Space news

China’s Shenzhou 14 spacecraft glided to an automated docking at the Tiangong space station Sunday, hours after launching with three astronauts to begin a six-month mission that will see the outpost triple in size with the arrival of two new 20-ton research modules.

China’s Shenzhou-14 crewed spacecraft docked with the Tianhe space station module early Sunday, marking the start of a crucial six-month-long mission.

China scuessfully launched the Shenzhou 14 mission to their Tiangong space station on Sunday morning, June 5, at 02:44 UTC, which was 10:44 pm EDT on Saturday the 4th.

Three Chinese military pilots are ready for launch Saturday on a Long March 2F rocket to begin a six-month expedition to help expand China’s space station in low Earth orbit, a mission slated to include the arrival of two modules and multiple spacewalks.

Blue Origin’s suborbital New Shepard rocket propelled six people to an altitude of more than 60 miles over West Texas Saturday, including the first Mexican-born woman to fly to space. The company has now flown five missions carrying 25 people to suborbital space, and aims to nearly double that figure by the end of this year.

Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital vehicle performed its fifth crewed suborbital flight June 4, carrying six people including the first Mexican-born woman to go to space and the company’s first repeat customer.

NASA and SpaceX are targeting 10:22 a.m. EDT Friday, June 10, to launch the agency’s next investigation to monitor climate change to the International Space Station.

May 2022 was an eventful and important month for the future of the International Space Station as well as the Commercial Crew program designed to support it. The astronauts of the SpaceX Crew-3 mission returned to Earth aboard Crew Dragon Endurance after handing over operations to the recently arrived Crew-4 members. Also, the Boeing Starliner made its long-awaited first arrival at ISS.

Sony has formed a company to develop laser communications equipment for small satellites, drawing on optical disc technology it pioneered for CD players and other devices.

For the second year in a row, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte won the launch division, while Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, won first place in the design division of NASA’s 2022 Student Launch rocketry competition.

NASA will host a media teleconference at 10 a.m. CDT Tuesday, June 7, to discuss research about intense summer thunderstorms over the central United States and their effects on Earth’s atmosphere and climate change.

A Martian explorer hunkers down for winter and a planet’s haze is explained.

The Pathfinder mission deployed the first-ever wheeled rover on Mars, and technologies developed for it paved the way for future, more sophisticated exploration of the red planet.

A member of the European Parliament is touring the United States to help enhance space policy relationships while also promoting an effort to develop a European space law.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says an upgraded Starship prototype has passed its first cryogenic proof or ‘cryoproof’ test after undergoing a week...

"We will have our own SpaceX in the next two years."

Russia’s Progress MS-20 cargo freighter is set for launch Friday on a fast-track, three-and-a-half hour rendezvous with the International Space Station to deliver around three tons of fuel, food, and supplies for the lab’s seven-person crew. Liftoff from Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz rocket is set for 5:32 a.m. EDT (0932 GMT), followed by docking at 9:02 a.m. EDT (1302 GMT).

"We will need additional missions from SpaceX to implement our strategy."

NASA has selected a variety of projects that take innovative approaches to broadening student participation in science, technology, engineering, and math to receive awards totaling approximately $12.5 million.

NASA is planning to purchase five more Crew Dragon missions to the International Space Station from SpaceX, a move the agency says is needed to ensure long-term access to the station.

Adding to the growing list of commercial deliveries slated to explore more of the Moon than ever before under Artemis, NASA has selected two new science instrument suites, including one that will study the mysterious Gruithuisen Domes for the first time.

NASA will host an in-person media opportunity at 8:45 a.m. EDT Tuesday, June 7, at NASA Headquarters in Washington with the agency’s SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts to discuss their recent mission aboard the International Space Station to benefit life on Earth and further exploration.

Lockheed Martin no longer expects its UK Pathfinder mission will fly this year, although it remains in the running to perform the first-ever vertical launch to orbit from British soil.

GAO in a June 2 report said the Air Force’s basing selection process for U.S. Space Command lacked transparency and credibility.

It’s an ask never before attempted: Launch samples off the surface of another planet for return to Earth — using a rocket you first have to launch from Earth using a bigger rocket and then land on Mars. 

The launch company is targeting mid-July for Alpha's next launch.

Here is what we know about the capabilities and technologies China is considering developing in the near future for near-Earth object monitoring, cataloging, early warning and response.

A Long March 2C launched nine positioning and connectivity test satellites early Thursday, in a first step for a constellation to support autonomous driving for automaker Geely.

A week after the launch of its first space tug, Momentus is still dealing with “anomalies” with the vehicle, but the company’s chief executive remains optimistic those issues will be resolved.

China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group launched the first nine satellites of a planned constellation of 240 spacecraft Thursday, starting the deployment phase of a project intended to provide navigation and inter-vehicle communications for autonomous cars.

SpaceX appears to be making great progress towards the start of its first full Super Heavy static fire campaign, building upon extensive...

"We knew there was always a transition to industry in our future."

The rover’s weather sensors witnessed daily whirlwinds and more while studying the Red Planet.

NASA awarded contracts to Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace to provide spacesuits for International Space Station spacewalks and Artemis moonwalks, although neither the agency nor the winning companies offered many technical or financial details.

The US military has awarded providers SpaceX and the United Launch Alliance (ULA) another eight launch contracts worth a total of $846...

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson is helping kick off a new initiative to deliver food and hands-on science, technology, engineering, and math kits, called Learning Lunchboxes, in Orlando at 10:30 a.m. EDT on Friday, June 3.

The Atlantic Ocean hurricane season begins today, June 1, and runs through Nov. 30 and NASA is once again prepared to help understand and monitor storms from its unique vantage point of space.

NASA has selected Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace to advance spacewalking capabilities in low-Earth orbit and at the Moon, by buying services that provide astronauts with next generation spacesuit and spacewalk systems to work outside the International Space Station, explore the lunar surface on Artemis missions, and prepare for human missions to

NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, or MAVEN, mission returned to normal science and relay operations on May 28, 2022, after recovering from an extended safe mode event.

La temporada de huracanes en el océano Atlántico comienza hoy, 1 de junio, y se extiende hasta el 30 de noviembre, y la NASA está preparada una vez más para ayudar a entender y vigilar las tormentas desde su singular atalaya desde el espacio.

With over 21 years of service onboard the International Space Station, Canadarm2, along with Dextre and the OBSS (Orbiter Boom Sensor System), has served as a mission-critical tool in support of the construction of the orbital outpost and its ongoing maintenance.

The contracts recently awarded by the National Reconnaissance Office to BlackSky, Maxar Technologies and Planet Labs will likely reshape the imagery market, says a new report from Quilty Analytics.

Arianespace plans to conduct the maiden flight of Vega C and Ariane 6 rockets in “the first week of July” and “towards the end of the year,” respectively, a senior executive said June 1.

"I think it's the right thing to do."

Our monthly feature focuses on easy and fun things to see in the night sky, including eclipses, supermoons, meteor showers, planetary conjunctions, and more.

SpaceNews interviews Avio CEO Giulio Ranzo as the rocket maker is just weeks away from Vega C’s debut. Avio is also ramping up production of boosters to meet Amazon’s colossal Ariane 6 order, and could potentially accelerate the development of the next-generation Vega E as Russia’s war in Ukraine threatens suppliers.

Two startups recently raised a combined $25 million in seed rounds to advance plans for lunar and asteroid missions, showing continued interest in space startups despite broader market uncertainty.

SpaceX could begin launching the fourth of five orbital ‘shells’ of its first Starlink constellation as early as July, according to a...