Stay updated with the latest events in spaceflight.
Launched nearly 50 years ago in 1977, NASA’s Voyager 1 on Wednesday, Nov. 18 will have traveled one light-day from Earth, which is more than 16 billion miles (25.9 billion kilometers). Voyager 1 is the most distant human-made object, and any light from Earth would take 24 hours to reach the spacecraft. NASA will highlight […]
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NASA will welcome home the Expedition 74 crew during a public event at Space Center Houston following their return from a long-duration mission aboard the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, and Chris Williams; ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot; and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud‑Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev will share mission […]
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"NASA advised that Vast’s submission in some locations substituted 'the PAM Provider' for Axiom"
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The LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) observatory, now in development, will detect gravitational waves, the tiny ripples in space-time caused by orbiting masses. Now two studies led by NASA astrophysicists show in new detail how LISA could reveal a new and unique population of exoplanets — worlds beyond our solar system — throughout our galaxy. […]
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The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is preparing to purchase 80 Red Kite solid rocket motors from German defence company Bayern-Chemie to support future sounding rocket missions. According to a procurement notice published on 2 November, DLR plans to acquire 80 ITAR-free solid-fuel rocket motors for the agency’s Mobile Rocket Base (MORABA) team, which conducts sounding […] The post DLR to Purchase 80 Red Kite Sounding Rocket Motors appeared first on European Spaceflight.
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The Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) Mission 2 crew arranged photos around a boot print in the simulated Martian sand outside their habitat on Aug. 31, 2026. The crew recently exited their habitat on Saturday, Oct. 31, after 378 days of isolation in a facility at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Health […]
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Orbital Insertion
Orbital insertion around Mercury of the ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission.
Flyby
Solar Orbiter, a partnership between ESA and NASA, will perform a gravity assist maneuver with Venus on December 24, 2026. Throughout its mission it also makes repeated gravity assist flybys of Venus to get closer to the Sun, and to change its orbital inclination, boosting it out of the ecliptic plane, to get the best – and first – views of the Sun’s poles.
Flyby
NASA’s Europa Clipper will fly by Earth for a second and final gravity assist on its way to Jupiter.
Founded: 1998-11-20
The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station, or a habitable artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit. Its first component was launched into orbit in 1998, with the first long-term residents arriving in November 2000. It has been inhabited continuously since that date. The last pressurised module was fitted in 2011, and an experimental inflatable space habitat was added in 2016. The station is expected to operate until 2030. Development and assembly of the station continues, with several new elements scheduled for launch in 2019. The ISS is the largest human-made body in low Earth orbit and can often be seen with the naked eye from Earth. The ISS consists of pressurised habitation modules, structural trusses, solar arrays, radiators, docking ports, experiment bays and robotic arms. ISS components have been launched by Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets, and American Space Shuttles.
Founded: 1986-02-20
Mir was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. Mir was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996. The station served as a microgravity research laboratory in which crews conducted experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology and spacecraft systems with a goal of developing technologies required for permanent occupation of space.
Founded: 1973-05-14
Skylab was a United States space station launched and operated by NASA, and occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974 – the only space station the U.S. has operated exclusively. In 1979 it fell back to Earth amid huge worldwide media attention. Skylab included a workshop, a solar observatory, and other systems necessary for crew survival and scientific experiments. It was launched unmanned by a modified Saturn V rocket, with a weight of 170,000 pounds (77,000 kg). Lifting Skylab into low earth orbit was the final mission and launch of a Saturn V rocket (famous for carrying the manned Moon landing missions). Three missions delivered three-astronaut crews in the Apollo command and service module (Apollo CSM), launched by the smaller Saturn IB rocket. For the final two manned missions to Skylab, a backup Apollo CSM/Saturn IB was assembled and made ready in case an in-orbit rescue mission was needed, but this backup vehicle was never flown.