SpaceX

The small satellite was to map lunar water, but operators lost contact with the spacecraft the day after launch and were unable to recover the mission. NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer ended its mission to the Moon on July 31. Despite extensive efforts, mission operators were unable to establish two-way communications after losing contact with the spacecraft the day following its Feb. 26 launch. The mission aimed to produce high-resolution maps of water on the Moon’s surface and determine what form the water is in, how much is there, and how it changes over time. The maps would have supported future robotic and human exploration of the Moon as well as commercial interests while also contributing to the understanding of water cycles on airless bodies throughout the solar system. Lunar Trailblazer ...

File: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now Update Aug. 4, 4:30 a.m. EDT: SpaceX landed its first stage booster on its droneship. SpaceX passed another milestone in rocket reuse when it launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the overnight hours of Monday, Aug. 4. The mission, dubbed Starlink 10-30, features the company’s 450th launch of a flight-proven booster. That stat is a combination of both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. SpaceX first reused a Falcon booster with the launch of the SES-10 satellite on March 30, 2017, using the first-stage booster with the tail number 1021. That booster first flew on SpaceX’s eighth Commercial Resupply Services mis...

Four crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission launched at 11:43 a.m. EDT Friday from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a science expedition aboard the International Space Station. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket propelled the Dragon spacecraft into orbit carrying NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. The spacecraft will dock autonomously to the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module at approximately 3 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 2. “Thanks to the bold leadership of President Donald J. Trump, NASA is back! The agency’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the space station is the first step toward our permanent presence on the Moon. NASA, in conjuncti...

Falcon 9 carrying Crew Dragon Endeavour, dodged storm clouds to launch a new crew to the International Space Station on Aug. 1, 2025. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now. Weather threatened to delay the Crew-11 mission for a second time, but the launch team was able to “thread the clouds” and a four-person crew lifted off on a journey to the International Space Station. Nine Merlin engines roared to life at 11:43 a.m. EDT (1543 UTC) and the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sped away through the cloudy skies above Florida’s Space Coast. Less than 10 minutes after liftoff, the Crew Dragon spacecraft, named ‘Endeavour’, flew free from the rocket’s second stage. “I have no emotions, but joy right now. That was absolutely transcendent, the ride of a lifetime,” said NASA astronaut and Crew-11 commander ...

NASA has released a new proposal opportunity for industry to tap into agency know-how, resources, and expertise. The Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity (ACO), managed by the Space Technology Mission Directorate, enables valuable collaboration without financial exchanges between NASA and industry partners. Instead, companies leverage NASA subject matter experts, facilities, software, and hardware to accelerate their technologies and prepare them for future commercial and government use.  On Wednesday, NASA issued a standing ACO announcement for partnership proposals which will be available for five years and will serve as the umbrella opportunity for topic-specific appendix releases. NASA intends to issue appendices every six to 12 months to address evolving space technology needs. ...