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Mar 30Richard LawlerThis attempt at a first orbital launch from Europe lasted about 30 seconds.Drone footage provided by Isar Aerospace (a startup incubated as part of the Bavaria One space program) shows the first test flight of its Spectrum orbital vehicle in Norway. The flight termination system was triggered before it attempted a first-stage separation, and the rocket fell into the sea, though Isar called it a success and said it has more vehicles in production.Andoya Spaceport general manager Ingun Berget told TV 2 the flight was aborted because the rocket wasnt going where it was supposed to go.Mar 28Emma RothNASA and Boeing investigate Starliners anomalies before its next crewed flightNASA via Getty ImagesNASA and Boeing are preparing the Starliner for its next flight after technical issues left the spacecraft unable to ferry its astronauts back to Earth for months. On Thursday, NASA announced that its working with Boeing to resolve Starliners in-flight anomalies before a crewed flight that could take place later this year or in early 2026.The Boeing Starliner took off successfully for the first time last June, bringing Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to the International Space Station for what was supposed to be about a week. However, issues with the Starliners thruster, valve, and helium systems led NASA to bring the Starliner back to Earth in September, while Williams and Wilmore returned aboard SpaceXs Crew-9 earlier this month.Read Article >Mar 27Emma RothKaty Perry blasts off to space next month.On April 14th, the pop star will join Jeff Bezos fianc Lauren Sanchez and CBS host Gayle King aboard the New Shepard rocket as part of Blue Origins first all-female flight. The rocket will lift off from Launch Site One in West Texas, with a launch window opening at 9:30AM ET.Image: Blue OriginMar 18Richard LawlerSpaceX Crew-9 and the Boeing Starliner astronauts have landed safely.Right on schedule, the Dragon capsule deployed its parachutes and landed off the coast of Florida as recovery crews began the process of bringing the capsule onboard a recovery ship and extracting its crew.Image: NASA (YouTube)Mar 18Richard LawlerThe Starliner astronauts are on their way back to Earth.Last night, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, along with Crew-9 members Aleksandr Gorbunov and Nick Hague, left the ISS in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft now that the Crew-10 mission has arrived to relieve them. NASA will resume coverage of their return mission this afternoon, as they are expected to splash down off the coast of Florida at about 5:57PM ET, ending a voyage that started last June.Mar 7Andrew LiszewskiSpaceXs latest Starship explosion lights up the sky over the Caribbean againBOCA CHICA BEACH, TEXAS MARCH 06: SpaceX Starship Flight 8 prepares for takeoff from Orbital Launch Pad A at Boca Chica beach on March 06, 2025 in Boca Chica Beach, Texas. The SpaceX Starship Flight 8 test launched and successfully caught its booster upon descent. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) Screenshot: SpaceXStop us if youve heard this one before. Similar to the aftermath from SpaceXs failed seventh test flight on January 16th, yesterdays explosion following the launch of Starships eighth test flight created another spectacle in the night sky as debris rained down over parts of the Caribbean causing flights to be delayed and diverted in Florida and Turks and Caicos Islands.Following a successful launch, Starship separated from the Super Heavy booster rocket which returned to the launch pad and was captured by the launch tower for the third time. But during the upper stages ascent burn, an energetic event in the aft portion of Starship resulted in the loss of several Raptor engines, according to a statement SpaceX shared to its website last night. That caused Starship to lose attitude control and spin uncontrollably before exploding. SpaceX lost communications with the craft nine minutes and 30 seconds after the launch.Read Article >SpaceXs 8th Starship flight test ends in another explosion.SpaceX recently listed some explanations for how its seventh Starship flight test ended, and now another report is coming. Flight 8s launch and Super Heavy booster rocket separation was successful, with the booster returning to the pad.However, before reaching the engine cutoff point nearly nine minutes into the flight, the Starship began to tumble, then exploded (according to SpaceX, ...experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly and contact was lost) without attempting its planned payload deploy demo.The resulting debris field caused the FAA to issue a ground stop order