News – Page 692 – Spaceflight Now

December 16, 2025

Breaking News

[ December 15, 2025 ] Rocket Lab Electron rocket aborts liftoff at engine ignition Electron
[ December 15, 2025 ] ULA Atlas 5 launch puts Amazon’s 180th broadband satellite in low Earth orbit Atlas 5
[ December 14, 2025 ] Falcon 9 launch of 29 Starlink satellites from the Kennedy Space Center delayed to Wednesday Falcon 9
[ December 14, 2025 ] SpaceX launches 100th Falcon 9 rocket from Florida in 2025 Falcon 9
[ December 13, 2025 ] SpaceX completes 550th booster landing amid Saturday night Falcon 9 flight Falcon 9

Photos: Atlas launch seen from pad cameras

December 14, 2014 Justin Ray

Views of the Dec. 12 launch of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from up-close remote cameras placed near the booster’s launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Record-setting Atlas launches with new Centaur engine

December 13, 2014 Justin Ray

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket put on a display of power, sound and light Friday evening at Vandenberg Air Force Base in launching a clandestine national security payload, then successfully debuted a new upper stage engine as it flew over the horizon.

Photos: Atlas launch seen from press site

December 13, 2014 Justin Ray

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket unleashed two million pounds of thrust at 7:19 p.m. PST (10:19 p.m. EST) on Dec. 12 to blast off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on the NROL-35 mission. See photos of the launch from the press viewing site.

Photos: Gantry retracted from Atlas 5

December 13, 2014 Justin Ray

The 8-million-pound mobile service tower is retracted from around the Atlas 5 rocket, revealing the 20-story-tall vehicle for liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

Launch of SpaceX cargo mission slips to Dec. 19

December 11, 2014 Stephen Clark

The launch of SpaceX’s next resupply mission to the International Space Station has been rescheduled for no earlier than Dec. 19 to make sure the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon supply ship are ready for flight.

Trio of ocean surveillance satellites launched by China

December 11, 2014 Stephen Clark

A package of small satellites that will likely track global naval activity lifted off aboard a Chinese Long March 4C rocket.

Rosetta raises questions on how water got to Earth

December 11, 2014 Stephen Clark

New readings from the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission have challenged the theory that comets brought water to Earth in a series of cataclysmic collisions during the solar system’s chaotic youth.

Live coverage: Atlas 5 blasts off from California

December 10, 2014 Justin Ray

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted off Friday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. Launch occurred at 7:19 p.m. PST (10:19 p.m. EST; 0319 GMT).

Rover data suggest Mars crater once contained long-lived lake

December 10, 2014 Stephen Clark

Scientists analyzing imagery from NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover believe sediments left by an ancient lake more than three billion years ago formed a towering mountain that is set to be the robot’s research subject for the rest of its mission on the red planet.

Photos: Orion spaceship unloaded from USS Anchorage

December 10, 2014 Stephen Clark

Fresh home from a high-flying test flight Friday that took it 3,600 miles above Earth, NASA’s Orion spacecraft was pulled off a U.S. Navy recovery ship Monday night for initial inspections before a cross-country trip to its home base in Florida.