Space news

The European Space Agency is requesting several hundred million euros at its upcoming ministerial council meeting for new satellite navigation technologies from low Earth orbit to the moon.

The X-37B space plane operated by the U.S. Space Force landed Nov. 12 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida, setting a new endurance record

SpaceX launched one of its reusable Falcon 9 rocket boosters for the last time Saturday on a rare expendable mission for Intelsat, devoting all of the launcher’s propellant toward placing a pair of television broadcasting satellites into orbit. Intelsat says it paid SpaceX an additional fee for the expendable mission.

After a delay caused by Hurricane Nicole, SpaceX launched its 52nd mission of 2022 with the Intelsat Galaxy-31 & 32 satellites using a flight-proven Falcon 9 to a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). Falcon 9 first-stage booster B1051-14 made its final flight on this mission.

NASA is moving ahead with the next Artemis 1 launch attempt on Nov. 16 after finding no major repairs required to the Space Launch System and Orion from Hurricane Nicole.

NASA Sets New Coverage for Artemis I Moon Mission Launch

"If we didn’t design it to be out there in harsh weather we picked the wrong launch spot."

Starfish Space said Nov. 9 it plans to perform the first satellite docking test using electric propulsion next fall, when its Otter Pup demonstrator will attempt to rendezvous with another spacecraft in low Earth orbit.

The U.S. Space Force has ordered a second environmental satellite known as the Weather System Follow-on Microwave

SES and Hughes in a demonstration last month installed satellite internet service on a General Atomics surveillance drone

NASA to Brief Status of Artemis I Moon Mission Today

October 2022 was once again a busy month aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Several spacecraft movements completed the transition between Expedition 67 and 68 and saw new supplies delivered to the Russian Orbital Segment. Against this backdrop, the essential work of the station — furthering humanity’s understanding of science — has continued with the crew carrying out a varied array of research.

Reflecting on Carl Sagan’s influence on this pale blue dot we call Earth.

A weather satellite is in good condition after suffering a problem deploying its solar array immediately after launch Nov. 10.

China is planning to greatly increase the number of launches of its Long March 5B rocket which has created a number of high-profile uncontrolled reentries of its large first stage.

A NASA official says that initial inspections of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft turned up only “very minor damage” to the vehicle but declined to speculate on any additional delays for the Artemis 1 mission.

"As this was a final qualification test, we also tested it to destruction."

At a time of unprecedented change in the satellite communications sector, fleet operator SES is eagerly awaiting the December launch of its first Boeing-built O3b mPower broadband satellites.

The Air Force Research Laboratory awarded a $72 million contract to Advanced Space to develop an experimental spacecraft to monitor deep space, far beyond Earth’s orbit.

The Space Development Agency remains optimistic it will launch next month the first satellites of a planned mesh network of sensors and communications nodes in low Earth orbit

Apple said Nov. 10 its $450 million investment in an SOS via satellite service has helped Globalstar upgrade ground stations across the United States and elsewhere with high-power antennas.

Starlink opened a donation page for customers who wish to donate a terminal and services to areas in need. In October, Elon...

NASA astronaut and former U.S. Air Force Col. Bob Behnken is retiring from NASA after 22 years of service. His last day with the agency is Friday, Nov. 11.

NASA will host a virtual media briefing at 10:30 a.m. EST (7:30 a.m. PST) Nov. 14, at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, to discuss the upcoming launch of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite.

Payloads: Antioxidant Protection: Experiment Containers were installed into Kubik-5. The PROtection MEdiated by antioxidant nanoTEchnOlogy against neuronal damage in space (PROMETEO) (Antioxidant Protection) investigation proposes the use of biocompatible and biodegradable polydopamine-based nanoparticles to provide antioxidant protection to neurons undergoing exposure to altered gravity and cosmic radiation. Cellbox-3: Cellbox-3 Experiment Containers were installed into the …

Satellite antenna developer NXT Communications Corp.’s equipment, property, and other collateral are being auctioned off amid production delays that have left L3Harris Technologies in the lurch.

NASA likely to begin inspections of the rocket and spacecraft later today.

NASA’s $4.1 billion Artemis moon rocket, exposed to the elements atop its Kennedy Space Center launch pad, was rocked by high winds and driving rain early Thursday as Hurricane Nicole roared ashore just south of the spaceport.

NASA will continue a lunar smallsat mission for launch in mid-2023 despite exceeding its cost cap by 30%.

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS)-2 mission for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and NASA’s Low-Earth Orbi...

An Atlas 5 successfully launched a polar-orbiting weather satellite and a reentry technology demonstrator on the final flight of the vehicle from California.

The Information reports that SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell “will assume oversight” of the company’s Starship program and Starbase facilities, seemingly...

The 301st and final Atlas rocket to launch from California blasted off Thursday with a NOAA weather satellite and first-of-its-kind re-entry tech demo experiment, clearing the way for modifications to ready the Atlas launch pad for United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan rocket.

NASA successfully launched the third in a series of polar-orbiting weather satellites for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at 1:49 a.m. PST Thursday, as well as an agency technology demonstration on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The Atlas rocket family, a staple of the US launch industry since June 11, 1957, is scheduled to end its West Coast operations on Nov. 10 with the launch of an Atlas V rocket with the JPSS-2 weather satellite.

The United Kingdom gave SpaceX permission Nov. 10 to expand its Starlink satellite broadband network in the country, while also granting a license to Telesat for a competing constellation bound for non-geostationary orbit.

Momentus says it has “higher confidence” in its second space tug set to launch in December after fixing problems encountered with its first vehicle launched earlier this year.

Rocket Lab USA won two contracts worth $14 million to provide separation systems for Space Development Agency satellites.

HawkEye 360's next three satellites will launch as early as December 7 on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from a Virginia spaceport.

For the first time in its eight years orbiting Mars, NASA’s MAVEN mission witnessed two different types of ultraviolet aurorae simultaneously, the result of solar storms that began on Aug. 27.

A payload hitching a ride on the launch of a weather satellite will demonstrate a technology that both NASA is considering for future Mars landings and a company is studying for rocket reusability.

Long marches into space will now complete their journey back on Earth.

Cygnus NG-18 Arrival: At 4:21 AM CT this morning, the crew successfully captured Cygnus NG-18 using the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS). Cygnus was installed at the Node 1 Nadir port, and bolt loading was completed at 7:55 AM CT. An external survey of the vehicle was performed by the ground prior to berth …

Hurricane Nicole made landfall on Florida’s east coast south of Kennedy Space Center early Thursday, while NASA’s Artemis 1 moon rocket rode out the storm on pad 39B. We’re streaming live views from Kennedy Space Center.

A Northrop Grumman Cygnus supply ship arrived at the International Space Station Wednesday, overcoming a deployment failure on one of its two power-generating solar arrays to deliver 4.1 tons of cargo and experiments to the complex.

China’s main launch vehicle designer has scrapped plans for an expendable Long March 9 rocket in favor of a design featuring a reusable first stage.

Meet Sarah Miller, the United Launch Alliance (ULA) point person who leads the launch site integration of payloads atop our rockets. As the Launch Operations (LOPS) payloads engineering manager, Sarah recently oversaw the placement of NOAA's Joint Po...

A Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station Nov. 9 despite having only one of its two solar arrays deployed.

Astra Space is laying off one-sixth of its workforce, a move the company’s leadership says is needed to focus its resources on production of spacecraft electric thrusters and development of a new launch vehicle.

SpaceX is busy preparing for the orbital launch debut its next-generation Starship rocket, but the company’s South Texas rocket factory is also...