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
6 articles
VideoMike Fincke, a 30-year astronaut with experience across four spacecraft, retires from NASA
Mike Fincke trained on the Boeing CST-100 Starliner side of the Commercial Crew Program from January 2019 until his reassignment to the SpaceX Crew-11 mission. His fourth and final mission to the International Space Station launched on Aug. 1, 2025.
VideoRepublican-backed reconciliation bill passes, includes funding for ISS, Artemis programs, Space Shuttle relocation
This bill, H.R. 1, is separate from the Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations bills. Those include the FY26 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) bill, which will be marked up by the House Appropriations Committee at a later time.
VideoApril 12 marks 60 years since Gagarin’s spaceflight, 40 years since shuttle debut
Sixty years ago Monday, a 27-year-old Russian test pilot named Yuri Gagarin strapped into a Vostok capsule in Central Asia and rode into orbit atop a launcher derived from a Soviet nuclear missile, becoming the first human to travel into the void of space. Twenty years later, in 1981, the era of reusable spacecraft dawned with the first launch of NASA’s space shuttle.

Chris Kraft, legendary flight director, dies at 95
Former Johnson Space Center Director Christopher Columbus Kraft Jr., the man who created the iconic role of NASA flight director during the Mercury and Gemini programs and whose no-nonsense, uncompromising management style defined control room operations and discipline through the Apollo years and beyond, died Monday. He was 95.

Commercial satellite images historic Apollo launch pads
Maxar's eagle-eyed WorldView 3 satellite captured high-resolution views Monday of NASA's twin Apollo-era launch pads at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, both now home to new launch vehicles 50 years after humans took their first steps on the moon.

X-37B space planes to move into shuttle hangars
Boeing engineers are outfitting two decommissioned space shuttle hangars at the Kennedy Space Center for the U.S. Air Force's secretive X-37B space plane.