SpaceFlight Insider

Blue Origin’s latest flight follows others in carrying NASA payloads

Cullen DesforgesJanuary 23rd The tenth New Shepard Mission, NS-10, from privately-funded Blue Origin soared off the pad at 9:08 a.m. CST (10:08 a.m. EST / 15:08 GMT) on Wednesday, Jan. 23 at the company's launch facilities located in Culberson County, Texas. The mission included several experiments flown on behalf of NASA and was, by current reports, a success.
Astronauts for Boeing’s first crewed CCP flight reshuffled

Cullen DesforgesJanuary 22nd Boeing has experienced a rearranging of the astronauts assigned to Starliner's first crewed flight.
Falcon 9 rocket for SpaceX Demo Flight-1 set for test fire

Jason RhianJanuary 22nd While the U.S. government might be shut down due to a political impasse, Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX is taking the next steps toward returning the U.S.' lost ability to send astronauts into low-Earth orbit.
Long March 11 orbits 4 satellites in China’s 2nd orbital flight of 2019

Derek RichardsonJanuary 22nd China performed its second mission of 2019 with the flight of a Long March 11 to orbit four small satellites from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
Stratolaunch abandons plans to develop family of rockets

Derek RichardsonJanuary 21st It seems that Stratolaunch, a company working to develop an aircraft to air-launch rockets, may be scaling back its operations.
Gallery: NROL-71 mission finally gets underway

Derek RichardsonJanuary 20th After several scrubbed attempts, United Launch Alliance was finally able to launch its Delta IV Heavy rocket with the secretive NROL-71 payload.
UPDATE: Blue Origin targeting Wednesday for NS-10 flight

Jason RhianJanuary 20th After a 2018 postponement, Blue Origin is targeting a new date to send the company's third New Shepard rocket on its fourth flight.
Company that will print 3D rockets approved to use Cape Canaveral launch facility

Laurel KornfeldJanuary 20th Relativity Space has received approval from the U.S. Air Force to use Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 16 for the construction of its own launch facilities.
NROL-71 kicks off ULA’s 2019 launch manifest

Patrick AttwellJanuary 19th LOMPOC, Calif. — United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully completed its first flight of 2019. Today's launch utilized the largest rocket in the Colorado-based company's arsenal to send a classified payload into space. In doing so the company finally managed to move past a saga of delays.
SLS liquid hydrogen tank test article placed on test stand

Derek RichardsonJanuary 18th A 149-foot-tall test article for the Space Launch System's liquid hydrogen tank was loaded onto a test stand at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.
Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 resumes operations

Laurel KornfeldJanuary 17th The Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has resumed science operations after spending a week and two days in a safety mode that suspended its activities.
Animation shows Ultima Thule rotating as New Horizons approached

Laurel KornfeldJanuary 17th Using images of Ultima Thule by the the New Horizons spacecraft, mission scientists have created an animation depicting the Kuiper Belt Object's rotation during the last hours before the probe's approach.

Astronauts for Boeing’s first crewed CCP flight reshuffled

Cullen DesforgesJanuary 22nd Boeing has experienced a rearranging of the astronauts assigned to Starliner's first crewed flight.
Falcon 9 rocket for SpaceX Demo Flight-1 set for test fire

Jason RhianJanuary 22nd While the U.S. government might be shut down due to a political impasse, Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX is taking the next steps toward returning the U.S.' lost ability to send astronauts into low-Earth orbit.
Stratolaunch abandons plans to develop family of rockets

Derek RichardsonJanuary 21st It seems that Stratolaunch, a company working to develop an aircraft to air-launch rockets, may be scaling back its operations.
NROL-71 kicks off ULA’s 2019 launch manifest

Patrick AttwellJanuary 19th LOMPOC, Calif. — United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully completed its first flight of 2019. Today's launch utilized the largest rocket in the Colorado-based company's arsenal to send a classified payload into space. In doing so the company finally managed to move past a saga of delays.
Animation shows Ultima Thule rotating as New Horizons approached

Laurel KornfeldJanuary 17th Using images of Ultima Thule by the the New Horizons spacecraft, mission scientists have created an animation depicting the Kuiper Belt Object's rotation during the last hours before the probe's approach.
SpaceX completes 16th Dragon mission to ISS

Derek RichardsonJanuary 14th After spending just over a month attached to the International Space Station, SpaceX's CRS-16 Dragon spacecraft departed the outpost and returned to Earth.
SpaceX downsizing workforce as it ramps up Starship, Starlink programs

Derek RichardsonJanuary 12th SpaceX is laying off about 10 percent of its workforce to “become a leaner company” as it develops a Mars spaceship and satellite internet constellation.
SpaceX starts 2019 manifest with successful Iridium 8 launch

Curt GodwinJanuary 11th LOMPOC, Calif. — After enduring several delays, SpaceX successfully launched ten Iridium NEXT satellites into a polar low-Earth orbit (LEO), marking the Falcon 9’s first flight of 2019, and the last of the original contract, signed in 2010, with Iridium.
Hubble camera shut down following anomaly

Jim SharkeyJanuary 10th Operations of Wide Field Camera 3 on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have been suspended following an anomaly, the space agency said.
How tall do you have to be to take SpaceX’s Commercial Crew ‘ride?’

