SpaceX

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft rests in the desert of the White Sands Space Harbor following its return to Earth from the International Space Station. Image: Boeing Leaving its crew behind in orbit, Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station Friday and chalked up a successful unpiloted return to Earth, closing out a disappointing test flight with an on-target and apparently problem-free New Mexico touchdown. Despite NASA’s concerns about earlier thruster problems and multiple helium leaks in the ship’s propulsion pressurization system, the Starliner had no trouble undocking and moving away from the station at 6:04 p.m. EDT and executing a critical 59-second deorbit braking maneuver at 11:17 p.m. to drop out of orbit. Slamming into the discernible at...

File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands at the ready to support the Starlink 10-4 mission, which will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on July 28, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now SpaceX is targeting Wednesday morning for the 85th launch Falcon 9 rocket so far in 2024. The mission, dubbed Starlink 8-11, will add another 21 Starlink satellites to the company’s megaconstellation. If successful, this launch will mark the 7,000th Starlink satellite launched to date, according to statistics compiled by Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer and expert orbital tracker. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is set for 8:59 a.m. EDT (1259 UTC). Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about an hour prior to liftoff. According to th...

The crew of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station poses for a group photo at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Image: SpaceX. NASA has bumped two female astronauts, including the commander, from the next SpaceX crew rotation flight to the international space station, freeing up two seats to give the agency’s Starliner astronauts a ride home next February. Crew 9 commander Zena Cardman, a space rookie, and veteran Stephanie Wilson will remain behind when the Crew Dragon ferry ship takes off from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Sept. 24 carrying crewmate Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov. Also on board: clothing, supplies and SpaceX pressure suits for Starliner commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and co-pilot Sunita Will...

A Falcon 9 stands ready for the Starlink 8-10 mission at Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now. Update 4:04 a.m. EDT: SpaceX launched the mission and landed its first stage booster on its droneship, ‘Just Read the Instructions.’ After shuffling the launch schedule a bit, SpaceX  kicked off what it hopes will be back-to-back launches from both coasts in the span of less than an hour. The company launched the Starlink 8-10 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and plans to launch another flight another batch of Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The launch will add another 21 Starlink satellites to SpaceX’s growing megaconstellation in low Earth orbit. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) happened at 3:43 a.m. EDT ...

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, Boeing’s Crew Flight Test Commander and Pilot respectively, inspect safety hardware aboard the International Space Station. Image: NASA NASA is at a crossroads when it comes to the conclusion of the Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test. The agency is set to announce its decision on whether or not to return NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams on Starliner as originally intended or on a SpaceX Crew Dragon. The choice will be formalized after an agency-level meeting called a flight readiness review wraps up on Saturday. A press conference is tentatively set for 1 p.m. EDT (1700 UTC). Spaceflight Now will have live coverage of the decision beginning about 30 minutes prior to the start of the news conference. The review...