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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.
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X-ray communications experiment delivered to space station
A novel communications experiment developed by NASA and the Naval Research Laboratory has arrived at the International Space Station to prove data can be transmitted in space using X-ray signals, a breakthrough that could have uses in deep space exploration and military technology on Earth.
Jeff Bezos unveils ‘Blue Moon’ lander
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the world's richest person, discussed his vision for spaceflight and lunar exploration Thursday in Washington, revealing new details about a privately-developed lunar lander he said will help NASA achieve the Trump administration's goal of returning astronauts to the surface of the moon by 2024.
Commercial crew capsules still beset by parachute problems
A malfunction during a drop test over Nevada last month for SpaceX's Crew Dragon program has engineers re-examining the crew capsule's parachutes, and Boeing has also encountered parachute failures during testing for its commercial crew capsule, a senior NASA official confirmed Wednesday.
Q&A with Keith Gendreau, principal investigator of the first X-ray space communications experiment (members only)
Keith Gendreau, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, recently spoke with Spaceflight Now about a new experiment on the International Space Station to demonstrate X-ray communications in space for the first time.
SpaceX clears cargo mission for launch, confirms destruction of crew capsule
While recovery teams continue combing through the test site at Cape Canaveral where SpaceX's first space-worthy Crew Dragon capsule was destroyed in an explosive accident last month, engineers a few miles away are pressing ahead with the company's 17th resupply mission to the International Space Station set for launch early Friday.
Blue Origin ‘one step closer’ to human flights after successful suborbital launch
Taking another step toward flying space tourists to the edge of space, Jeff Bezos's space company Blue Origin again flew its New Shepard suborbital booster Thursday with a package of microgravity research experiments.
Blue Origin readies reusable suborbital launcher for another flight
Blue Origin teams in West Texas are preparing for another launch of the company's reusable New Shepard suborbital rocket Thursday to loft dozens of microgravity research payloads to the edge of space.
NASA begins outlining roadmap for 2024 moon landing
A senior NASA official said Tuesday that the Space Launch System, a huge heavy-lift rocket years behind schedule, could launch astronauts on a moon landing mission in 2024 on just its third flight to meet a goal announced last month by Vice President Mike Pence, while commercial companies will be entrusted with more responsibility to develop a lunar lander and a modest mini-space station, or Gateway, in lunar orbit.
SpaceX resupply launch delayed by malfunction on space station
A SpaceX Dragon supply ship packed with nearly three tons of experiments, crew provisions and supplies will remain on the ground until at least Friday morning to allow more time for NASA flight controllers to troubleshoot a problem with an electrical distribution unit on the International Space Station.
Russia ships X-ray astronomy satellite to launch site
A Russian X-ray astronomy satellite with major contributions from German and U.S. scientists and instrument developers arrived Thursday at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a launch in June aboard a Proton rocket.