Bill Nye – Spaceflight Now

August 1, 2026

Breaking News

[ July 29, 2026 ] SpaceX launches classified payload for National Reconnaissance Office Falcon 9
[ July 25, 2026 ] SpaceX Falcon 9 launches Starlink satellites from West Coast Falcon 9
[ July 25, 2026 ] Super Heavy-Starship rocket chalks up mostly successful test flight Artemis
[ July 24, 2026 ] Critical NASA Deep Space ground station in Spain evacuated due to wildfires News
[ July 23, 2026 ] Launch preview: SpaceX ready for 2nd attempt to launch Starship Flight 13 following post-abort engine work Artemis

LightSail hailed as precursor for low-cost planetary missions

June 10, 2015 Stephen Clark

Managers in charge of the privately-funded LightSail solar sail in Earth orbit said Wednesday the success of the experiment is a step toward opening up the solar system to scores of modest science probes that could explore space at a fraction of the cost of traditional government-backed missions.

Citizen-funded CubeSat ready to go solar sailing

May 19, 2015 Stephen Clark

A shoebox-sized satellite conceived and funded by members of the Planetary Society, an advocacy organization co-founded by Carl Sagan, is fastened to an Atlas 5 rocket for launch Wednesday to test one of the late celebrity-astronomer’s futuristic concepts for exploring the cosmos.