The enigmatic X-37B space plane operated by the U.S. Air Force continues to puzzle program observers as information was put forward by the Pentagon on Tuesday of no plans of an imminent landing of the winged spacecraft
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The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will make a second run at launching a modified Sounding Rocket turned orbital launch vehicle later this year following up on a similar mission that ended in failure back in January.
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ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter completed a series of engine burns to shift its orbit around Mars toward a higher inclination in preparation for a lengthy altitude reduction campaign that will take the rest of the year and spiral the spacecraft down into its science orbit from where the orbiter can obtain a detailed inventory of the Martian atmosphere.
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Europe’s Ariane 5 heavy-lift rocket stands tall atop its French Guiana launch pad in anticipation of the year-opening launch of the workhorse on Tuesday, carrying into orbit a pair of heavy communications satellites for Brazil and Indonesia.
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Orbital ATK has begun the process of reviving Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 46 by stacking three Peacekeeper missile stages to demonstrate techniques for the assembly of the first Minotaur IV rocket to launch from the Cape this summer with an experimental satellite for the U.S. Air Force.
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India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is gearing up for liftoff Wednesday morning with 104 satellites from seven countries, setting a new record for the most satellites lifted by a single launch vehicle.
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The rumble of rocket engines returned to the Kennedy Space Center on Sunday when SpaceX’s Falcon 9 completed a milestone Static Fire Test at the historic Launch Complex 39A that was last used over five years ago by the final flight of the Space Shuttle.
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The ominous X-37B space plane operated in semi-secrecy by the U.S. Air Force may be approaching the end of its fourth mission, indicated by a move to a lower orbit earlier this month that has been a sure sign of an imminent landing on the craft’s first three missions.
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A strong tornado plowed through NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana on Tuesday, leaving a trail of damage to buildings and vehicles but luckily causing no severe injuries to 3,500 personnel on site.
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A spent rocket body from a 1988 Molniya launch re-entered the atmosphere on February 7, 2017 after over three decades in orbit.
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Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser has returned to Edwards Air Force Base in California for a busy Spring of free flight and landing tests on the spaceplane’s path toward orbital missions expected to begin later this decade followed by cargo missions to the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services Program.
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NASA provided preliminary approval for the addition of a commercial airlock module to the International Space Station in 2019 to streamline satellite deployments from the orbiting outpost.
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Commercial Earth-imaging company Planet announced on Friday it is acquiring Google-owned Terra Bella and its satellite fleet for an undisclosed sum, joining two complementary satellite programs highlighted by rapid revisit time and image resolution.
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Japan’s FREEDOM CubeSat re-entered the atmosphere on February 5, 2017 after only three weeks in orbit, indicating its drag sail was successful in rapidly removing the small satellite from orbit.
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Japan’s HTV-6 cargo spacecraft closed out an eight-week mission on Sunday with a fiery re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.
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DigitalGlobe announced this week that the company’s WorldView-4 high-resolution imaging satellite was ready for operational services after completing in-orbit checkouts and calibration.
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NASA’s PhoneSat 2.4 CubeSat re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on January 31, 2017 after over three years in orbit, studying whether a smartphone can be used to execute satellite command and control functions.
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