Space news

SpaceX’s first dedicated Falcon Heavy launch for NASA has been hit by a seven-week delay after spacecraft engineers discovered a software anomaly...

SpaceX will replace the heat shield on the next Crew Dragon spacecraft flying to the International Space Station after it failed inspections, but NASA says there is no risk of a similar problem for the spacecraft currently at the station.

Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner safely landed in New Mexico May 25, concluding a six-day uncrewed test flight to the International Space Station.

Gogo is planning to use OneWeb satellites in a partnership that could see it take on Starlink in an emerging business aviation market for low Earth orbit services.

Students from Arizona will have an opportunity this week to hear from astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

Virgin Orbit expects to perform its first launch from England in late August, pending award of a British launch license, a company executive said May 25.

Update: After a slight eight-minute delay, SpaceX has successfully launched its fifth dedicated ‘Transporter’ rideshare mission, carrying 59 different spacecraft into a...

After successfully rendezvousing and docking with the International Space Station (ISS), Boeing’s Starliner completed its mission, arriving back to Earth after a six-day-long mission in low Earth orbit. The spacecraft autonomously undocked from the forward-facing port at the Harmony module of the ISS at 2:36 p.m. today, wrapping up its stay at the orbiting laboratory.

The National Reconnaissance Office announced May 25 it awarded BlackSky, Maxar Technologies and Planet Labs 10-year contracts to provide satellite imagery for U.S. intelligence, defense and federal civil agencies.

As governments make slow progress on space traffic management systems, companies may be able work together more quickly to develop processes to support space sustainability.

"Who's responsible? Who pays? How much do they pay?"

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft parachuted to a “picture perfect” landing in southern New Mexico Wednesday, capping a six-day test flight to the International Space Station that NASA’s commercial crew program manager said paves the way for the next Starliner mission to carry astronauts.

NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT Tuesday, June 2, to discuss the hardware, technology demonstrations, and science experiments, including a new climate research investigation, headed to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s 25th commercial resupply mission for NASA.

At 18:27 UTC (2:27 p.m. EDT) on May 25, SpaceX has launched yet another Falcon 9 rocket. Lifting off from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Falcon 9 is carrying several dozen payloads to a sun-synchronous orbit for the Transporter-5 rideshare mission. The flight featured a somewhat rare return to launch site (RTLS) landing, with the first stage touching down at Landing Zone-1 at Cape Canaveral.

Launcher won a $1.7 million contract from the U.S. Space Force that will assist the company’s development of a high-performance rocket engine for its small launch vehicle.

Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule closed out a six-day unpiloted test flight Wednesday with undocking from the International Space Station, followed by return to Earth about four hours later. Undocking occurred at 2:36 p.m. EDT (1836 GMT), and the capsule parachuted to a successful landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico at 6:49 p.m. EDT (4:49 p.m. MDT; 2249 GMT).

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday packed with 59 small satellites and research experiments, including an innovative commercial water-propelled orbital transfer vehicle from Momentus and a pair of NASA tech demos testing laser communications and proximity operations.

Supply chain disruptions continue to pose a challenge for the space industry, but some see those disruptions as an opportunity for new approaches and innovation.

At the Space Tech Expo May 24, space industry executives and startup founders shared advice for fledgling startups.

A panel of space logistics experts underscored the importance of open standards to encourage the growth of the market.

NASA and Boeing safely landed the company’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft Wednesday in the desert of the western United States, completing the uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) to the International Space Station to help prove the system is ready to fly astronauts.

The U.S. Space Systems Command is continuing to refine its concept for establishing a single point of contact for commercial innovators called the front door.

In a partial response to a report alleging evidence of several significant anomalies during a recent private astronaut launch that could affect...

NASA has awarded a sole-source contract to the National Academy of Sciences of Washington to conduct studies on questions of national importance within the domain of NASA science and technology programs relating to space science, Earth science, and biological and physical science in space.

NASA has awarded a sole-source contract to the National Academy of Science of Washington to conduct studies on questions of national importance within the domain of NASA science and technology programs relating to space science, Earth science, and biological and physical science in space.

SpaceX’s next crew mission to the International Space Station, set for launch in September, will fly with a different heat shield structure than originally planned after the Dragon spacecraft’s composite substrate failed during acceptance testing, NASA said Tuesday.

The Space Rapid Capabilities Office awarded BlueHalo a $1.4 billion contract to add satellite communications capacity to the ground network used by the U.S. military to command and control satellites .

Amazon Web Services announced May 24 it has picked 10 startups to join its second annual space accelerator program, which helps early-stage companies learn how to grow their businesses with cloud and analytic technologies.

As NASA's exploration continues to push boundaries, a new solar sail concept selected by the agency for development toward a demonstration mission could carry science to new destinations.

Microsoft is working with partners to identify commercial space applications for the latest software tools the tech giant has developed.

Space mapping startup LeoLabs announced a multimillion-dollar contract May 24 to provide space domain awareness data, services and training to the Japan Air Self Dense Force.

InSight lived up to its name, providing deep insights about the Martian interior.

Leaders of the United States, Japan, India and Australia have agreed to launch a satellite-based initiative to help countries in the Indo-Pacific region track illegal fishing and other suspicious maritime activities.

The launch of a NASA mission to the asteroid Psyche has been delayed at least a month and a half because of a problem with the spacecraft’s software, the agency confirmed May 23.

A new Starlink plan lets customers pay more to skip waitlists to connect to its broadband satellites without a fixed address, although connection speeds for other users will be prioritized.

Benchmark Space Systems announced plans May 24 to produce engines in the United Kingdom and to work with U.K. startup Space Forge to develop reusable chemical propulsion systems.

Astronauts on the International Space Station closed the hatch to Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft Tuesday, and ground teams used the lab’s robotic arm to inspect the capsule’s heat shield to clear the vehicle for undocking Wednesday and return to Earth for a late afternoon landing in New Mexico.

Nanoracks will fly an experiment with a small articulating robot arm on SpaceX’s Transporter 5 rideshare mission this week to demonstrate metal cutting in orbit, a test lasting just minutes that could advance in-space manufacturing technology to help convert used rocket stages into space habitats.

Nanoracks, will launch a NASA-funded experiment to demonstrate on-orbit metal cutting using a robotic arm.

The launch of NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission, which was set for Aug. 1 on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, has been delayed to no earlier than Sept. 20 after ground teams discovered an issue during software testing on the spacecraft, officials said Monday.

Lockheed Martin is working with the Filecoin Foundation to demonstrate an open-source blockchain network in space.

A classified mapping satellite rode a Soyuz rocket into space Thursday from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, the fifth space mission of the year to deploy a Russian military payload into orbit.

President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met in Tokyo Monday where they announced progress on collaboration for human and robotic lunar missions.

U.S. President Joe Biden promised to expand space cooperation with Japan and South Korea during back-to-back summits with the leaders of two East Asian allies.

NASA will provide live coverage of the upcoming return activities for the agency’s Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2). As part of the uncrewed flight test, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft will depart from the International Space Station for a landing in the western United States.

A two-stage Chinese Long March 2C rocket launched Friday and delivered three communications test satellites into an orbit about 550 miles above Earth.

David McBride, director of NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, announced plans to retire on June 30 after 35 years of service to the agency. He began his career at NASA as an intern.

"Government should be about getting the taxpayer the best value."