October 2, 2025
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Breaking News
  • [ October 1, 2025 ] ViaSat-3 F2 satellite arrives in Florida ahead of late October launch Atlas 5
  • [ October 1, 2025 ] Report argues NASA is illegally using President’s Budget Request to circumvent Congress’ budgeting process News
  • [ September 30, 2025 ] Axiom Space taps Portuguese physiologist as first ‘Project Astronaut’ News
  • [ September 30, 2025 ] Ground testing anomaly destroys Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha booster intended for next flight Alpha
  • [ September 28, 2025 ] SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB Falcon 9

Launch Services Program

Atlas 5

NASA delays Mars rover launch to no earlier than July 30

June 30, 2020 Stephen Clark

A technical issue with the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket that will send NASA’s $2.4 billion Perseverance rover toward Mars has pushed the mission’s launch date back to no earlier than July 30, nearly two weeks into a month-long window for the rover to head to the Red Planet, or else face a two-year delay.

Atlas 5

Launch of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover delayed to July 22

June 24, 2020 Stephen Clark

The launch of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has been delayed two days to July 22 after an issue with ground support equipment at the Kennedy Space Center held up encapsulation of the spacecraft inside the payload fairing of its Atlas 5 rocket.

Mission Reports

Atlas 5 rocket runs through practice countdown before Mars rover launch

June 22, 2020 Stephen Clark

The Atlas 5 rocket that will send NASA’s Perseverance rover toward Mars next month aced a countdown rehearsal Monday at Cape Canaveral, helping ensure the United Launch Alliance-built rocket is ready for liftoff during the rover’s 23-day launch window.

Atlas 5

Photos: NASA’s Perseverance rover buttoned up for launch

June 17, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Perseverance rover has been closed up inside its protective aeroshell, the structure that will protect the spacecraft when it plunges into the Martian atmosphere, in preparation for launch no earlier than July 20 from Cape Canaveral.

Mission Reports

Fitted with super-clean sample tubes, NASA’s next Mars rover nears launch date

June 16, 2020 Stephen Clark

The Perseverance rover’s sterilized sample tubes — designed to seal Martian rock and sediment for eventual return to Earth — are installed on the spacecraft as teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center prepare to enclose the rover inside the payload shroud of its Atlas 5 launcher for liftoff July 20.

Atlas 5

After crane problem, ULA caps build-up of Atlas 5 rocket for Mars rover launch

June 12, 2020 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance has completed stacking of the major elements of the Atlas 5 rocket assigned to power NASA’s Perseverance rover toward Mars, but the mission’s launch date has been pushed back three days to July 20 after teams repaired an issue with a crane in the Atlas 5’s assembly building.

Atlas 5

Assembly of Mars rover’s rocket to begin this week

May 24, 2020 Stephen Clark

Two key pieces of hardware needed for NASA’s next Mars rover — an Atlas rocket booster and sterile components of the rover’s sample collection system — recently arrived at Cape Canaveral ahead of the mission’s scheduled launch July 17.

News

NASA to consider WFIRST launch options after mission passes key review

March 11, 2020 Stephen Clark

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.

Falcon 9

SpaceX wins contract to launch NASA’s PACE Earth science mission

February 5, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX has won an $80 million contract to launch a NASA environmental research satellite aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in late 2022 to collect data on ocean ecosystems and clouds, a mission that the Trump administration wished to cancel.

Mission Reports

Long-delayed NASA science satellite gets October launch date

September 10, 2019 Stephen Clark

The launch of a NASA ionospheric research satellite off Florida’s east coast is targeted for Oct. 9 after persistent technical problems with its air-dropped Pegasus rocket stymied two launch opportunities last year.

Posts pagination

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News Headlines

  • ViaSat-3 F2 satellite arrives in Florida ahead of late October launch
    October 1, 2025
  • Report argues NASA is illegally using President’s Budget Request to circumvent Congress’ budgeting process
    October 1, 2025
  • Axiom Space taps Portuguese physiologist as first ‘Project Astronaut’
    September 30, 2025
  • Ground testing anomaly destroys Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha booster intended for next flight
    September 30, 2025
  • SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB
    September 28, 2025
  • Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser debut mission delayed again, no longer docking to station
    September 26, 2025
  • SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg
    September 25, 2025
  • ULA launches third batch of Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites from Cape Canaveral
    September 25, 2025
  • SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral
    September 25, 2025
  • SpaceX launches NASA, NOAA missions exploring the impacts of the Sun
    September 24, 2025
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