SpaceX

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) ahead of the launch of the Starlink 12-21 mission. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now Update March 11, 12:50 a.m. ET: SpaceX scrubbed the launch due to high winds. SpaceX is preparing to launch its first batch of Starlink satellites in more than a week. The planned flight comes following a fuel leak in a Falcon 9 booster caused its destruction shortly after landing. However, high ground-level winds prevented the launch from moving forward on Monday and SpaceX is pivoting to a backup window on Tuesday night. The launch of the Starlink 12-21 mission from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is now set for 10:48 p.m. EDT (0248 UTC). It’s one of two planned Falcon 9 launches Tuesday night, including the ridshare lau...

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands at Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base ahead of the launch of the SPHEREx and PUNCH missions for NASA. Image: SpaceX NASA is preparing to launch its first ride share flight in support of the Science Mission Directorate with two missions flying on the same Falcon 9 rocket Monday night. Onboard are the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) observatory and four spacecraft that make up the Polarimeter to UNify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base is set for 8:10 p.m. PDT (11:10 p.m. EDT, 0310 UTC). A joint NASA-SpaceX launch readiness review was held on Friday and the mission was then sched...

The Starship upper stage suffered multiple premature engine shutdowns, as indicated in telemetry shown at bottom right. Flight control was lost and the spacecraft broke apart in a spectacular shower of debris. It was the Starship program’s second upper stage failure in a row. Image: SpaceX SpaceX launched its huge Starship rocket on the program’s eighth test flight Thursday, but a malfunction of some sort triggered multiple upper stage engine shutdowns and for the second flight in a row, the vehicle failed to reach its planned sub-orbital altitude and broke apart in a shower of debris. “Obviously, a lot to go through, a lot to dig through. We’re going to go right at it,” said SpaceX launch commentator Dan Huot. “The primary reason we do these flight tests is to learn. We have some more to ...

Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander, named Athena, is pictured on its side, lying on the Moon’s surface following touchdown on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Image: Intuitive Machines A day after its Nova-C class robotic lander touched down on the surface of the Moon, Intuitive Machines confirmed that its mission is now over. In a statement posted to its website, the company based in Houston, Texas, said that its lander, named Athena, touched down about 250 m (820 ft) away from its intended landing site, on its side and inside of a crater at Mons Mouton, near the lunar South Pole. “With the direction of the Sun, the orientation of the solar panels, and extreme cold temperatures in the crater, Intuitive Machines does not expect Athena to recharge,” the company wrote on Friday. “The mission has conc...

Intuitive Machines Athena lander pictured in low lunar orbit prior to its final descent to the surface. Image: Intuitive Machines. A commercially built moon lander built by Houston-based Intuitive Machines landed near the moon’s south pole Thursday, but telemetry indicated it ended up on its side. The lander is “alive,” officials said, but it’s not yet known what mission objectives might still be met. Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus said “we don’t believe we’re in the correct attitude (orientation) on the surface of the moon yet again. I don’t have all the data yet to say exactly what the attitude of the vehicle is. “We’re collecting photos now and downlinking those, and we’re going to get a picture from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter camera from above, from orbit, and we’ll confirm...