December 16, 2025
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Breaking News
  • [ December 15, 2025 ] Rocket Lab Electron rocket aborts liftoff at engine ignition Electron
  • [ December 15, 2025 ] Live coverage: ULA Atlas 5 launch will put Amazon’s 180th broadband satellite in low Earth orbit Atlas 5
  • [ December 14, 2025 ] Falcon 9 launch of 29 Starlink satellites from the Kennedy Space Center delayed to Wednesday Falcon 9
  • [ December 14, 2025 ] SpaceX launches 100th Falcon 9 rocket from Florida in 2025 Falcon 9
  • [ December 13, 2025 ] SpaceX completes 550th booster landing amid Saturday night Falcon 9 flight Falcon 9

Earth Return Orbiter

Mission Reports

NASA narrows design for rocket to launch samples off of Mars

April 20, 2020 Stephen Clark

After years of studies, test-firings and a survey of U.S. industry in preparation for launch of a Mars Sample Return mission in 2026, NASA has settled on a solid-fueled design for a miniature rocket with a first-of-its-kind purpose: Launching a payload from Mars for a trip back to Earth.

News

NASA, ESA officials seek formal approvals for Mars sample return mission

September 16, 2019 Stephen Clark

After crystallizing a partnership to retrieve samples from the surface of Mars and return them to Earth, NASA and European Space Agency officials are seeking government funding commitments before the end of this year to carry out a multibillion-dollar robotic mission that could depart Earth with a pair of rocket launches as soon as 2026.

News Headlines

  • Rocket Lab Electron rocket aborts liftoff at engine ignition
    December 15, 2025
  • Live coverage: ULA Atlas 5 launch will put Amazon’s 180th broadband satellite in low Earth orbit
    December 15, 2025
  • Falcon 9 launch of 29 Starlink satellites from the Kennedy Space Center delayed to Wednesday
    December 14, 2025
  • SpaceX launches 100th Falcon 9 rocket from Florida in 2025
    December 14, 2025
  • SpaceX completes 550th booster landing amid Saturday night Falcon 9 flight
    December 13, 2025
  • Blue Origin halfway through 4-flight certification to allow launch of national security missions
    December 13, 2025
  • Study: Current, future megaconstellations risk space-based astronomy
    December 12, 2025
  • SpaceX breaks launch pad turnaround record with flight of Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral
    December 11, 2025
  • SpaceX launches 160th Falcon 9 rocket of 2025
    December 10, 2025
  • SpaceX launches classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office
    December 9, 2025
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  • Members
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