Launches & Spacecraft

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An ispace engineer inspects the “Tenacious” micro rover in the payload bay of the company’s lunar lander, “Resilience.”

What's landing on the moon with ispace's Resilience spacecraft on June 5?

By Andrew Jones last updated

Tokyo-based company ispace's Resilience lunar lander will attempt to touch down on the moon on Thursday (June 5). Here's what the spacecraft is carrying.

Launches & Spacecraft
a white and black rocket lifts off into the dark of night, its thrust shining a bright white glow on its launch pad

SpaceX launches 23 more Starlink satellites from Florida (video)

By Robert Z. Pearlman published

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 23 satellites for the company's Starlink constellation from Cape Canaveral, Florida on June 3, 2025.

Launches & Spacecraft
A Rocket Lab Electron rocket launches the "Full Stream Ahead" mission for the company BlackSky from New Zealand on June 2, 2025.

Rocket Lab launches private Earth-observing satellite to orbit (video)

By Mike Wall last updated

Rocket Lab launched a "Gen-3" Earth-observing satellite for the company BlackSky toward orbit from New Zealand today (June 2).

Launches & Spacecraft
a white and black rocket lifts off into the fog surrounding its launch pad

SpaceX adds 27 Starlink satellites to constellation after successful launch from California (video)

By Robert Z. Pearlman published

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off with 27 Starlink internet broadband satellites from southern California on Saturday, May 31, 2025.

Launches & Spacecraft
SpaceX's Starship megarocket launches on its ninth-ever test flight on May 27, 2025.

FAA requires SpaceX to investigate Starship Flight 9 mishap

By Mike Wall published

SpaceX must figure out what happened on Flight 9 of its Starship megarocket, during which the vehicle's second stage made an uncontrolled reentry over the Indian Ocean.

Launches & Spacecraft
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the GPS III-SV08 satellite for the U.S. Space Force from Florida on May 30, 2025.

SpaceX launches advanced GPS satellite for US Space Force in record-short turnaround

By Mike Wall published

SpaceX launched an advanced GPS satellite for the U.S. Space Force today (May 30), less than three months after getting the official go-ahead.

Launches & Spacecraft
a black and white rocket launches into the night sky from a launch pad in Florida

SpaceX aiming for record-breaking 170 orbital launches in 2025

By Mike Wall published

SpaceX is targeting a whopping 170 orbital liftoffs in 2025, which would shatter the record the company set just last year.

Launches & Spacecraft
An artist's illustration of the Earth "quasi-moon" Kamo'oalewa. Astronomers using the Large Binocular Telescope have shown that it might be a lost fragment of the moon.

Sampling a 'quasi-moon': What's next for China's newly launched Tianwen 2 asteroid-sampling mission

By Mike Wall published

China's Tianwen 2 spacecraft launched on Tuesday (May 28), kicking off a bold mission to grab a sample of one of Earth's "quasi-moons" and then journey on to a mysterious comet.

Launches & Spacecraft
a white rocket launches against a pale blue sky

SpaceX launches 27 Starlink satellites from Florida, lands rocket on ship at sea

By Mike Wall published

SpaceX launched 27 more of its Starlink internet satellites from Florida's Space Coast today (May 28) and landed the returning rocket on a ship at sea.

Launches & Spacecraft
China's Tianwen 2 asteroid sample-return mission launches on May 28, 2025.

China launches Tianwen 2 mission to snag samples of a near-Earth asteroid (video)

By Andrew Jones last updated

China's Tianwen 2 will attempt to collect asteroid samples, return them to Earth, and then head out to explore a strange, dusty comet.

Launches & Spacecraft
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