SpaceX

The X-37B on the runway at Vandenberg Space Force Base following its landing there on March 7, 2025. Image: U.S. Space Force. Update Aug. 20, 12:56 p.m. EDT: Added additional information from the 45th Weather Squadron. The U.S. Space Force and SpaceX are preparing to launch the Boeing-built X-37B spaceplane on its eighth mission shortly before midnight on Thursday. The winged spacecraft, flying under the mission names USSF-36 and Orbital Test Vehicle 8 (OTV-8), will launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 11:50 p.m. EDT (0350 UTC). The X-37B will be operated by the Fifth Space Operations Squadron, part of USSF Delta 9, alongside the U.S. Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office (USAF RCO). Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about an hour prior...

A series of biology experiments, called BioNutrients, is testing ways to use microorganisms to produce nutrients – off Earth and on demand – that will be critical for human health in space. Editor’s note: This article was updated on Aug. 19, 2025, to clarify which BioNutrients experiments in the series are completed and adds new information about the upcoming experiment, BioNutrients-3. In the future, NASA’s long-duration human exploration missions to the Moon and Mars will require minimizing the amounts of supplies launched, increasing reuse and recycling, and using local resources to make crucial products for crew during spaceflight. Certain supplies, such as vitamins, have a limited shelf life and are most effective freshly made. To meet these needs, NASA is developing technologies to ...

NASA and SpaceX are targeting 2:45 a.m. EDT, Sunday, Aug. 24, for the next launch to deliver science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. This is the 33rd SpaceX commercial resupply services mission to the orbital laboratory for NASA. Filled with more than 5,000 pounds of supplies, a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket will lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Dragon will dock autonomously about 7:30 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 25, to the forward port of the space station’s Harmony module. Watch agency launch and arrival coverage on NASA+, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and more. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media. In addition to food, supplies, and equi...

Media accreditation is open for the next launch to deliver NASA science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. A Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft will launch to the orbital laboratory on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for NASA. The mission is known as NASA’s Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services 23, or Northrop Grumman CRS-23. Liftoff is targeted for mid-September from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Following launch, astronauts aboard the space station will use the Canadarm2 to grapple Cygnus, and the spacecraft will be installed robotically to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port for cargo unloading. The spacecraft will remain at the space station for more than two months. Credentialing to cover prelaunch...

SpaceX’s Ship 37 performs a static fire test with all six of its Raptor engines as part of prelaunch testing ahead of the Flight 10 mission for the Starship program. Image: SpaceX SpaceX is once again gearing up for a launch of its massive Starship rocket from southern Texas. On Friday, it announced plans for the tenth flight of the fully integrated, two-stage rocket as soon as Sunday, Aug. 24, from its headquarters in Starbase. The test flight of the towering rocket is tentatively scheduled during an hour-long window that opens at 6:30 p.m. CDT (7:30 p.m. EDT / 2330 UTC). It comes three months after the previous test flight experienced multiple issues and two months after a test stand explosion destroyed the ship originally intended to fly this mission. This tenth test flight of the fully...