News – Page 603 – Spaceflight Now

October 5, 2026

Breaking News

[ October 4, 2026 ] SpaceX scrubs launch attempt for 21 data transport satellites for the Space Development Agency Falcon 9
[ October 1, 2026 ] Falcon Heavy flies its first mission for U.S. spy satellite agency Falcon Heavy
[ October 1, 2026 ] Fresh crew takes off for six-month stay aboard space station Falcon 9
[ October 1, 2026 ] Launch preview: NASA, SpaceX launch next crewed mission to the International Space Station Falcon 9
[ September 29, 2026 ] NASA plans unpiloted Starliner test flight at end of year News

Reviewers approve early design work on new Vulcan rocket

March 24, 2016 Justin Ray

Work to create a new all-American rocket, the United Launch Alliance Vulcan-Centaur, has passed its first major hurdle for its first flight in three years, officials announced Thursday.

Pentagon opens investigation into contracts with ULA

March 24, 2016 Stephen Clark

The U.S. Defense Department’s internal watchdog has opened a probe into whether the Pentagon’s contracts with United Launch Alliance were properly awarded after a former ULA executive implied the government rigged a recent procurement in favor of the company.

Soyuz launcher puts Russian military spy satellite in orbit

March 24, 2016 Stephen Clark

A Russian military spacecraft with a high-resolution digital mapping camera is in orbit Thursday after a successful ascent aboard a Soyuz rocket.

Atlas 5 forced to improvise during Tuesday’s climb to orbit

March 24, 2016 Justin Ray

The Centaur upper stage launching the Cygnus space freighter Tuesday persevered through a velocity shortfall from the first stage of the Atlas 5 rocket, improvising with a longer firing to reach the correct orbit.

Europe’s ExoMars orbiter smoothly cruising toward red planet

March 23, 2016 Stephen Clark

Ground controllers are running Europe’s ExoMars orbiter through a post-launch checkup a week after its successful liftoff aboard a Proton rocket, and a first look at the probe’s systems has revealed no problems, the mission’s flight director said Tuesday.

2nd Cygnus ship in three months rockets to orbit aboard Atlas 5

March 23, 2016 Justin Ray

An Atlas 5 rocket successfully launched another Cygnus cargo freighter for Orbital ATK Tuesday night, fulfilling the booster’s role of reestablishing America’s resupply link to the International Space Station.

Live coverage: Atlas 5 countdown and launch journal

March 21, 2016 Justin Ray

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral at 11:05 p.m. EDT (0305 GMT) tonight to send Orbital ATK’s commercial Cygnus cargo freighter to the International Space Station. Follow the mission in our live journal.

SpaceX hopes to raise launch tempo after space station flight

March 20, 2016 Stephen Clark

SpaceX is targeting April 8 for the launch of its first resupply run to the International Space Station in nearly a year, a mission that the company hopes will mark the start of a rapid-fire launch manifest full of payloads waiting to fly.

Jason 3 satellite begins surveying world’s oceans

March 19, 2016 Stephen Clark

Two months after its foggy blastoff from California on a Falcon 9 rocket, a $364 million oceanography satellite has returned the first data from its radar altimeter mapping global sea levels, catching this year’s ongoing El Niño in the act.

Photos: Crew departs on half-year space station expedition

March 19, 2016 Stephen Clark

Check out a pictorial retrospective on Friday’s launch of three new space station crew members from Kazakhstan, riding an iconic Soyuz booster to orbit and arriving at the 250-mile-high research complex less than six hours later.