Independent human spaceflight sought by Japan
The Japanese space agency is pushing for a domestic human spaceflight capability, proposing modifications to the country's International Space Station cargo delivery system to carry astronauts into...
View ArticleH-2A launch timeline
T-00:00 Liftoff With its LE-7A main engine and two solid rocket boosters firing, the 187-foot-tall H-2A rocket lifts off from the Yoshinobu launch complex on Tanegashima Island. A few moments later,...
View ArticleLand surveying satellite orbited by Chinese rocket
China launched a Long March rocket Monday with a high-resolution civil mapping satellite to survey natural resources and a craft to relay marine tracking data for U.S.-based Orbcomm Inc. The Long March...
View ArticleAdditional software reviews will delay SpaceX demo flight
Launch of SpaceX's commercial Dragon cargo freighter to the International Space Station will be delayed until at least early May to give engineers more time to wring out the craft's software, the...
View ArticleSatellite pair launched by Long March rocket
An experimental technology demonstration satellite and a spacecraft to collect and relay data for disaster relief ascended into orbit on a Long March 2D rocket this weekend. The payloads lifted off at...
View ArticleATV production terminated as decision on follow-on nears
Confronted by parts obsolescence and waning political support, the European Space Agency has shut down subsystem production lines for the Automated Transfer Vehicle as member states debate how they...
View ArticleChina, Nigeria team up for broadcasting satellite launch
A Long March rocket launched Monday with a powerful Chinese-built, Nigerian-owned communications satellite to serve Africans with television, education, navigation and security services. Liftoff...
View ArticleBudget proposes $2 billion for U.S. weather satellites
NOAA's fiscal year 2013 budget request calls for more than $2 billion for the agency's weather and climate satellite programs to cover geostationary and polar-orbiting spacecraft, a space weather...
View ArticleDragon bolted to Falcon rocket ahead of engine firing
Engineers connected SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft to its Falcon 9 launcher Thursday, setting the stage for a busy weekend of preparations for a brief firing of the rocket's nine main engines on the launch...
View ArticleSpaceX cargo craft en route to flyby of space station
After a succession of rocket burns to fine-tune its pursuit of the International Space Station, the commercial Dragon spacecraft is due for a flyby of the complex Thursday, a crucial prerequisite for...
View ArticleU.S. Air Force space plane marks one year in orbit
The U.S. Air Force's second X-37B space plane marked one year in orbit Monday, continuing its clandestine mission more than 200 miles above Earth. Artist's concept of an X-37B spacecraft in orbit....
View ArticleParachutes for Boeing crew capsule tested over Nevada
Boeing dropped a mock-up of its CST-100 commercial crew capsule over the Nevada desert Tuesday, successfully testing the craft's three main landing parachutes, the first in a series of demonstrations...
View ArticleMilitary space shuttle receives mission extension
Quietly orbiting Earth since March, the U.S. Air Force's second X-37B space plane will surpass its 270-day design life Wednesday with no sign the clandestine spacecraft is landing any time soon....
View ArticleRussia, Europe to sign ExoMars accord by year's end
Russia told European Space Agency officials last week it will partner with Europe on the ExoMars orbiter and rover missions after NASA dropped out of the project in February due to budgetary concerns,...
View ArticleAstronauts say crews would be comfortable in Dragon
Two astronauts who helped capture and berth the Dragon supply ship said Saturday they would be comfortable flying a human-rated version of the craft on commercial flights to the International Space...
View ArticleJapan's H-2A rocket orbits craft to aid climate scientists
A Japanese H-2A rocket deployed four satellites in orbit Thursday, putting up a research mission to track the changing role of water in Earth's climate and a South Korean payload to gather...
View ArticleEnceladus gets last visit from Cassini spacecraft until 2015
NASA's Cassini spacecraft skimmed 46 miles above the icy surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus on Wednesday, taking radio measurements to deduce what might feed powerful geysers of water vapor streaming...
View ArticlePowerful Nigerian satellite ready for liftoff from China
China will launch a massive Nigerian communications satellite Monday to link Africans with television programming, education services and navigation signals. Artist's concept of a Long March 3B rocket...
View ArticleScientists use Dawn to pull back the veil on Vesta
Since being tugged into orbit around asteroid Vesta last July, NASA's Dawn spacecraft has pulled back the curtain on the object's surface characteristics, internal structure and wild temperature...
View ArticleLong March rocket lifts military satellite into orbit
China shot an intelligence-gathering Yaogan surveillance satellite into a 750-mile-high orbit Tuesday in a successful launch aboard a Long March 4C rocket. Following standard procedures for military...
View ArticleRussians successfully launch space station resupply ship
Dispatching a freighter filled with food, fuel and supplies to the International Space Station, an unmanned Russian Soyuz booster successfully launched Friday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Main engine...
View ArticleAtlas 5 rockets to launch next weather satellite series
The next-generation U.S. weather observatories now in development for flights to geostationary orbit will be deployed by United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rockets, officials announced Thursday. The GOES R...
View ArticleComputer crash doomed Phobos-Grunt
After floating accusations against U.S. military radars, flawed foreign parts and space radiation, Russian space officials have concluded a software glitch caused the failure of the Phobos-Grunt Mars...
View ArticleRussian satellite destroyed despite promise for scientists
Engineers on Sunday intentionally crashed a Russian Express communications satellite stranded in space by an August rocket mishap, declaring the mission a total loss despite efforts by a start-up...
View ArticleDragon circling Earth after flawless predawn blastoff
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket radiantly rose into a serene predawn sky over Florida on Tuesday, successfully launching a privately-owned capsule named Dragon into orbit on a seminal test flight to the...
View ArticleRadiation Belt Storm Probes arrive at Florida launch site
Twin NASA satellites designed to probe and predict changes in Earth's radiation belts arrived at the Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, ready to begin several months of testing and assembly before...
