YF-77 – Spaceflight Now

July 9, 2026

Breaking News

[ July 4, 2026 ] Semiconductor manufacturing test bed flies alongside Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 launch Falcon 9
[ July 1, 2026 ] SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB Falcon 9
[ June 30, 2026 ] Astronauts ‘operate’ on space station’s broken robot arm Mission Reports
[ June 30, 2026 ] Blue Origin outlines return to flight logistics for its New Glenn rockets Moon Base
[ June 28, 2026 ] SpaceX launches 7.5-ton SiriusXM satellite as part of constellation refresh Falcon 9

China launches Long March 5, one of the world’s most powerful rockets

November 3, 2016 Stephen Clark

China’s heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket fired into space on a successful inaugural flight Thursday, debuting a brand new launcher that can carry twice the payload of any other Chinese booster and setting a keystone for the country’s ambitions for a space station and interplanetary exploration.

Long March 5 heavy-lifter ready to join China’s rocket inventory

November 2, 2016 Stephen Clark

China is ready to debut a heavy-lifting rocket rivaling the biggest boosters in the world Thursday, paving the way for a backlog of missions to loft massive space station modules, send deep space probes to the moon and Mars, and perhaps deploy commercial satellites.