News – Page 686 – Spaceflight Now

April 12, 2026

Breaking News

[ April 10, 2026 ] NASA confident Artemis 2 heat shield will protect crew during re-entry Artemis
[ April 5, 2026 ] Artemis astronauts send down Easter message, prep for lunar fly around Monday Artemis
[ April 3, 2026 ] ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket launches its heaviest payload ever with fifth Amazon Leo mission Atlas 5
[ April 2, 2026 ] Artemis 2 crew blasts off on historic moon mission Artemis
[ April 1, 2026 ] Live coverage: NASA to launch Artemis 2, its first Moon-bound mission with astronauts since 1972 Artemis

Three Atlas 5, Delta 4 assigned to military launches

February 2, 2015 Justin Ray

Three rockets under the existing Block Buy between the Pentagon and United Launch Alliance have been assigned configurations and payloads.

Iranian satellite successfully placed in orbit

February 2, 2015 Stephen Clark

Iranian engineers are in contact with an experimental satellite after it blasted off Monday aboard a two-stage Safir booster, marking Iran’s first successful orbital launch in three years, state media reported.

Second satellite launched for Inmarsat’s Global Xpress network

February 2, 2015 Stephen Clark

A commercial satellite launched Sunday on a Russian Proton rocket successfully deployed in orbit thousands of miles above Earth to join Inmarsat’s new communications network providing high-speed data links between airplanes, ships and far-flung customers anywhere in the world.

Photos: Gallery of Delta 2 launch

February 2, 2015 Justin Ray

The United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket lifts off with NASA’s SMAP observatory at 6:22 a.m. local time on Saturday, Jan. 31 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Video: Highlights of weekend’s Delta 2 launch

February 2, 2015 Justin Ray

The United Launch Alliance flight highlights reel for the Delta 2 rocket and NASA’s SMAP observatory from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Photos: Delta 2 rocket blasts off with SMAP satellite

February 1, 2015 Justin Ray

The United Launch Alliance Delta 2 was launched Saturday at 6:22 a.m. local time with NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Camera aboard Delta 2 rocket watches SMAP begin life in orbit

February 1, 2015 Justin Ray

A video camera mounted aboard the United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket beamed back remarkable views of NASA’s SMAP spacecraft being deployed into orbit and opening its solar panels Saturday.

Europe’s re-entry demonstrator mated to Vega rocket

February 1, 2015 Stephen Clark

Launch crews in French Guiana have mounted an innovative European space plane on top of a solid-fueled Vega launcher for a Feb. 11 suborbital test flight.

H-2A rocket boosts Japanese radar spy satellite into orbit

February 1, 2015 Stephen Clark

Japan launched a new satellite Sunday to reinforce the country’s fleet of orbiting spy platforms charged with monitoring its neighbors in the Asia-Pacific.

Full story: Delta 2 rises to occasion with SMAP observatory

January 31, 2015 Justin Ray

The ever-dependable Delta 2 rocket continued its flawless service to NASA and Earth sciences Saturday with the launch of a $916 million environmental probe focused on producing global maps of soil moisture from space.