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
607 articles
SpaceX launches joint NASA-European sea level monitor
SpaceX launched a joint NASA-European environmental research satellite early Monday, the second in an ongoing billion-dollar project to measure long-term changes in sea level, a key indicator of climate change.
Blue Origin launches twin Mars probes for NASA as New Glenn makes first landing
Blue Origin launched its second heavy-lift New Glenn rocket Thursday, putting two small NASA satellites onto a long, looping course to Mars to learn more about how the sun has slowly blown away the red planet's once thick atmosphere.
Northrop Grumman cargo ship reaches space Station
The capture came after Northrop Grumman engineers adjusted the sensitivity of main engine fault detection software that prematurely triggered shut downs during two rendezvous thruster firings Tuesday.
SpaceX successfully launches Super Heavy-Starship on critical test flight
While re-entry heating damaged a protective "skirt" around the the engine bay of the upper stage Starship, along with partially melting a control flap near its hinge, the vehicle remained under control throughout and made it all the way to a powered splashdown in the Indian Ocean as planned.
Cargo ship docks with International Space Station
Launched Sunday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station atop a Falcon 9 rocket, the cargo Dragon closed out a 28-hour rendezvous with an ahead-of-schedule docking at the lab's forward port at 7:05 a.m. EDT as the two spacecraft were passing 260 miles above the Ivory Coast of Africa.
ULA launches Vulcan rocket on first Space Force mission
Equipped with four solid-fuel strap-on boosters for additional takeoff power, the 198-foot-tall Vulcan's two methane-fueled BE-4 engines thundered to life at 8:56p.m. EDT, instantly propelling the rocket away from pad 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Crew 10 returns to Earth with Pacific Ocean splashdown
Two NASA astronauts, a Japanese flier and a Russian cosmonaut plunged back to Earth Saturday, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego to wrap up a five-month mission.
NASA probes to study how the solar wind triggers potentially dangerous ‘space weather’
SpaceX launched twin satellites for NASA Wednesday that will study how the electrically-charged solar wind interacts with Earth's magnetic field, creating constantly changing and occasionally dangerous "space weather" affecting satellites, electrical grids and other critical systems.
Commercial crew blasts off on privately-funded space station research mission
Strapped into a new SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule making its maiden flight, Whitson, test pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of India, European Space Agency astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland, and Hungarian engineer Tibor Kapu roared away from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center at 2:31 a.m. EDT.
Fresh crew docks at space station; Starliner astronauts expected to return to Earth Tuesday
Approaching from behind and below, the Crew Dragon, launched Friday evening from the Kennedy Space Center, passed 1,300 feet directly under the station before looping up to a point 720 feet directly ahead of the outpost. From there, it glided straight in for docking at the Harmony module's forward port at 12:04 a.m. EDT.