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
354 articles
NASA shakes up moon program management
In a major shakeup at NASA Headquarters, agency Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Wednesday that Bill Gerstenmaier, the widely respected director of human spaceflight, has been replaced in the midst of an ambitious push to meet the Trump administration's directive to send astronauts back to the moon within five years.
SLS mobile launcher moves to pad 39B for final exams
A towering mobile platform for the agency's Space Launch System arrived at launch pad 39B Friday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a sequence of water and propellant flow tests, swing arm checkouts and other rehearsals that should conclude with managers declaring the spaceport's ground systems ready to support the first SLS launch campaign by the end of the year.
NASA chooses Maxar to build keystone module for lunar Gateway station
NASA has selected Maxar Technologies for a $375 million contract to design, build and launch the core element of a mini-space station in orbit around the moon that will double as a deep space research outpost and a staging point for future human expeditions to the lunar surface.
Q&A with Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX (members only)
Elon Musk, SpaceX's founder and chief executive, spoke with reporters via conference call May 15 as the company prepared for the launch of the first 60 satellites to build out a network of potentially thousands of broadband relay stations in low Earth orbit providing high-speed Internet to consumers around the world.
Trump adds $1.6 billion to NASA budget request to kick start ‘Artemis’ moon mission
The Trump administration is adding an additional $1.6 billion to NASA's $21 billion 2020 budget request to kick start plans to return American astronauts to the moon in 2024, four years earlier than previously planned, NASA announced Monday.
Telesat taps Blue Origin to launch broadband satellite fleet
Telesat has selected Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket to "play a key role" in delivering potentially hundreds of broadband communications satellites into low Earth orbit under a multi-launch agreement announced last week, as Telesat officials prepare to select between two industrial teams to begin building spacecraft for the Internet network later this year.
ULA, Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman share Air Force rocket funding
The U.S. Air Force has committed $109 million in funding to advance development of new rockets designed by United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman, leaving out SpaceX in a government investment round that will lead to the military's selection of two long-term launch providers in late 2019 or 2020.
Blue Origin’s orbital rocket in the running to receive U.S. military investment
Blue Origin submitted a proposal late last year in what's expected to be a four-way competition for U.S. Air Force funding to support development of new orbital-class rockets, a further step taken by the Jeff Bezos-owned company to break into the military launch market, industry officials said.
World’s largest methane-fueled rocket engine test-fired by Blue Origin
Blue Origin has conducted the first hotfire test of its BE-4 rocket engine in West Texas, a powerplant fueled by liquified natural gas and liquid oxygen that will power the company's heavy-lift New Glenn rocket and perhaps United Launch Alliance's next-generation Vulcan launcher, officials announced Thursday.
Blue Origin encounters setback in BE-4 engine testing
Blue Origin said Sunday that it lost a set of powerpack hardware for its BE-4 engine during a ground test mishap, dealing at least a minor setback to the development of a powerful U.S.-made propulsion system that United Launch Alliance says is the leading candidate to power the first stage of its next-generation Vulcan rocket.