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
60 articles
VideoArtemis 2 astronauts get first look at their Orion moonship
NASA's four Artemis 2 astronauts, getting their first look at the Orion capsule that will carry them around the moon next year, said seeing the hardware first hand and meeting the men and women building the spacecraft brought home the reality of their historic mission.

Musk outlines major upgrades for Starship rocket
SpaceX will need another six weeks or so to finish implementing hundreds of changes to its Super Heavy-Starship rocket and the gargantuan booster's Texas launch pad before it will be ready for a second attempt to reach orbit, company founder Elon Musk said Saturday.

NASA awards Blue Origin $3.4 billion Artemis moon lander contract
Blue Origin, the rocket company owned by Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos, has won a $3.4 billion NASA contract to build an Artemis lunar lander that will provide a downstream alternative to the Starship variant already being developed by SpaceX, the agency announced Friday.

Orion moonship closes in for Sunday re-entry and splashdown
Closing out a 25-day voyage around the moon, NASA's Artemis 1 spacecraft closed in on Earth Saturday, on track for a 25,000-mph re-entry Sunday that will subject the unpiloted capsule to a hellish 5,000-degree inferno before splashdown off Baja California.

Orion sails through halfway point of Artemis 1 moon mission
At the halfway point in NASA's Artemis 1 mission, the unpiloted Orion moonship is chalking up a near-flawless flight, mission managers said Monday, beaming back spectacular images of Earth disappearing from view as it was eclipsed by the moon.

NASA managers thrilled with initial results of Artemis moon mission
NASA's unpiloted Orion moonship, sailing smoothly toward a remote lunar orbit after a spectacular low-altitude flyby Monday, is operating in near-flawless fashion, mission managers reported Monday, out-performing expectations on a flight needed to pave the way toward the first piloted mission in 2024.

Orion capsule closes in for lunar flyby
Nearly five days after its sky-lighting launch, NASA's unpiloted Orion crew capsule closed in on the moon Sunday, on course for a critical rocket firing and lunar flyby Monday to whip the craft into a distant orbit. The goal is to pave the way toward a piloted flight around the moon in 2024.

NASA clears Artemis moon rocket for Wednesday launch
NASA managers Monday reviewed the threat posed by hurricane-damaged insulation on the agency's Artemis moon rocket and cleared the $4.1 billion booster for launch "as is" early Wednesday to kick off a long-delayed flight to boost an unpiloted Orion crew capsule around the moon and back.

Engineers assessing hurricane-damaged insulation before Artemis launch Wednesday
NASA managers cleared the agency's leak-bedeviled Artemis moon rocket for the start of another countdown early Monday, but engineers must resolve questions about hurricane-damaged insulation before the huge booster can be cleared for blastoff on an unpiloted moonshot.

NASA assesses moon rocket after a brush with Hurricane Nicole
NASA's $4.1 billion Artemis moon rocket, exposed to the elements atop its Kennedy Space Center launch pad, was rocked by high winds and driving rain early Thursday as Hurricane Nicole roared ashore just south of the spaceport.