News Archive
Browse every article published on Spaceflight Now, from launch reports and mission previews to spacecraft development coverage. Use the filters to narrow by topic or search by keyword.
Matching Articles
371 articles
Probe hoisted aboard launcher to leave Earth next week on asteroid adventure
NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft today moved a step closer to starting a voyage to explore an uncharted world in our solar system -- the mountain-sized Asteroid Bennu -- by joining the booster rocket that will propel it from Earth next week.

Photos: Atlas 5 rocket assembled for launch of asteroid sample return probe
At Cape Canaveral's Vertical Integration Facility, adjacent to the Complex 41 launch pad, workers with United Launch Alliance stacked the Atlas 5 rocket that will propel NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on its voyage to Asteroid Bennu.

Atlas 5 rocket rehearses countdown for upcoming launch to Asteroid Bennu
Running through a practice countdown to check systems before launching a NASA sample-return probe to Asteroid Bennu in exactly two weeks, an Atlas 5 successfully completed its Wet Dress Rehearsal today.

Sophisticated new U.S. weather observatory being readied for launch
On the cusp of advancing U.S. weather forecasting, a powerful new satellite was shipped from its Denver factory to the Cape today in preparation for launch in November.

Video: Preview of the OSIRIS-REx mission to sample an asteroid
Watch the pre-flight news conference that introduces NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on Sept. 8. It will capture a sample of Asteroid Bennu for return to Earth.

Photos: Solar arrays attached to asteroid-bound OSIRIS-REx spacecraft
At NASA's Kennedy Space Center, workers have finished the pre-launch assembly and fueling of OSIRIS-REx for the asteroid sample return spacecraft for liftoff Sept. 8.

Buildup of unusual launcher begins for NASA’s asteroid sample return mission
It is a rocket like no other, a vehicle with a single solid-fuel booster mounted to its side, that will launch NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe next month to bring back a sample of Asteroid Bennu.

Next missile warning sentinel set for October launch to geosynchronous orbit
A highly sophisticated U.S. Air Force satellite to sound the alarm when an enemy missile launches has shipped to its Florida launch site for liftoff in October aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket.

After three-year wait, commercial imaging observatory shipped for launch
More than three years after its launch was delayed by a corporate merger, a commercial Earth-imaging satellite has finally shipped to its California rocket base for liftoff aboard an Atlas 5 in September.

Photos: More shots of Thursday’s Atlas 5 rocket launch
Departing Cape Canaveral at 8:37 a.m. EDT Thursday, the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted a classified national security satellite into orbit for deployment.