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
262 articles
NASA gives go-ahead for Starliner test flight to space station
NASA officials cleared Boeing's Starliner spacecraft for flight Thursday after a "thorough and comprehensive" review of the crew capsule's readiness, setting the stage for final pre-launch preparations at Cape Canaveral ahead of liftoff Dec. 20 on an unpiloted demonstration mission to the International Space Station.
ULA rehearses countdown for first Starliner launch on Atlas 5 rocket
United Launch Alliance teams ran through an 11-hour countdown Friday at Cape Canaveral to rehearse procedures before the first flight of a modified Atlas 5 rocket with Boeing's Starliner crew capsule Dec. 20.
Live coverage: Practice countdown completed for Starliner and Atlas 5
An 11-hour practice countdown was completed Friday at Cape Canaveral's launch complex 41 for the planned launch of an Atlas 5 rocket and Boeing's Starliner capsule later this month. The rocket was loaded with super-cold liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen in a full dress rehearsal for launch day.
Photos: Starliner makes first appearance on launch pad
This gallery of photos shows the rollout Tuesday of United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 rocket and Boeing's Starliner crew capsule to pad 41 at Cape Canaveral, plus additional views of the 172-foot-tall launcher standing next to the crew access tower Wednesday as teams prepared for a countdown rehearsal.
Launch of first Starliner orbital test flight slips to Dec. 19
The first launch of Boeing's Starliner space capsule aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket has been delayed to Dec. 19, officials announced Tuesday.
Live coverage: Launch readiness review gives approval for final Atlas 5 flight preps
United Launch Alliance and Boeing teams worked through the weekend on closeouts of the Starliner crew capsule, inspections and final outfitting of the Atlas 5 rocket. A launch readiness review Tuesday approved the continuation of final preparations for liftoff from Cape Canaveral Friday of the first Starliner spacecraft on an unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station.
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.
VideoBoeing identifies cause of chute malfunction, preps for Starliner launch
Boeing specialists working inside a former space shuttle hangar in Florida started fueling the company's first spaceflight-ready Starliner capsule this week ahead of the ship's rollout to its launch pad later this month. The fueling milestone is a major step in the Starliner launch campaign, and comes after engineers concluded that human error led to a parachute deployment malfunction during a crew capsule abort test Monday.
Solar Orbiter arrives at Kennedy Space Center for launch preps
The European-built Solar Orbiter spacecraft arrived in Florida late Friday after a trans-Atlantic journey from a test center in Germany, ready to begin preparations for a liftoff from Cape Canaveral in February aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket.
British-built solar probe shipping to Florida launch site before Brexit deadline
The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter spacecraft -- assembled in Britain and set for liftoff in February -- has completed environmental testing in Germany and is scheduled to ride a cargo plane to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to begin launch preparations Oct. 31, several weeks earlier than planned to avoid complications stemming from Brexit.