the red planet’s atmosphere once had much more oxygen than than previously thought, scientists said Monday.

Huge solid rocket booster to be test-fired Tuesday

June 27, 2016 Stephen Clark

A 154-foot-long solid rocket booster will be ignited for two minutes Tuesday at a remote test site in Utah, wrapping up a series of five ground firings to prove the motor’s readiness for flight on NASA’s Space Launch System.

New and improved space weather observatory goes live next month

June 27, 2016 Stephen Clark

NOAA’s Deep Space Climate Observatory, a $340 million mission that spent more than a decade grounded in a Maryland warehouse, will begin warning forecasters of dangerous solar storms next month, giving notice of events that could disrupt air travel, radio communications, electrical grids and satellite operations.

Friday’s Atlas 5 launch as seen from the air, land and rocket

June 27, 2016 Justin Ray

Perspectives of Friday’s United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket flight were snapped from a commercial airliner, a satellite observer in Australia and the booster itself.

Prototype for new Chinese human-rated spacecraft lands in desert

June 26, 2016 Stephen Clark

A sub-scale landing craft for China’s next-generation crew capsule parachuted back to Earth on Sunday, one day after rocketing into orbit aboard the country’s new Long March 7 launcher.

Antares rocket’s return-to-flight slips to August

June 26, 2016 Stephen Clark

The first launch of Orbital ATK’s redesigned Antares rocket since an engine failure doomed a mission in 2014 will likely be delayed more than one month until August to complete analysis of data acquired during a first stage hotfire test, officials said.

Jupiter and its satellites seen by ‘people’s camera’ on Juno probe

June 25, 2016 Stephen Clark

The visible camera on NASA’s Juno spacecraft is capturing a time-lapse movie of Jupiter and its four largest moons as the orbiter dives toward the giant planet for a July 4 rendezvous, and officials have released a first taste of the views armchair scientists and space enthusiasts can anticipate over the coming weeks and months.

China’s new Long March 7 rocket successful on first flight

June 25, 2016 Stephen Clark

The new kerosene-fueled Long March 7 rocket rocket, developed to become a workhorse for a planned Chinese space station and the country’s clandestine military space program, flew into orbit Saturday on its inaugural flight from a launch base on Hainan Island in the South China Sea.

Photos: Atlas 5 launches MUOS 5

June 25, 2016 Justin Ray

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket successfully flies to orbit Friday to deliver the U.S. Navy’s fifth Mobile User Objective System communications satellite.