Space news

SpaceX’s busy 2023 continued with the launch of Starlink 5-2, a mission that plans to fill out new “shells” of Starlink satellites that link to the upcoming second-generation Starlink constellation. The Starlink 5-2 mission launched into the predawn darkness at 4:32 AM EST (09:32 UTC) on Thursday, Jan. 26, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

ESA’s Director General says the agency does not have the budgetary capacity nor the political intention to send its astronauts to China’s space station.

None of this will happen quickly. The technology is difficult and unproven.

Rocket Lab’s first U.S. launch got off the ground Tuesday evening, marking a successful mission and a long-awaited expansion of the company’s capabilities.

U.S.-based launch services provider Spaceflight said Jan. 25 it has booked a dedicated launch in 2026 from Isar Aerospace, the German rocket developer aiming to perform the first test flight of its Spectrum vehicle this year.

Astrobotic Technologies said that it has completed testing of its Peregrine lunar lander and it ready to ship it to Cape Canaveral for launch.

SpaceX’s second Starlink Gen2 launch will carry 56 satellites, potentially making it the heaviest payload the company has ever launched. At 9:30...

SpaceX customer Intuitive Machines says it will use spare capacity on one of its Moon lander launches to send startup AstroForge’s first...

Rocket Lab, which has operated its Electron small-satellite launcher successfully from New Zealand since 2017, as now inaugurated its first US-based launch site. After weather and paperwork-related delays, the mission named “Virginia Is For Launch Lovers” lifted off at the opening of a two-hour window at 6:00 PM EST (23:00 UTC) on Tuesday, Jan. 24.

Lt. Gen. Shaw said a key concern is that U.S. surveillance satellites that monitor potentially hostile activities are at disadvantage because of their limited maneuverability

SpaceX said it loaded more than 10 million pounds of fuel onto the vehicle.

Payloads: PK-4: A crewmember caught clouds of particles inside the PK-4 chamber using the PK-4 software on the Columbus Module Laptop 1 as part of campaign 15 experiment operations. PK-4 is a scientific collaboration between ESA and the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), performing research in the field of Complex Plasmas: low temperature gaseous mixtures …

The era of massive satellites needs to be in the rear view mirror for the Department of Defense, the head of military space acquisitions Frank Calvelli said Jan. 24.

Rocket Lab’s first mission from a launch pad in Virginia delivered three small commercial satellites into orbit Tuesday night, starting what the company hopes will be a banner year with at least 15 flights from the new U.S. launch site and a spaceport in New Zealand.

NASA and DARPA will cooperate on the development and flight demonstration of a nuclear propulsion system with applications for both national security and space exploration.

While challenging economic conditions this year will hit some space companies harder than others, the industry as a whole is expected to remain robust as multiple headwinds rock the sector.

"A huge mistake would be that this focus on microlaunchers destabilizes Ariane 6 and Vega C."

Thales Alenia Space has signed a contract to develop quantum technologies in another push by the European Space Agency to use the behavior of subatomic particles to make communications more secure.

A startup has raised $2.5 million in seed funding to further development of a software system to make it easier for companies to operate satellite constellations.

SpaceX announced on Monday it completed a major test of its latest Starship prototype, as the company prepares for the first orbital launch of the towering rocket.

SpaceX conducted a fueling test of its full Starship launch vehicle Jan. 23, taking the vehicle one step closer to its first orbital launch attempt.

Rocket Lab performed its long-awaited first Electron launch from Virginia Jan. 24, placing three HawkEye 360 satellites into orbit.

Charter, one of six space companies that participated in the fall 2022 Techstars Aerospace and Defense Accelerator, has raised $1.2 million in venture funding from TechStars, 7percent Ventures, Topspot Ventures and other investors.

NASA announced Thursday its new Mars Sample Receiving Project office, responsible for receiving and curating the first samples returned from the Red Planet, will be located at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The safe and rapid release of Mars samples after they return to Earth to laboratories worldwide for science investigations will

Satellite megaconstellations could pose a threat to the spectrum that meteorologists are eager to protect from radio frequency interference.

