News – Page 594 – Spaceflight Now

January 20, 2026

Breaking News

[ January 18, 2026 ] SpaceX launches Sunday sunset Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral Falcon 9
[ January 16, 2026 ] NRO, SpaceX launch reconnaissance satellites from Vandenberg Falcon 9
[ January 15, 2026 ] Crew 11 safely splashes down after shortened mission Mission Reports
[ January 14, 2026 ] NASA, SpaceX conduct ‘medical evacuation’ Crew-11 return to Earth Mission Reports
[ January 14, 2026 ] SpaceX breaks pad turnaround record at Cape Canaveral with midday Starlink launch Falcon 9

European oceanography satellite rides Russian rocket into orbit

February 16, 2016 Stephen Clark

Soaring into the night sky over a guarded Russian military base, a 1.2-ton European satellite rocketed into orbit Tuesday to regularly measure how the world’s oceans and ice sheets respond to climate change and drive global weather patterns.

Live coverage: European ocean survey satellite launches from Russia

February 16, 2016 Stephen Clark

A European environmental satellite launched Tuesday from Russia’s Plesetsk Cosmodrome to begin a mission of at least seven years measuring the height, color and temperature of the world’s oceans. The Sentinel 3A spacecraft lifted off aboard a Rockot booster at 1757 GMT (12:57 p.m. EST).

ViaSat trades in Falcon Heavy launch for Ariane 5

February 15, 2016 Stephen Clark

Delays in the debut of SpaceX’s huge Falcon Heavy rocket have prompted ViaSat to move the launch of a high-speed Internet communications satellite from the new privately-developed booster to an Ariane 5 flight in early 2017, officials said last week.

Satellite primed for launch to survey oceans, ice sheets

February 15, 2016 Stephen Clark

Russian rocket technicians fueled a decommissioned ballistic missile with propellants Monday, a day ahead of the launch of a European satellite primed to observe the planet’s oceans.

Photos: Sentinel 3A prepared for liftoff

February 15, 2016 Stephen Clark

Europe’s Sentinel 3A satellite, designed for real-time surveys of the world’s oceans, ice sheets, lakes and rivers, is attached to a decommissioned Russian nuclear missile for launch Tuesday. These photos show the spacecraft’s final prelaunch preparations.

Launch of Japanese X-ray observatory postponed

February 11, 2016 Stephen Clark

The Japanese space agency said Thursday the launch of an X-ray astrophysics observatory is postponed from Friday due to a poor weather forecast at the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan.

Gravitational waves detected, opening new era in astronomy

February 11, 2016 William Harwood

A century after Albert Einstein predicted their existence, gravitational waves have finally been detected, tiny ripples in the fabric of spacetime that were generated when two massive black holes crashed together in a space-warping cataclysm.

Photos: More Delta 4 launch shots

February 11, 2016 Justin Ray

The United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket blasts into the predawn skies at Vandenberg Air Force Base with the NROL-45 payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.

Photos: Delta 4 launches on secret NROL-45 mission

February 10, 2016 Justin Ray

A collection of pad photos from the United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket flight to deploy the NROL-45 spy satellite payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.

Delta 4 goes against the grain to backwards orbit for spy bird

February 10, 2016 Justin Ray

Soaring in fine fashion before daybreak, a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket maneuvered a new spy satellite into a unique retrograde orbit Wednesday morning to join an expanding constellation of radar-imaging spacecraft.