Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.
Latest articles by Mike Wall

Watch SpaceX launch its record-breaking 139th mission of the year today
By Mike Wall published
SpaceX will launch its record-setting 139th mission of the year today (Oct. 23), and you can watch the action live.

'Sean Dummy': Why is Elon Musk attacking the acting NASA chief?
By Mike Wall published
Elon Musk has hammered acting NASA chief Sean Duffy repeatedly on social media over the past few days, calling him "Sean Dummy" and claiming he's "trying to kill NASA." Here's what may be going on.

SpaceX launches record-breaking 133rd Falcon 9 mission of the year (video)
By Mike Wall last updated
SpaceX launched its record-breaking 133rd Falcon 9 mission of 2025 today (Oct. 22), topping last year's tally with no signs of slowing down before the year ends.

China's 1st reusable rocket test fires engines ahead of debut flight (video)
By Mike Wall published
LandSpace conducted a static-fire test with its Zhuque-3 rocket recently, an important step in the prep work ahead of the partially reusable rocket's debut launch.

SpaceX could lose contract for Artemis 3 astronaut moon-landing mission, acting NASA chief says: 'The problem is, they're behind'
By Mike Wall published
SpaceX has long held the contract to land NASA's Artemis 3 astronauts on the moon a few years from now. But the agency plans to reopen the bidding, according to acting NASA chief Sean Duffy.

SpaceX lofts 10,000th Starlink satellite to orbit on record-tying 132nd Falcon 9 launch of the year (video)
By Mike Wall last updated
SpaceX launched its 10,000th Starlink satellite to orbit from California today (Oct. 19), on the company's record-tying 132nd Falcon 9 mission of the year.

SpaceX launches Starlink satellites to orbit on Falcon 9 rocket's record-breaking 31st flight (video)
By Mike Wall last updated
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket set a new reuse record today (Oct. 19) on a Starlink satellite launch, flying for the 31st time.

US military greenlights up to 100 SpaceX launches per year from California
By Mike Wall published
The U.S. Air Force has approved SpaceX's proposal to launch up to 100 rockets per year from Vandenberg Space Force Bas, which sits on California's rugged, beautiful and often cloudy central coast.

China launches internet satellites on 600th mission of Long March rocket (video)
By Mike Wall published
A Long March 8A rocket lofted another batch of China's Guowang internet satellites on Wednesday evening (Oct. 15). It was the 600th launch overall for a Long March vehicle.

Watch the 2nd-ever launch of China's record-breaking Gravity-1 rocket (video)
By Mike Wall published
The Chinese company Orienspace's Gravity-1 solid rocket launched for the second time ever on Oct. 10, sending three satellites to orbit from the deck of a ship.

Watch 2 Russian cosmonauts spacewalk outside the International Space Station today
By Mike Wall published
Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritskiy will conduct a spacewalk outside the ISS today (Oct. 16), and you can watch it live.

SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites to orbit on 130th Falcon 9 flight of the year
By Mike Wall published
SpaceX launched 28 more of its Starlink broadband satellites on Thursday morning (Oct. 16), sending them up from Florida's Space Coast.

SpaceX launches 21 communications satellites for the US military (video)
By Mike Wall last updated
SpaceX plans to launch 21 satellites for an advanced new U.S. military constellation this evening (Oct. 15), and you can watch the action live.

A new private moon lander rises: Impulse Space throws its hat into the lunar ring
By Mike Wall published
Impulse Space — which was founded by Tom Mueller, SpaceX's second-ever employee — just announced that it plans to build a robotic moon lander to help open the lunar frontier.

Getting even bigger: What's next for SpaceX's Starship after Flight 11 success
By Mike Wall published
SpaceX launched its Starship megarocket for the 11th time on Monday (Oct. 13), on a successful test flight that marked the end of the road for "Version 2" of the vehicle.

Rocket Lab launches private Japanese Earth-imaging satellite to orbit (video)
By Mike Wall published
Rocket Lab launched a radar satellite for Synspective today (Oct. 14), the seventh spacecraft it has lofted for the Japanese Earth-observation company.

SpaceX launches giant Starship rocket for moon and Mars on 11th test flight (video)
By Mike Wall published
SpaceX's Starship megarocket aced its test flight today (Oct. 13), the 11th overall for the program and the final mission for this version of the giant vehicle.

What time is SpaceX's Starship Flight 11 launch today?
By Mike Wall last updated
SpaceX plans to launch the 11th test flight of its Starship megarocket at 7:15 p.m. EDT (2315 GMT) on Monday (Oct. 13). Here's how you can watch.

Watch SpaceX launch its Starship Flight 11 megarocket test flight today
By Mike Wall last updated
SpaceX plans to launch Flight 11 of its huge, reusable Starship rocket on Monday evening (Oct. 13), and you can watch the action live.

SpaceX launches 24 of Amazon's Project Kuiper internet satellites to orbit (video)
By Mike Wall last updated
SpaceX launched 24 of Amazon's Project Kuiper satellites Monday (Oct. 13), bringing the total number of spacecraft lofted for the nascent broadband megaconstellation to 153.

SpaceX moves giant Super Heavy booster to pad ahead of Starship Flight 11 launch (photos)
By Mike Wall published
SpaceX moved its Super Heavy booster to the pad recently to gear up for Flight 11 of its Starship megarocket, which is scheduled for Oct. 13.

FCC announces 'Space Month' push to streamline space regulations
By Mike Wall published
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission will work to streamline space regulations, a push just announced in the newly christened "Space Month" of October 2025.

Blue Origin rolls out powerful New Glenn rocket for testing ahead of Mars launch (video)
By Mike Wall published
Blue Origin rolled the first stage of its powerful New Glenn rocket to the pad Wednesday (Oct. 8) for testing ahead of a planned launch of two NASA Mars probes.
Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!



