Space Flight

The first uncrewed test flight of SpaceX’s integrated Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket ended in a dramatic explosion shortly after launch on Thursday. While the cause off the company’s latest “rapid unscheduled disassembly” has not yet been announced, it appears as though Starship failed to separate from the rocket as planned. The vehicle hit […]

SpaceX has scrubbed the first launch attempt of its integrated Starship launch vehicle and Super Heavy rocket, citing issues with the pressurization system. The attempt was called off less than 10 minutes before launch, with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk noting via Twitter that a “pressurant valve appears to be frozen.” SpaceX says it is targeting […]

Nearly two years after beginning its mission, NASA’s Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, successfully completed its 50th flight with a 145.7-second hop on April 13. The rotorcraft flew for the first time on April 19, 2021, marking the first powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet. Originally expected to survive for just five flights, Ingenuity […]

The FAA is taking steps to better fit rocket launches into the National Airspace system. The agency announced last week it has come up with guidelines “to optimize and equitably manage the airspace in the vicinity of launch sites.” Airlines and other operators have been grumbling about the diversions and airspace closures that inevitably result […]

The FAA has issued a launch permit for SpaceX’s test launch of its Starship spacecraft aboard its Super Heavy rocket booster with the earliest launch window opening at 8:00 a.m. April 17 with backup windows on each of the five following days. It’s the largest rocket combination ever built, towering almost 400 feet above the […]

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has sworn in Makenzie Lystrup as the new director of the Goddard Space Flight Center. She succeeds acting center director Dave Mitchell, who has held the position since January 2023 and will be returning to his previous role as chief program management officer at NASA headquarters. NASA noted that Goddard is […]

The FAA has let it slip that next Monday (April 10) is the target date for the launch of SpaceX’s “Super Heavy” rocket but paperwork might delay it. According to Reuters, a planning notice issued Tuesday says Monday is the “primary expected date” for the first launch of the 394-foot behemoth. Tuesday and Wednesday are […]

NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) have released the names of the astronauts selected to crew the Artemis II mission to fly by the Moon. The team will include mission commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Christina Hammock Koch from NASA and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen from CSA. The first crewed […]

MSN.com is reporting Virgin Orbit is laying off most of its staff and ceasing operations after failing to raise enough money to keep trying to build an aircraft-based space launch business. In a call with staff on Thursday, CEO Dan Hart said 675 of about 775 staff will be cut. Company founder Sir Richard Branson […]

Citing a ground systems issue, NASA and SpaceX scrubbed Monday’s planned launch of the Crew-6 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). According to NASA, the decision was made in order to allow an investigation into “an issue preventing data from confirming a full load of the ignition source for the Falcon 9 first stage […]