News Archive / Tagged: Lead Stories

• SpaceX launches next batch of Starlink satellites

  Cullen DesforgesJanuary 20th, 2021

  KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — SpaceX has successfully launched its 17th batch of Starlink satellites this morning aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.

• Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne system achieves orbit

  Cullen DesforgesJanuary 18th, 2021

  After several hours filled with hopeful anticipation, California-based Virgin Orbit successfully air-launched its LauncherOne rocket Jan. 17 over the Mojave Desert.

• Hot fire test of NASA’s SLS Rocket ends prematurely, placing 2021 launch date into question

  Derek RichardsonJanuary 17th, 2021

  For the first time, NASA fired up the core stage for its Space Launch System rocket, which is designed to send humans into deep space. However, an anomaly prompted the engines to shut down much earlier than planned.

• Orion is on the move, across the grounds of Kennedy Space Center

  Sean CostelloJanuary 16th, 2021

  Under blue Florida skies, NASA put in motion the next phase of preparations for the first Space Launch System (SLS) mission, Artemis I, with the moving of the Orion capsule from the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building to the Multi-Payload Processing Facility.

• CRS-21 cargo Dragon splashes down off the Florida coast

  Derek RichardsonJanuary 13th, 2021

  SpaceX’s CRS-21 cargo Dragon spacecraft has returned to Earth, splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico just off the coast of Tampa, Florida.

• SpaceX launches latest satellite for SiriusXM Radio

  Cullen DesforgesDecember 13th, 2020

  On Dec. 13, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, carrying the SXM-7 satellite to a geostationary transfer orbit.

• NASA announces “Artemis Team” of 18 astronauts

  Cullen DesforgesDecember 11th, 2020

  In a somewhat unannounced and surprising fashion, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence announced the 18 astronauts that will be focused on advancing the Artemis program, including those who will be first to fly aboard the Orion capsule as early as 2023.

• Following extensive delays, ULA successfully launches NRO satellite

  Matt HaskellDecember 11th, 2020

  Following a series of scrubs, delays and aborts, United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy rocket finally took to the skies at 8:09 p.m. EST, Dec. 10, lofting the NROL-44 payload into a geostationary transfer orbit.

• Starship makes successful first, high altitude test flight

  Nicholas D'AlessandroDecember 11th, 2020

  At 4:45 p.m. CDT Dec. 9, 2020, the SpaceX Starship prototype SN8 finally launched in an unprecedented and long-awaited flight test of the vehicle. 

• 15-kilometer test flight approaching for Starship SN8

  Nicholas D'AlessandroDecember 2nd, 2020

  The most complex test yet for SpaceX's Starship design, prototype SN8, is fast approaching, according to road closure notices from Cameron County, Texas.

• Damaged Arecibo Observatory collapses

  Laurel KornfeldDecember 1st, 2020

    The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, a world-famous 1,000-foot-wide radio telescope through which major discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics were made, collapsed on the morning of Tuesday, Dec. 1, after one of its main cables broke on Nov. 6.

• First operational Crew Dragon spacecraft docks to ISS

  Derek RichardsonNovember 17th, 2020

  SpaceX’s Crew Dragon “Resilience” and its four-person astronaut occupants arrived at the International Space Station a day after an evening launch from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

• SpaceX Successfully launches first operational crewed mission

  Matt HaskellNovember 16th, 2020

  At 7:27 PM EST on November 15, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket topped with a Crew Dragon capsule containing 4 astronauts lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s LC-39A in Florida.

• NASA and SpaceX set to launch first operational Crew Dragon mission

  Matt HaskellNovember 15th, 2020

  Following up on the successful launch and return of NASA Astronauts in May, SpaceX is on the cusp of flying the first certified operational mission of their Crew Dragon capsule.

• ULA successfully launches NRO-101 mission into evening Florida sky

  Sean CostelloNovember 13th, 2020

  With the tell-tale crackle of three GEM 63 solid rocket boosters, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket leapt from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 41 pad at 5:32 p.m. EST this evening, carrying a top-secret National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) payload skyward.