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NASA declares first SLS core stage complete
NASA has declared assembly complete on the core stage for the first Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket in New Orleans, signaling a long-awaited transition from manufacturing to testing as the core stage is set to move to the nearby Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for a hold-down firing next year of its four shuttle-era main engines.
Q&A with John Shannon, Boeing’s SLS vice president and program manager (members only)
In nearly five years on the job as Boeing's Space Launch System program manager, John Shannon has presided over the completion of the first SLS core stage inside a cavernous factory in New Orleans.
SpaceX pausing some Starship work in Florida
SpaceX says it is temporarily halting some activity on the company's next-generation Starship program in Florida, allowing teams to focus on building a new Starship test vehicle in Texas.
Earth observation, deep space exploration big winners in new ESA budget
European Space Agency member states on Thursday committed nearly 12.5 billion euros ($13.8 billion) to fund ESA programs over the next three years, promising money to grow Europe's fleet of satellites studying Earth's changing climate, contribute to NASA-led lunar exploration efforts, and continue ESA's participation in the International Space Station until 2030.
VideoSpaceX’s first Starship prototype ruptures during cryogenic test
SpaceX's first partially-assembled Starship vehicle, originally built for atmospheric test flights, ruptured in dramatic fashion Wednesday during a cryogenic loading test at the company's launch facility in South Texas.
SpaceX offering Starship to NASA for lunar landing missions
SpaceX is eligible to propose using its next-generation Starship vehicle to carry NASA robotic science payloads to the lunar surface, the U.S. space agency announced Monday, on missions that could precede future Starship flights with people on-board. SpaceX is one of five companies NASA selected Monday to join a roster of commercial transportation providers to deliver scientific instruments and technology demonstration packages to the moon as soon as 2022.
Boeing proposes SLS-launched lunar lander
Boeing is touting a lunar lander concept that the company claims could launch in one piece on an upgraded version of NASA's Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket -- which Boeing largely builds -- and deliver astronauts to the moon's surface in 2024 without going through NASA's planned Gateway mini-space station.
NASA’s VIPER rover in development for scouting mission to moon’s south pole
Building on a mission canceled last year, NASA is developing a mobile robot named VIPER for launch in 2022 to scout for water ice at the moon's south pole, the same region where the agency aims to land astronauts by 2024.
Q&A with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (members only)
Speaking with Spaceflight Now on the sidelines of the International Astronautical Congress this week, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine offered his assessment on the status of a budget battle to secure funding for the agency's Artemis program, which seeks to achieve the next human landing on the moon by the end of 2024.
Bezos says space industry stalwarts will help Blue Origin build moon lander
Blue Origin has partnered with Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman to build elements of the company's human-rated lunar lander, and Draper will lead development of the lander's avionics and guidance systems, with an aim to be ready to land a crew on the moon by 2024, company founder Jeff Bezos announced Tuesday.