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SpaceX breaks annual flight record with latest Starlink mission
Theresa CrossDecember 2nd SpaceX launched another batch of Starlink satellites, as well as two rideshare payloads for BlackSky, into low Earth orbit atop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket.
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Spacewalking astronauts replace faulty antenna at ISS
Cullen DesforgesDecember 2nd Two astronauts have successfully completed a spacewalk at the International Space Station to repair a faulty S-band Antenna Sub-assembly, or SASA, during U.S. EVA-78 as part of the seven-person Expedition 66 mission.
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Northrop Grumman proposes lunar rover for Artemis program
Theresa CrossNovember 27th A team of companies led by Northrop Grumman has put forth a proposal for an astronaut-driven lunar rover for the agency’s Artemis Moon program.
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New Russian Prichal node module heading to space station
Derek RichardsonNovember 24th The last planned Russian International Space Station module has launched toward the outpost for a scheduled docking in two days.
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SpaceX launches NASA’s DART asteroid-impact spacecraft
Theresa CrossNovember 24th SpaceX launched NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test, DART, spacecraft on a first-of-its-kind mission designed to test a planetary defense technique.
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Laser demo aims to increase in-space communications bandwidth
Cullen DesforgesNovember 23rd A laser communications payload is set to fly next month to demonstrate advantages of such a system and for engineers to learn how to use them operationally.
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An ‘incident’ with the James Webb Space Telescope delays launch
Theresa CrossNovember 23rd The James Webb Space Telescope has incurred another delay and is now set to launch from French Guiana no earlier than Dec. 22, 2021.
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NASA set to launch DART on a mission to crash into an asteroid
Theresa CrossNovember 22nd NASA is set to launch a spacecraft specifically designed to crash into an asteroid to demonstrate a planetary defense technique.
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Astronaut Jessica Watkins assigned to Crew-4 mission
Theresa CrossNovember 19th NASA has announced the final crewmember for the next International Space Station crew rotation mission under the agency's Commercial Crew Program.
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Interstellar probe could be successor to the Voyager missions
Laurel KornfeldNovember 14th With Voyagers 1 and 2 set to run out of power in approximately a decade, NASA is considering a follow up interstellar probe that could last 50 to 100 years.
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SpaceX launches 53 Starlink satellites into orbit from Florida
Theresa CrossNovember 13th SpaceX launched its latest batch of Starlink internet satellites, the first dedicated launch for the constellation from Florida since May.
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Ingenuity Mars Helicopter completes 15th flight
Cullen DesforgesNovember 13th NASA’s Mars Helicopter known as Ingenuity has begun to traverse its way back to the famed Wright Brothers Field on the Martian surface after completing its 15th successful flight.
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SpaceX Starship booster catching arm attached to launch tower
Cullen DesforgesOctober 28th SpaceX continues to test Starship Ship 20 engines at its South Texas launch facility as engineers connect the Mechazilla chopstick booster catching arms to the orbital launch tower.
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Progress MS-18 cargo ship begins two-day chase of space station
Derek RichardsonOctober 27th Russia's unpiloted Progress MS-18 cargo spacecraft has launched into space on a two-day trek to meet up with the International Space Station.
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Blue Origin announces ‘Orbital Reef’ commercial space station
Derek RichardsonOctober 26th In partnership with Sierra Space, Blue Origin announced plans for a commercial space station called 'Orbital Reef' to be built in low Earth orbit by the end of this decade.
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Artemis 1 targeting a February 2022 launch
Theresa CrossOctober 25th Now that NASA’s giant Space Launch System Moon rocket is fully assembled inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, its launch date is becoming more clear.
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Ariane 5 lofts two large communications satellites into orbit
Theresa CrossOctober 24th Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket delivered two large communications satellites into space from the company’s South America launch site.
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James Webb Space Telescope being readied for launch
Theresa CrossOctober 20th After more than two decades of development, NASA’s ambitious James Webb Space Telescope is finally at the launch site being prepared for its trip into space.
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Orion spacecraft transported to VAB for the Artemis 1 mission
Cullen DesforgesOctober 19th NASA completed a significant milestone in the completion of its giant Space Launch System rocket as the Orion capsule was transported to Vehicle Assembly Building in the overnight hours of Oct. 19.
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SpaceX Starship Ship 20 performs engine test
Cullen DesforgesOctober 19th SpaceX appeared to perform a test on Starship Ship 20’s Raptor preburners in the overnight hours after filling the prototype with its propellants.
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NASA’s Lucy spacecraft may have a solar array problem
Derek RichardsonOctober 18th In an update, NASA said one of the two circular solar arrays on the Lucy spacecraft bound for Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids may not have fully latched during deployment.
