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Military officials committed to keeping Cape Canaveral open for launches
The military-run Eastern Range at Cape Canaveral remains ready to support upcoming launches — including an Atlas 5 flight Thursday — amid the coronavirus pandemic, officials said Tuesday.
NASA to consider WFIRST launch options after mission passes key review
NASA expects to select a launch vehicle next year to carry the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope -- a multibillion-dollar flagship astrophysics observatory targeted for cancellation by the Trump administration -- into space in 2025 after the mission passed a key review last month, agency officials said.
VideoSecond Starship test article implodes during pressure test
A prototype for SpaceX's Starship vehicle imploded during a pressurization test at the company's facility in South Texas Friday night, an event captured on video by local residents.
AEHF satellite arrives in Florida for first of nearly 20 Space Force launches this year
The sixth and final satellite in the U.S. military’s network of ultra-secure, nuclear-hardened AEHF communications relay stations has arrived in Florida for final preparations for liftoff in March on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, the first of nearly 20 U.S. Space Force missions planned for launch in the first year of operations for the new military service.
SpaceX drawing up plans for mobile gantry at launch pad 39A
With construction already underway at Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A on facilities for SpaceX's next-generation Starship vehicle, another new fixture could soon rise at the seaside launch complex to satisfy U.S. military requirements to vertically integrate sensitive top secret spy satellites with Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.
Long March, Soyuz and Falcon rockets topped 2019’s launch leaderboard
China led the world with 34 orbital launch attempts in 2019 — including two failures — followed by 22 flights from Russian-operated launch pads and 21 satellite delivery missions originating from U.S. spaceports, all of which were successful.
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.
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.
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.