Spaceflight - News About Space Travel and Exploration

one of the hangars at spaceport Cornwall with large "spaceport Cornwall" letters across the front of the building above the entrance.

Spaceport Cornwall: The ultimate guide to the UK's first spaceport

By Ed Browne published 3 February 23

Reference Spaceport Cornwall is the UK's first licensed spaceport. Here we explore the air-launch hub in more detail.

Cosmic Girl plane flying high above the ground below and releasing the LauncherOne rocket seen just below the aircraft.

Virgin Orbit: Facts about the novel air-launch provider

By Ed Browne last updated 3 February 23

Reference We take a look at the small satellite launch provider Virgin Orbit, exploring the company's history, how it works, and the tech it uses.

Reference

a floating participant on a zero-g airplane flight stretches out their hands and smiles in front of a crowd of people floating in all directions

Zero-gravity parabolic flights get surge of demand for spaceflight work

By Elizabeth Howell published 3 February 23

Commercial astronauts, disability advocates and private space experiment makers are adding more parabolic airplane flights to Zero-G's manifest.

A solitary, unmanned spacesuit floats away from the International Space Station (ISS) during a Feb. 3, 2006 spacewalk. It is destined to burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.

On This Day In Space: Feb. 3, 2006: Astronauts toss 'SuitSat' off space station

By Hanneke Weitering last updated 3 February 23

On Feb. 3, 2006, astronauts at the International Space Station tossed an empty spacesuit into space for science.

Cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky shared this photo of the International Space Station on Twitter on Sept. 29, 2021. He and two colleagues were relocating a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from one port to another at the time.

International Space Station: Live updates

By Elizabeth Howell published 2 February 23

Find out what's going on at the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Nicole Mann (at left) and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) perform a spacewalk outside of the International Space Station on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023.

With a 'wiggle and nudge,' spacewalking astronauts install stubborn array mount outside space station

By Robert Z. Pearlman published 2 February 23

Two spacewalking astronauts wiggled a stubborn strut into place, completing the installation of a solar array platform outside the International Space Station.

Joe Acaba, NASA's new chief of the astronaut office, poses for a portrait in the Mission Control Center at Johnson Space Center in Houston in September 2020.

With moon crews to assign, Joe Acaba named NASA's new chief astronaut

By Robert Z. Pearlman published 2 February 23

As NASA nears selecting its first crew to fly to the moon in more than 50 years, the agency has a new leader for its astronaut corps, Joe Acaba, who has flown into space on three missions.

NASA's Artemis 1 mission launches toward the moon atop a Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 16, 2022.

Artemis 1 moon rocket looks ready for astronaut missions, NASA says

By Mike Wall published 2 February 23

NASA's Space Launch System megarocket aced its first-ever liftoff late last year and appears ready to take the next big step — launching astronauts.

The six astronauts of China's Shenzhou 14 and Shenzhou 15 missions to the Tiangong space station pose for a crew photo in orbit in November 2022.

Europe won't send astronauts to China's Tiangong space station after all: report

By Mike Wall published 2 February 23

At the moment, the European Space Agency doesn't have the money or the political "green light" for crewed missions to China's Tiangong space station.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

SpaceX launches 53 Starlink satellites on milestone 200th Falcon 9 rocket flight

By Mike Wall published 2 February 23

SpaceX launched 53 of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit early Thursday morning (Feb. 2).

Astronauts perform a spacewalk outside the International Space Station.

Watch 2 astronauts perform 2nd spacewalk of 2023 today

By Mike Wall published 2 February 23

NASA astronaut Nicole Mann and Japan's Koichi Wakata are scheduled to make the second spacewalk of 2023 on Thursday morning (Feb. 2), and you can watch it live.

uniformed military personnel surround a stretched-out american flag within view of gravestones in arlington cemetery. far in the background are military members standing

Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery

By Elizabeth Howell published 1 February 23

Collins, who died in 2021 at age 90, was the first person to orbit the moon solo during Apollo 11 in 1969.

still from a black-and-white video showing a prototype space module exploding and pieces flying

Kapow! Inflatable space station module blows to pieces in video explosion

By Elizabeth Howell published 1 February 23

Sierra Space successfully finished its third module test for the Blue Origin-led Orbital Reef private space complex for NASA, on the long road to replace the International Space Station.

Rolls-Royce unveils early-stage design for space nuclear reactor

By Elizabeth Howell published 1 February 23

The company is working with the U.K. Space Agency to develop nuclear power and propulsion options for spaceflight.

An image of Jupiter captured by JunoCam during the mission's 48th flyby.

NASA loses more than 200 Jupiter photos after Juno probe camera glitch

By Meghan Bartels published 1 February 23

For the second flyby in a row, a key camera studying Jupiter has struggled to snap photos as usual.

seven astronauts in flight suits posing for a portrait

20 years after Columbia shuttle tragedy, NASA pledges 'acute awareness' of astronaut safety

By Elizabeth Howell published 1 February 23

Seven astronauts lost their lives on space shuttle Columbia on Feb. 1, 2003, due to a series of technical and organizational problems at NASA.

Former NASA astronauts Bob Behnken (left) and Doug Hurley are seen after being awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor by Vice President Kamala Harris during a ceremony in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023 in Washington, DC.

SpaceX crewmates Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken awarded Space Medal of Honor

By Robert Z. Pearlman published 31 January 23

Former NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken have been presented with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the highest U.S. honor reserved for spaceflight veterans.

Artist’s concept of the DARPA and Lockheed Martin Hypersonic Air Breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC).

DARPA's hypersonic HAWC completes final flight test at over Mach 5

By Brett Tingley published 31 January 23

DARPA announced the end of the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) program with a final successful test flight that reached speeds over Mach 5 and flew for more than 300 nautical miles.

ingenuity helicopter's shadow on the surface of mars in a black and white photo

Mars helicopter Ingenuity soars over Perseverance rover tracks on 41st flight

By Elizabeth Howell published 31 January 23

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter flew for the 41st time on Mars Jan. 27, going out and back again with 600 feet (183 meters) of flight distance over 109 seconds.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 49 Starlink internet satellites and D-Orbit's orbital transfer vehicle from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Jan. 31, 2023.

SpaceX launches 50 satellites, lands rocket on ship at sea

By Mike Wall last updated 31 January 23

On Tuesday (Jan. 31), a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 49 of the company's Starlink broadband satellites and a rideshare spacecraft, then landed on a ship at sea.