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NASA’s Lucy mission begins journey to Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids
Theresa CrossOctober 16th NASA’s Lucy mission to Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids has begun with a launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
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William Shatner, 90, makes brief trek to space
Derek RichardsonOctober 13th Boldly going where fewer than 600 people have gone before, William Shatner of Star Trek fame, as well as three others, flew into space on Blue Origin’s second suborbital human spaceflight.
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Space Launch System rocket passes design certification review
Theresa CrossOctober 11th NASA has carried out the design certification review of the Space Launch System, the agency said, as it continues to prepare the vehicle for its inaugural flight.
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William Shatner set for a brief trip to the final frontier
Theresa CrossOctober 6th Blue Origin is set to perform its second human spaceflight later this month, and it's expected to send TV icon William Shatner into space.
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Russian Soyuz MS-19 film crew arrives ‘on set’ at Space Station
Derek RichardsonOctober 5th The Russian Soyuz MS-19 crewed spacecraft launched to the International Space Station on a mission to film scenes for a feature-length movie set aboard the orbiting outpost.
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Inspiration4 crew shares experiences after historic mission
Cullen DesforgesOctober 4th In the weeks following the splashdown of the Inspiration4 mission, the four crew members have become national celebrities in their own right.
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Lucy probe launching to Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids this month
Laurel KornfeldOctober 1st Lucy, the first spacecraft to explore Jupiter's Trojan asteroids, has completed eight weeks of preparation ahead of its planned Oct. 16 launch.
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Isotope of carbon found in exoplanet’s atmosphere
July 17th
An international team of scientists has detected isotopes of carbon in the atmosphere of an exoplanet for the first time ever, a discovery noted in the journal Nature. -
Wally Funk of the ‘Mercury 13’ to finally fly into space next week
July 13th
On July 1, 2021, Blue Origin announced that Wally Funk, a member of the “Mercury 13," would fly into space atop the company’s suborbital New Shepard rocket. -
Former Shuttle Landing Facility to get new ‘utility corridor’
July 10th
Construction on a new "utility corridor" has begun at the former Shuttle Landing Facility, now known as the Launch and Landing Facility, which is run by Space Florida. -
Surface, geology of Pluto studied via opposition observations
July 4th
Six years after the New Horizons spacecraft returned close-up images of Pluto, researchers are teasing out more information about its geology and surface. -
Scientists trace meteor showers back to long-period comets
June 19th
Scientists traced up to 15 lesser-known meteor showers through which Earth travels annually to long-period comets with orbits that take up to 4,000 years. -
DOGE-1 CubeSat to fly to the Moon atop a Falcon 9 rocket
June 10th
Last month, Geometric Energy Corporation announced the first mission to the Moon paid entirely with the Dogecoin cryptocurrency — DOGE-1. -
Atlas V STP-3 mission delayed
June 5th
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with the Space Force's STP-3 mission has been delayed, according to a release by the launch provider. -
NASA releases 3D video of Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s 3rd flight
May 31st
On April 25, 2021, the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter performed its third test flight. Recently, NASA engineers converted a video of the flight into anaglyph 3D. -
Titan sample return mission being explored by NASA engineers
May 30th
Funded by a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program grant, scientists are exploring a possible mission to return samples from Saturn's moon Titan. -
NASA’s CAPSTONE lunar mission to fly later this year
May 13th
Later this year, NASA plans to launch a CubeSat to test a special orbit around the Moon to verify its characteristics in advance of sending the Lunar Gateway there as early as 2024. -
Exoplanets and their characterization the focus of STScl workshop
May 11th
The various methods used over the last 25 years to discover exoplanets and the science of categorizing the many types of exoplanets that have been found was the focus of an April 19 workshop for science writers sponsored by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI). -
Petition asks NASA to name Lunar Gateway after Michael Collins
May 6th
There is a Change.org petition to rename NASA’s Lunar Gateway after former Apollo astronaut Michael Collins, who died April 28, 2021, at age 90. -
Light this candle! The 60th anniversary of the first American in space
May 5th
Sixty years ago today, on May 5, 1961, NASA astronaut Alan Shepard rocketed to space in his Mercury capsule to become the first American and the second human in space. -
New Horizons spacecraft is now 50 AU from the Sun
April 22nd
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft achieved a major milestone on Saturday, April 17, when it reached a distance of 50 AU from the Sun. -
Amazon buys Atlas V rockets to orbit its Kuiper constellation
April 21st
On Monday, April 19, Amazon announced that it purchased nine Atlas V rocket flights from United Launch Alliance for the orbital insertion of its Kuiper satellites.
