Elon Musk's SpaceX defied expectations - and on Wednesday hopes to make history by ferrying two NASA astronauts into space, the first crewed flight from US soil in nine long years.
SpaceX's launch of its next 60 Starlink satellites proceeded smoothly on Wednesday morning. About 1 hour after launch, the stack of satellites deployed into low-Earth orbit. The Falcon 9 rocket's thrice-used first stage landed on the drone ship.
On Thursday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida bound for the International Space Station. It marked SpaceX’s 19th trip to the space station and the company's final trip to the station for the decade.
SpaceX team has completed 13 successful tests in a row of upgraded Mark 3 parachutes for Crew Dragon. Most recent test demonstrated the parachute system’s ability to land the spacecraft safely in the unlikely event that one of the four main parachutes fails.
SpaceX's Starship and Super Heavy launch vehicle is a fully, rapidly reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and anywhere else in the solar system.
LightSail 2 is the third attempt to send a light sail spacecraft into orbit by the global non-profit society, which is devoted to promoting space exploration. Since reaching orbit, the LightSail 2 has been indicated that it is in good working order.
The European Space Agency is developing its own reusable spacecraft. Space Rider will be an un-crewed vehicle with high-tech capabilities that will provide access to space for scientific and commercial enterprises.
Researchers have recently conducted a successful stratospheric test of their wafercraft. If all goes well, the spacecraft will be able to reach relativistic speeds and make it to the nearest star system within our lifetimes.
Indeed, the Demo-1 mission went exactly as planned, signifying an important milestone for the U.S. as it strives to regain its ability to independently send astronauts into space.
NASA and SpaceX announced that they are ready to conduct the first orbital launch of Crew Dragon as early as March 2nd, a demonstration that will directly precede the first crewed launch on a US rocket in more eight years.
UK startup Orbex has showed off its Prime Rocket's second stage. Inside the engineering prototype's shell is the "world's largest" 3D printed rocket engine, which is also designed to run on bio-propane, a renewable fuel source.
New Glenn is a two-stage orbital launch vehicle with an optional third stage and a reusable first stage. Launches of the New Glenn are planned to be made from Spaceport Florida Launch Complex 36 in 2020.
With Thursday's launch, SpaceX has now flown 18 mission this year, tying its record set in 2017. The company could fly as many as four more rockets this year.
A new tiny optical gyroscope fits on the tip of your finger and could find its way into drones and spacecraft in the future.
In a new experiment, a team of researchers used laser pulses to accelerate photons to near the speed of light, which could have immense applications for space flight and particle physics.