at several Florida airports until 8PM ET.Europes Ariane 6 rocket takes off on its first commercial mission.Arianespace CEO Stphane Isral has said that Ariane 6 is key to giving Europe an autonomous access to space, despite delays that pushed its debut from 2020 all the way to 2024.Now its made a second successful launch, with the VA 263 mission carrying CSO-3, an optical spy satellite for the French military.Mar 4Umar ShakirSpaceXs next Starship test flight has been delayed again.SpaceX called off Starships eighth flight test yesterday after the countdown timer was put on hold at T-minus 40 seconds to resolve issues with the Super Heavy booster. The new launch will happen as soon as Wednesday, March 5th.Feb 27Emma RothJeff Bezos is sending Katy Perry to spacePhoto by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for iHeartRadioKaty Perry will fly to space during Blue Origins next crewed mission, the Jeff Bezos-owned space company has announced. The pop star will join CBS host Gayle King and Bezoss fianc Lauren Snchez aboard the New Shepard rocket this spring, marking its 11th human flight.Along with Perry and Snchez, who is known for her work as a news anchor and correspondent, the crew will include research scientist and activist Amanda Nguyen, film producer Kerianne Flynn, and former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe. Snchez first revealed her plans to lead an all-female Blue Origin mission in 2023, but she didnt mention who she would take on the flight at the time.Read Article >Feb 24Andrew LiszewskiSpaceX thinks it knows why Starship exploded on its last test flightSpaceX believes it has determined why Starship exploded during its seventh test flight. Image: SpaceXSpaceX believes it knows what caused the explosion during the seventh test flight of its Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster on January 16th, 2025. Fires in the aft section of Starship, located between the bottom of its liquid oxygen tank and rear heat shield, caused all but one of Starships engines to execute controlled shut down sequences leading to a loss of communication and eventually the spacecrafts safety system triggering its own destruction.The goal of the seventh test flight was to test several upgrades SpaceX made to its heavy-lift rocket system. After a successful launch and completing a full duration burn, the Super Heavy booster separated from Starship and triggered a boostback burn designed to return it to the launch site. Following a landing burn, the Super Heavy booster was successfully caught mid-air by the launch tower at Starbase for the second time.Read Article >Jan 17Andrew LiszewskiSpaceXs fiery Starship explosion put on a fantastic show but delayed and diverted flightsThe falling debris field from the SpaceX Starship explosion lit up the night sky over the Caribbean, Screenshot: YouTubeFalling debris from the SpaceX Starship explosion yesterday created what looked like a meteor shower, or a colorful fireworks show based on videos shared by people in the area, but it also delayed flights.Eight and a half minutes after launch yesterday, the upper stage of the SpaceX Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly, following the separation from its booster and the start of its ascent to space.Read Article >Jan 17Richard LawlerThats not a meteor shower, that was a Starship.SpaceX noted that for this seventh Starship flight test, a significant number of tiles will be removed to stress-test vulnerable areas across the vehicle.We dont know if that had anything to do with the vehicle experiencing a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn, but the aftermath of its destruction was visible to at least a few tourists in Turks and Caicos.Jan 17Emma RothSpaceX catches Starship booster for a second time but loses the spacecraftScreenshot: SpaceXSpaceX successfully caught its Super Heavy booster for the second time. During Starships 7th test flight from Boca Chica, Texas, Super Heavy descended into the launch towers chopstick arms, allowing it to grab the booster.Despite the successful catch, SpaceX lost communications with the Starship spacecraft mounted atop the booster. It successfully separated from the Super Heavy booster, but during that ascent phase, a couple of the engines dropped out, and then shortly thereafter, we lost communication with the vehicle, SpaceXs Kate Tice said during the stream. We are assuming that we have lost the ship.Read Article >Jan 16Thomas RickerBezos Blue Origin successfully launches SpaceX rivalNew Glenn launching from Cape Canaveral this morning. Image: Blue OriginThe billionaire space race entered a new phase today when Jeff Bezos Blue Origin successfully launched its 320-foot-tall