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
902 articles
Computer reset cancels orbit-raising burn on Israel’s moon lander
A computer reset on the Israeli Beresheet lunar lander forced has the postponement of the mission's first engine firing to begin maneuvering closer to the moon, officials said Tuesday.
Japanese probe lands on asteroid to capture sample
Japan's Hayabusa 2 spacecraft briefly landed on an asteroid Thursday more than 200 million miles from Earth and fired a bullet to scoop up a rocky sample, successfully accomplishing one of the mission's most challenging maneuvers before returning the asteroid specimen to scientists on the ground in December 2020.
Photos: Beresheet lander tested for historic moon mission
The Beresheet moon lander will attempt to become the first privately-funded spacecraft to reach the moon, and these photos show the robotic probe's journey through testing inside a clean room at Israel Aerospace Industries, followed by its attachment to a multi-satellite stack for launch on a Falcon 9 rocket.
Israeli moon lander prepared for launch
The privately-funded Israeli Beresheet lunar lander is ready for its historic mission to the moon, aiming to become the first space probe to land on another planetary body without government funding.
New Horizons finds Ultima Thule has an unexpected, flattened shape
Images taken by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft when it flew by an object the size of a large metropolitan area at the frontier of the solar system Jan. 1 have revealed the miniature world has a more flattened shape than the flyby's initial pictures suggested.
Q&A with Opher Doron, general manager of IAI’s space division (members only)
Opher Doron leads the space division at Israel Aerospace Industries, a satellite and aviation contractor that led the industrial team behind the privately-funded Beresheet lander heading to the moon.
NASA orbiter spots Chinese lander on the moon
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has spotted China's Chang'e 4 lander and rover on the far side of the moon in new images, as the Chinese robots explore the floor of Von Kármán crater.
SpaceX files protest of NASA’s Lucy launch contract awarded to ULA
SpaceX has filed a protest challenging a nearly $150 million NASA contract awarded to United Launch Alliance last month to send a robotic asteroid probe into space.
NASA declares Opportunity rover dead after 15 years on Mars
Eight months after last hearing from the Opportunity rover, NASA officials announced the end of the craft's 15-year mission Wednesday, closing out an ambitious chapter of Mars exploration that proved the Red Planet once harbored running water and demonstrated the promise of mobile robotic scouts to survey other worlds.
NASA’s first interplanetary CubeSats fall silent beyond Mars
After a successful mission that pushed the limits of small satellite technology, ground controllers have lost contact with two briefcase-sized CubeSats beyond Mars, NASA said Tuesday.