View ArticleBeidou navigation payload launched by Chinese rocket
China launched another satellite Friday for the Beidou space-based navigation network, continuing the system's expansion after it began trial service in December. Liftoff of the Long March 3C launcher...
View ArticleVIDEO: GRAIL returns views of far side of the moon
NASA released footage Wednesday from one of the agency's twin GRAIL lunar probes, showing the rugged far side of the moon in a time lapse video from a camera built to help educate and inspire U.S....
View ArticleGRAIL lunar gravity mission extended until December
NASA has granted an extension of the GRAIL moon mission until December, allowing scientists to complete a more definitive map of the lunar gravity field from a lower orbit, according to agency...
View ArticleChinese mapping satellite in orbit after weekend launch
A Long March rocket boosted a Chinese mapping satellite into orbit Sunday from the Jiuquan launching base in the Gobi desert, according to state media reports. The Tianhui 1B satellite blasted off at...
View ArticleESA says BepiColombo will stay on budget despite delay
Technicial difficulties with BepiColombo, a joint project between Europe and Japan, will push back its launch to Mercury by 13 months until August 2015, but officials do not expect the postponement to...
View ArticleSuccessful Chinese space launch breaks annual record
Shattering a record for annual Chinese launch activity, a Long March rocket streaked into a predawn sky Thursday and entered orbit with a Beidou navigation satellite. The Long March 3A rocket lifted...
View ArticleAstrium UK picked to build Solar Orbiter spacecraft
The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter spacecraft, due for launch in early 2017, will be built in Britain under a $400 million contract signed Thursday with Astrium. Artist's concept of Solar...
View ArticleMedvedev threatens criminal penalties for space officials
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has suggested officials should be punished for recent failures in the country's space program. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev speaks with reporters Saturday....
View ArticleSoyuz booster fails in launch of communications satellite
A Soyuz rocket and a Russian military communications satellite crashed in Siberia on Friday, continuing a pesky series of launch mishaps blemishing Russia's space program in the last year. File photo...
View ArticleDecember deadline for stranded Russian Mars probe
Russia has until early December to establish contact with the stranded Phobos-Grunt Mars probe and send it toward the Red Planet, the head of the Russian space ageny said Monday. Phobos-Grunt's mission...
View ArticleRussians now preparing for re-entry of failed Mars probe
Russia's $163 million Phobos-Grunt Mars probe, stranded in low-Earth orbit after a malfunction following launch Nov. 8, is expected to fall back into Earth's atmosphere next month, Russian officials...
View ArticleRussian Mars mission halted by glitch in low Earth orbit
Russia's Phobos-Grunt mission, an audacious effort to retrieve samples from a Martian moon, is stranded in low Earth orbit following a successful liftoff Tuesday from Kazakhstan, according to Russian...
View ArticleIll-fated Mars probe reportedly falls to Earth
A $170 million Russian Mars probe, stranded in low-Earth orbit after a malfunction following launch in November, reportedly fell back into the dense lower atmosphere Sunday, apparently breaking up over...
View ArticleZenit 2FG/Phobos-Grunt launch timeline
NOTE: Times approximate. T-00:00:00 Launch Producing 1.6 million pounds of thrust, the Zenit 2FG rocket soars into the sky at 2016 GMT (3:16 p.m. EST) Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in...
View ArticleRussia: Computer crash doomed Phobos-Grunt
After floating accusations against U.S. military radars, flawed foreign parts and space radiation, Russian space officials have concluded a software glitch caused the failure of the Phobos-Grunt Mars...
View ArticleRussia to restart planetary exploration with Mars probe
Russia will launch a probe to a moon of Mars on Tuesday, resuming the country's exploration of the solar system after funding woes and mission failures hindered progress over the last two decades. The...
View ArticleRussia trying to salvage Phobos-Grunt mission
One day after a Russian Mars probe was left stranded in low Earth orbit, engineers planned to begin trying to save the mission Wednesday in hopes the problem was a relatively simple software glitch....
View ArticleIt's alive! Russia's Phobos-Grunt probe phones home
The European Space Agency announced Wednesday a ground station in Australia heard signals from Russia's marooned Phobos-Grunt Mars mission, but prospects are fading for the probe to reach the Red...
View ArticlePhobos-Grunt Mars probe remains silent in Earth orbit
Russia officially remained silent on the status of its beleaguered Phobos-Grunt Mars probe Friday as concerns grew that the toxic fuel-laden spacecraft could crash back to Earth by December. File photo...
View ArticleRussia scrambles to diagnose glitch on Phobos-Grunt
A European Space Agency tracking station in Australia was expected to contact Russia's Phobos-Grunt spacecraft at least two times Wednesday, one day after the site heard signals from the stranded probe...
View ArticleLatest attempts to contact Phobos-Grunt yield 'no joy'
Russia's Phobos-Grunt Mars probe again fell silent Thursday and Friday after encouraging communications signals were detected from the marooned satellite, which is stuck in low Earth orbit after a...
View ArticleESA shutting down Phobos-Grunt listening campaign
The European Space Agency announced Friday it would cease attempts to contact Russia's Phobos-Grunt Mars probe, as hopes diminish of ever recovering the stranded spacecraft and guiding it toward the...
View ArticleOrbit-raising commands fail to budge Phobos-Grunt probe
Plagued by an undiagnosed problem that stranded it in Earth orbit, Russia's Phobos-Grunt Mars mission remained quiet Tuesday after renewed attempts to coax the craft back into contact with ground...
View ArticleTDRS-M data relay satellite purchased for NASA network
NASA has ordered up an additional next-generation communications spacecraft, valued at $289 million, for its orbiting network of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites. The TDRS-M bird will be built by The...
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