New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida.At 2:03AM ET this morning, New Glenns seven reusable BE-4 engines ignited to propel the NG-1 rocket into space, with the second stage and payload reaching orbit to achieve Blue Origins primary mission goal. It also successfully activated its Blue Ring Pathfinder payload vehicle which is receiving data and performing well.Read Article >Jan 15Emma RothBlue Origin prepares for a high-stakes New Glenn launchImage: Blue OriginFollowing a scrubbed launch attempt and weather-related delays, Blue Origin will once again try to send its New Glenn rocket into space for the first time. During the attempt, the Jeff Bezos-owned space company aims to reach orbit, helping to further its goals of shuttling Project Kuiper satellites, equipment, and eventually humans into space.Launch is currently scheduled for 2:03AM ET, after a wayward boat created an unplanned hold event.Read Article >Jan 15Jess WeatherbedTwo private landers head to the moon to aid future NASA astronautsThe landers have a long journey ahead of them. Image: SpaceXA SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral on Wednesday morning carrying two private lunar landers into orbit in support of NASAs future Artemis landing crews. The Blue Ghost and Resilience landers, built by Texas-based Firefly Aerospace and Japans iSpace aerospace firms respectively, aim to provide data on the Moons environment and test technologies that will help to one day return astronauts to the lunar surface.The SpaceX launch and private lander contracts are the latest to fall under NASAs Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative the first phase of the Artemis moon exploration program thats set to launch its first crewed mission in April 2026. Following the Falcon 9s first stage successfully separating and touching down back on Earth after launch, Blue Ghost was delivered to a lunar transfer orbit by the rockets second stage about 65 minutes after liftoff, with Resilience being deployed about 30 minutes later.Read Article >Jan 14Wes DavisReturning SpaceX rockets are disrupting airline flights.Qantas airlines airline has delayed some flights to avoid the rockets splashdown in the Indian Ocean, reports The Guardian. Some at the last minute, says Ben Holland, head of Qantass operations center:While we try to make any changes to our schedule in advance, the timing of recent launches have moved around at late notice which has meant weve had to delay some flights just prior to departure.Qantas South Africa flights delayed by falling debris from SpaceX rockets, airline says[The Guardian]Jan 14Jess WeatherbedBlue Origin sets a new window for New Glenn launch.Following yesterdays launch attempt being scrubbed, the NG-1 launch was first pushed to no earlier than Tuesday and now no earlier than ThursdayThe rocket launch has been kicked down the road several times because of unfavorable conditions, including ice forming in a purge line on an auxiliary power unit during Mondays attempt.Jan 13Emma RothNew Glenn: Blue Origins big rocket launch is... scrubbedImage: Blue OriginBlue Origin is preparing for its biggest launch yet, but on Monday morning the attempt was scrubbed for technical reasons after several delays were made throughout the three-hour launch window. The window originally opened at 1AM ET.Its unclear when the Jeff Bezos-owned commercial space company will next attempt to send its 320-foot-tall New Glenn rocket into space for the first time.Read Article >Jan 11Wes DavisBlue Origins New Glenn launch is delayed again.Citing conditions at sea that are still unfavorable for booster landing, the company posted that its pushing the mission back 24 hours to a three-hour launch window starting Monday at 1AM ET.Its the second delay since its January 10th target. Blue Origin will likely livestream the launch on its website and YouTube channel. See our write-up below for more mission details.Jan 7Quentyn KennemerBlue Ghost Lunar Lander scheduled to launch on January 15thImage: Firefly AerospaceA lander hasnt successfully reached the surface of the Moons cratered Mare Crisium region since the Soviet Luna 24 probe landed there to collect samples in August 1976. But SpaceX is prepping a launch thatll send not one, but two landers there on Wednesday January 15th, Firefly Aerospace has announced.SpaceXs Falcon 9 is scheduled to launch at approximately 1:11 AM EST, and will not only have Firefly Aerospaces Blue Ghost 1 lander on board, but also the Resilience lander from the Japanese robotic spacecraft firm iSpace. It will take 45 days for the craft to journey to the Moon before it spends another 14 days carrying out surface operations. Theres no word on whether well be able to watch it take off.Read Article >