Japan’s Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Masahito Moriyama, (left) JAXA President Hiroshi Yamakawa and NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, right, look at a model of the rover that Japan will provide in exchange for landing two Japanese astronauts
[10 Apr 2024] ULA concludes six decades of Delta rocket flights with final Delta 4 Heavy mission
A ULA Delta 4 Heavy rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 37 on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. This was the 16th and final launch of a Delta 4 Heavy rocket. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now The second time was the
[08 Apr 2024] Elon Musk just gave another Mars speech—this time the vision seems tangible
“These are unthinkable numbers, but we’re not breaking any physics to achieve this.” SpaceX will continue to iterate on Starship. Elon Musk has been talking publicly about his sweeping vision for Mars settlement for nearly eight years now, dating to
[05 Apr 2024] With payload questions, it’s likely Vulcan will not launch again until fall
United Launch Alliance may seek certification from the Space Force after one flight. The first Vulcan rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. After the impressive debut of the Vulcan rocket in January,
[05 Apr 2024] Footage from 2020 shows Astra rocket exploding during prelaunch testing
Footage obtained by TechCrunch shows the catastrophic ending that Astra’s Rocket 3.0 suffered during prelaunch testing in March 2020. The explosion, which occurred at Alaska’s Pacific Spaceport Complex, was simply reported as an “anomaly” at the time, an industry
[30 Mar 2024] Senate bills seek to reform commercial space regulations
A Senate bill would extend the learning period limiting commercial human spaceflight occupant safetyregulations by five years but set into motion efforts to later create such regulations. Credit: Blue Origin WASHINGTON — Two bills recently introduced into the Senate would
[30 Mar 2024] Still alive! Japan’s SLIM moon lander survives its 2nd lunar night (photo)
Japan’s SLIM moon lander captured this view of its landing site shortly after surviving its second lunar night. The mission team posted this photo via X on March 27, 2024. (Image credit: JAXA) SLIM’s not dead yet. The SLIM spacecraft,
[26 Mar 2024] SpaceX Completes Starship SN29 Static Test Fire
SpaceX’s Starship 29 conducted a multi-engine static fire test ahead of IFT-4. 🎥 Video from Mary (@BocaChicaGal), and Starbase Live. ✂️ Edited by Thomas Hayden (@_thomashayden). ⚡ Become a member of NASASpaceflight’s channel for exclusive discord access, fast turnaround clips,
[26 Mar 2024] Boeing, NASA target May 1 for first crewed flight of Starliner to the space station
NASA astronauts Suni Williams (left) and Butch Wilmore (right) pose in front of a graphic of the mission patch for the Starliner Crew Flight Test. Image: Will Robinson-Smith/Spaceflight Now NASA is five weeks away from putting astronauts aboard a new
[22 Mar 2024] Following IFT-3 milestones, SpaceX prepares for fourth Starship flight
SpaceX is preparing to follow up its third flight of Starship – one that achieved another leap forward with the world’s largest rocket in history – with the IFT-4 mission. Potentially as early as May, the fourth flight is