News – Page 604 – Spaceflight Now

December 8, 2025

Breaking News

[ December 7, 2025 ] Poor weather causes SpaceX to scrub launch of 3,000th Starlink satellite in 2025 on record-setting 32nd flight of Falcon 9 booster Falcon 9
[ December 7, 2025 ] SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB Falcon 9
[ December 5, 2025 ] International Space Station prepares for new commander, heads into final five years of planned operations Mission Reports
[ December 4, 2025 ] SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB Falcon 9
[ December 4, 2025 ] Orion hatch ‘blemish’ delays launch day rehearsal for Artemis 2 astronauts Mission Reports

Video: Liftoff of Atlas 5 on space station cargo mission

December 6, 2015 Justin Ray

A replay of the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket launching the Orbital ATK’s commercial Cygnus cargo freighter to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Japanese probe fires rockets to steer into orbit at Venus

December 6, 2015 Stephen Clark

Five years after missing a shot to enter orbit at Venus, Japan’s Akatsuki spacecraft completed a critical rocket burn late Sunday in a bid to salvage the research mission and become the only space probe operating around Earth’s nearest planetary neighbor.

Russian military satellites orbited by stripped-down Soyuz rocket

December 6, 2015 Stephen Clark

A Russian satellite reportedly designed to track enemy submarines and a spacecraft to help calibrate ground-based military radars lifted off Saturday aboard a modified Soyuz rocket, but one of the payloads apparently failed to deploy from the launcher’s upper stage, according to Russian media.

Take a last look at the Vega rocket’s middle-of-the-night liftoff

December 4, 2015 Stephen Clark

Videos and photos help tell the story of Thursday’s launch of Europe’s LISA Pathfinder spacecraft, carrying high-tech thrusters and ultra-sensitive motion sensors to be used in a future gravitational wave detection mission, from French Guiana aboard a nearly 100-foot-tall (30-meter) Vega rocket.

See the highest-resolution snapshots from July’s Pluto flyby

December 4, 2015 Stephen Clark

Scientists are marveling at some of the best views of Pluto recorded by the New Horizons spacecraft during its July 14 flyby of the unexplored icy dwarf in a set of photos released Friday showing Pluto’s icy, rugged topography in eye-popping detail.

European probe blasts off on gravitational wave demonstration

December 3, 2015 Stephen Clark

A solid-fueled Vega launcher fired through a low cloud deck and sped into orbit from the South American jungle early Thursday with a pioneering European spacecraft that marks a key step in a century-long quest to detect elusive gravitational waves predicted to permeate the cosmos.

Photos: Nightfall at Cape Canaveral on eve of Atlas launch to space station

December 3, 2015 Justin Ray

These photos were taken on Wednesday, Dec. 2, approximately 24 hours before the scheduled liftoff of the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 with Orbital ATK’s commercial Cygnus cargo ship bound for the International Space Station.

Live coverage: Atlas 5 countdown and launch journal

December 2, 2015 Justin Ray

After three frustrating days of weather delays, the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral at 4:44 p.m. EST (2144 GMT) today to send Orbital ATK’s commercial Cygnus cargo freighter to the International Space Station.

SpaceX aims to resume Falcon 9 flights in mid-December

December 2, 2015 Stephen Clark

SpaceX has shipped to Cape Canaveral the first Falcon 9 booster equipped with upgrades to haul heavier cargoes to orbit, aiming for a mid-December launch in the space transport company’s first mission since a June rocket failure grounded the Falcon 9.

Live coverage: Vega rocket launches with LISA Pathfinder

December 2, 2015 Stephen Clark

A Vega rocket has blasted off with Europe’s LISA Pathfinder tech demo mission, a probe heading to a station a million miles from Earth to test systems for a future gravitational wave observatory. Liftoff from French Guiana occurred at 0404 GMT Thursday (11:04 p.m. EST Wednesday).