Launch
2,077 articles
VideoCritical abort test of NASA’s Orion crew capsule set for Tuesday
A three-minute test flight Tuesday morning over Cape Canaveral will help ensure NASA's Orion crew capsule -- the vehicle being built to carry astronauts back to the moon -- can safely escape from a catastrophic failure on launch.

Barring a surprise, SpaceX’s next Falcon Heavy flight is planned in late 2020
After two successful Falcon Heavy missions in less than 11 weeks, launch fans will likely have to wait until late 2020 for SpaceX's next Falcon Heavy flight, barring a surprise mission for an unannounced customer.

More photos from SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy night launch
The predawn launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center of a Falcon Heavy rocket June 25 was the first nighttime liftoff of SpaceX's heavy-lifter, the most powerful launcher currently operational anywhere in the world. The Falcon Heavy's two side boosters returned to Cape Canaveral less than nine minutes later.

Rocket Lab flies again from New Zealand as work progresses at Virginia launch pad
Rocket Lab's third flight of the year delivered seven small commercial, military and educational satellites into orbit Saturday after a launch from New Zealand, while construction of a new launch pad in Virginia continues on pace for completion by the end of the year.

Launch timeline for Rocket Lab’s “Make it Rain” mission
Rocket Lab's light-class Electron launcher is set to take off on its seventh flight from New Zealand, aiming for a 280-mile-high (450-kilometer) orbit with seven small satellites for commercial customers, the U.S. military and university students.
VideoLive coverage: Rocket Lab launches rideshare mission
Seven small satellites rode a Rocket Lab Electron rocket into orbit Saturday from New Zealand. Carrying commercial, military and student payloads, the Electron launcher lifted off at 0430 GMT (12:30 a.m. EDT).

Photos: Falcon Heavy lights up Florida’s Space Coast
The world's most powerful operational rocket flashed to life at 2:30 a.m. EDT (0630 GMT) Tuesday and climbed into a moonlit summer sky from pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the same site where the Apollo 11 astronauts left Earth for their historic moon landing nearly 50 years ago.

Falcon Heavy launches on military-led rideshare mission, boat catches fairing
SpaceX's third Falcon Heavy rocket took off from the Kennedy Space Center in a predawn launch Tuesday, delivering two dozen research and weather observation spacecraft into orbit on a marathon three-and-a-half mission for the U.S. Air Force. The mission included the successful landing of the Falcon Heavy's two side boosters back at Cape Canaveral, and a SpaceX recovery boat netted part of the rocket's payload fairing for the first time.

Watch a video replay of the Falcon Heavy’s first night launch
This video replay shows the liftoff of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida with 5.1 million pounds of thrust, followed by the nearby landing of the launcher's twin side boosters nine minutes later. The rocket's center core missed a landing attempt on SpaceX's offshore drone ship.

Launch timeline for Falcon Heavy’s first launch for the U.S. Air Force
SpaceX’s third Falcon Heavy rocket is set for liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and the heavy-lift launcher will head on an easterly course over the Atlantic Ocean atop more than 5 million pounds of thrust.