Payloads: PK-4: A crewmember caught clouds of particles inside the PK-4 chamber using the PK-4 software on the Columbus Module Laptop 1 as part of campaign 15 experiment operations. PK-4 is a scientific collaboration between ESA and the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), performing research in the field of Complex Plasmas: low temperature gaseous mixtures …

Rocket Lab is set to fill up its small Electron launcher with propellant fire it into space from Virginia Tuesday evening with three commercial satellites, the company’s second try to launch its first mission from U.S. soil after bad weather thwarted attempts last month.

The U.K. announced 50 million British pounds ($62 million) in funding Jan. 23 for projects that could boost the country’s satellite communications industry.

The Space Development Agency is renaming its planned network of military satellites “Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture."

The European Space Agency is grappling with multiple issues that could leave Europe temporarily without its own access to space by this summer.

Students from the Boys & Girls Club of the Flathead Reservation and Lake County in Ronan, Montana, will have an opportunity this week to hear from a NASA astronaut aboard the International Space Station. The space-to-Earth call will air live at 12 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Jan. 25, on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.

Space startups are hunting for cost savings as the tough financial climate threatens their business plans, leading to more innovative working practices to come out on top.

NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced Tuesday a collaboration to demonstrate a nuclear thermal rocket engine in space, an enabling capability for NASA crewed missions to Mars.

If at first you don't succeed, cryo, cryo again.

SpaceX’s fully-assembled Starship rocket appears to have sailed through a major wet dress rehearsal test on the first attempt. With the completion...

NASA cameras installed on the International Space Station happened to be in the right place and at the right time to capture...

Lockheed Martin developed a satellite-based augmentation system that leverages the L1C signal that is interoperable with both GPS and Galileo

The United States and Israel are finalizing an agreement that would see NASA contribute to an upcoming Israeli astrophysics mission.

SpaceX’s Starlink internet continues to find success in Antarctica, Earth’s icy southernmost continent and has spread beyond McMurdo Station. The company first...

NASA’s InSight lander, formally known as the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, and Heat Transport mission, wrapped a four-year scientific expedition on Mars in December 2022 after the lander succumbed to low power levels.

NASA is suspending efforts, at least until late next year, to try to fully deploy a solar array on its Lucy spacecraft, citing diminishing returns as the spacecraft heads away from the sun.

The satellite behind Europe’s next flagship space mission is ready to be sent to French Guiana for an April launch to explore three of Jupiter’s largest icy moons, manufacturer Airbus announced Jan. 20.

The Canadian government announced plans Jan. 20 to set up a regulatory framework to allow commercial launches from the country as part of an effort to expand Canada’s space industry.

The agency will honor members of the NASA family who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery, including the crews of Apollo 1 and space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, leading up to, and during, the agency's annual Day of Remembrance Thursday, Jan. 26. This year’s NASA Day of Remembrance precedes the 20th annivers

Astronauts Koichi Wakata and Nicole Mann are conducting a spacewalk that will enable the final set of upgraded ISS Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA) “solar wings” to be installed on ISS sometime this summer.

USOS Extravehicular Activity (EVA) 1A ISS Roll-Out Solar Array (IROSA) Prep EVA: Today, Koichi Wakata (EV1) and Nicole Mann (EV2) performed the 1A ISS IROSA Prep EVA. Hatch opening occurred at 7:11 AM CT. The main goal of this EVA was to tighten the 1B Mod Kit Collar Bolts, install the IROSA 1B Mod Kit, …

The head of the European Space agency says he hopes to have a “zero debris” policy for European spacecraft in place in the next few years, an approach he says he would like to see expanded globally.

Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and NASA astronaut Nicole Mann suited up and floated outside the International Space Station Friday for a spacewalk to prepare the lab for arrival of another pair of new solar arrays later this year.

"This evidence suggests that an unwanted fire spread to our avionics system."

A Chinese launch startup has performed hot fire tests as part of development of a planned reusable stainless-steel rocket apparently inspired by SpaceX’s Starship.