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
697 articles
Watch as SpaceX test-fires Falcon 9 ahead of Starlink launch (members only)
Watch as SpaceX test fires a Falcon 9 rocket ahead of the planned launch of 60 more Starlink satellites.
VideoLive coverage: Falcon 9 rocket launches on first mission of 2020
SpaceX launched its first mission of the year Monday at 9:19 p.m. EST (0219 GMT Tuesday), when a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral with SpaceX's third batch of 60 Starlink broadband satellites.
Good weather predicted for Cape Canaveral’s first launch of 2020
Forecasters predict near-ideal weather conditions Monday night for the first launch at Cape Canaveral this year, when SpaceX plans to send another 60 Starlink broadband satellites into orbit atop a Falcon 9 rocket.
SpaceX poised to accelerate launch cadence with series of Starlink missions
SpaceX teams across the United States are readying for what the company's chief operating officer predicts will be a record number of launches in 2020. Before the end of January, SpaceX aims to perform four Falcon 9 launches from Florida's Space Coast -- three for the company's Starlink broadband network, and a crucial in-flight abort test for the Crew Dragon spacecraft no earlier than Jan. 11.
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 to experiment with less-reflective satellite coatings on next Starlink launch
SpaceX's next launch of satellites for the company's Starlink broadband network -- planned in the final days of 2019 -- will carry one spacecraft with an experimental coating designed to make it less reflective in orbit, a first step in assuaging concerns from scientists who say the deployment of thousands more Starlink stations would impede some astronomical observations.
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.
After quiet autumn, SpaceX preps for busy December launch schedule
After a lull in launch activity this fall, SpaceX teams at Cape Canaveral are preparing for up to four Falcon 9 missions in December to close out 2019 with a surge of launches.
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.