Launch Vehicles & Propulsion

SpaceX’s Starship booster “catch” at the launchpad wowed the space world, but big hurdles remain to launching humans to Mars in 2028.

China has sent its Shenzhou-19 astronauts into space, with the Long March-2F Y19 carrier rocket lifting off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Oct. 30.

From project financing to launcher and exploration initiatives, the region is devising an agenda to stay in the global space race.

NASA's Crew-8 astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeannette Epps and their Russian cosmonaut colleague Alexander Grebenkin splashed down safely.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is considering changes in its payment structure to ease the financial burden European space companies have been experiencing.

The launch took place from the company’s Launch Site One near Van Horn, East Texas.

The EU's first commissioner for defense and space wants closer alignment between the two activities, and has also signaled a willingness to shake up Europe’s approach to launchers.

SpaceX is receiving $733.6 million for the two launches.

Landing of the Starship upper stage is targeted for early 2025.

The study is part of a technology demonstration project known as Megawatt funded to JAXA by Japan’s Ministry of Education.

The two companies said the first of three launches is due to take place next year.

The flight, which will take place from Rocket Lab’s Mahia, New Zealand Launch Complex, will be the 12th Electron mission of the year.

A SpaceX Super Heavy booster flew itself back to its Boca Chica Beach, Texas, launchpad where it was caught by a pair of mechanical arms on the gantry.

Arianespace says the VV25 mission will see Vega-C loft the Sentinel-1C satellite, the sixth in the European Copernicus Earth observation program.

The Norwegian government has unveiled plans to expand rocket motor and other production capacities to meet its own demand as well as that of Ukraine and allies.

PLD Space’s ambitious vision injects a sense of entrepreneurial spirit into Europe’s space programs as the region worries about its global competitiveness.

With a second successful flight, United Launch Alliance’s new rocket is ready to take on military and commercial missions.

The European Space Agency plans to land two cubesats on a remote asteroid as it seeks to gather more data to inform its planetary defense mission.

The Vulcan Centaur rocket's only post-launch issue was a "variant observation" in one of the first stage's two solid rocket boosters, ULA says.

Sweden’s armed forces can begin developing space capabilities after the country’s government allocated SEK1 billion ($100 million) to the plans.

U.S. Space Command pushes for a faster pace to field maneuverable spacecraft to counter on-orbit threats.

ESA says the motor was successfully fired for a second time on Oct. 3, following a first test in May.

ULA is preparing for the second flight of its new Vulcan-Centaur rocket, a mission needed to complete certification ahead of service for the U.S. military.

The mission is intended to complete certification of the two-stage rocket by the U.S. Space Force for national security missions beginning by year’s end.

ESA is still optimistic its Hera mission to survey the Dimorphos asteroid will launch Oct. 7 despite a technical glitch with a SpaceX Falcon 9 during a recent flight.