Jason RhianJanuary 9th KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- SpaceX has come to be known for its irreverent streak when it comes to its spacecraft and rockets. A recent tweet made by Elon Musk suggests this behavior is likely to continue.
Falcon 9 with Crew Dragon vertical at Launch Complex 39A

Derek RichardsonJanuary 5th After years of development, SpaceX's Crew Dragon is almost ready for its first flight to the International Space Station. However, unknowns still remain.
China’s Chang’e 4 mission lands on Moon’s far side

Derek RichardsonJanuary 3rd The China National Space Administration successfully soft-landed a spacecraft on the far side of the Moon, a historic first in lunar exploration.
First flyby images reveal Ultima Thule is a contact binary

Laurel KornfeldJanuary 3rd New Horizons' first close flyby images of Ultima Thule show the Kuiper Belt object to be a contact binary composed of two lobes joined together.
OSIRIS-REx spacecraft enters record-breaking orbit around asteroid Bennu

Jim SharkeyJanuary 2nd Almost overshadowed while New Horizons was zipping past Ultima Thule, another spacecraft went into orbit around an asteroid, albeit a little closer to home.
New Horizons signals successful flyby of Ultima Thule

Laurel KornfeldJanuary 1st The New Horizons team recieved signals confirming a tiny spacecraft raced by a small world to complete the farthest exploration of any Solar System object.
New year, new era? Commercial Crew Program poised for first flights

Cullen DesforgesJanuary 1st As 2018 comes to a close, NASA could be edging closer to regaining what it lost almost eight years ago - the ability to launch astronauts on its own (with the help of private companies) from U.S. soil.

The Range

Blue Origin’s latest flight follows others in carrying NASA payloads

January 23rd
The tenth New Shepard Mission, NS-10, from privately-funded Blue Origin soared off the pad at 9:08 a.m. CST (10:08 a.m. EST / 15:08 GMT) on Wednesday, Jan. 23 at the company's launch facilities located in Culberson County, Texas. The mission included several experiments flown on behalf of NASA and was, by current reports, a success.
Long March 11 orbits 4 satellites in China’s 2nd orbital flight of 2019

January 22nd
China performed its second mission of 2019 with the flight of a Long March 11 to orbit four small satellites from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
Gallery: NROL-71 mission finally gets underway

January 20th
UPDATE: Blue Origin targeting Wednesday for NS-10 flight

January 20th
After a 2018 postponement, Blue Origin is targeting a new date to send the company's third New Shepard rocket on its fourth flight.
Company that will print 3D rockets approved to use Cape Canaveral launch facility

January 20th
Relativity Space has received approval from the U.S. Air Force to use Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 16 for the construction of its own launch facilities.
SLS liquid hydrogen tank test article placed on test stand

January 18th
A 149-foot-tall test article for the Space Launch System's liquid hydrogen tank was loaded onto a test stand at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.
Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 resumes operations

January 17th
The Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has resumed science operations after spending a week and two days in a safety mode that suspended its activities.
InSight lander deploys seismometer on Mars

January 15th
NASA's InSight Mars lander has been busy getting its suite of instruments prepared for regular use to explore the interior of the Red Planet.
Notes on the Run: Where the wild things are

January 13th
The locations where rockets are tested at or lift off from are usually in the middle of nowhere. Within these swamps and deserts live a wide assortment of creatures that you have to contend with if you're going to be in the space business.
In first six months, TESS discovers three exoplanets and more

January 12th
During the first six months of its two-year mission, NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) discovered three confirmed planets and many planet candidates while also observing other astronomical phenomena such as supernovae, asteroids, comets, and eclipsing binary stars.
Gallery: SpaceX’s 2019 launch manifest begins

January 11th
China launches 1st mission of 2019

January 10th
China has carried out its first flight of 2019 with the launch of the Zhongxing 2D (Chinasat-2D) communications satellite.
Crew Dragon flight ‘about a month away’ – UPDATE

January 8th
According to a tweet from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the company’s first Crew Dragon flight is “about a month away,” likely pushing the flight into February.
SpaceX not alone in 2018’s high launch rate

January 7th
United Launch Alliance (ULA), Northrop Grumman, Rocket Lab and Virgin Galactic conducted 14 launches from the United States this past year.
NROL-71 launch date now under review

January 5th
LOMPOC, Calif. -- After numerous delays it now appears that the flight of a Delta IV Heavy rocket will be pushed back even further.