Latest

NASA Greenlights Support for ESA's Rosalind Franklin Mars Rover, Falcon Heavy Launch Set for 2028 Starship Super Heavy Ignites All 33 Raptor 3 Engines in Ground Test Blue Origin's New Glenn Completes Hot Fire Ahead of Third Mission, Featuring Reused Booster and Upgraded Engines Cygnus NG-24 Lifts Off Aboard Falcon 9, Bound for the International Space Station Artemis II: A Complete Mission Review Artemis II Launches: Humanity Returns to Deep Space For the First Time in a Generation, Humans Are Heading Beyond Earth Orbit NASA Refocuses Artemis Around Sustained Lunar Operations NASA Greenlights Support for ESA's Rosalind Franklin Mars Rover, Falcon Heavy Launch Set for 2028 Starship Super Heavy Ignites All 33 Raptor 3 Engines in Ground Test Blue Origin's New Glenn Completes Hot Fire Ahead of Third Mission, Featuring Reused Booster and Upgraded Engines Cygnus NG-24 Lifts Off Aboard Falcon 9, Bound for the International Space Station Artemis II: A Complete Mission Review Artemis II Launches: Humanity Returns to Deep Space For the First Time in a Generation, Humans Are Heading Beyond Earth Orbit NASA Refocuses Artemis Around Sustained Lunar Operations

Featured Story

Artemis II: A Complete Mission Review

From rollout to splashdown, a full account of NASA's first crewed lunar mission in more than 50 years — the rocket, spacecraft, crew, launch, lunar flyby, eclipse, reentry, and recovery.

Ryan Bale

·April 10, 2026·20 min read

Read Full Story

NASA Greenlights Support for ESA's Rosalind Franklin Mars Rover, Falcon Heavy Launch Set for 2028

April 17, 2026

Starship Super Heavy Ignites All 33 Raptor 3 Engines in Ground Test

April 17, 2026

Blue Origin's New Glenn Completes Hot Fire Ahead of Third Mission, Featuring Reused Booster and Upgraded Engines

April 16, 2026

Scroll

Latest Coverage

View All

NASA Greenlights Support for ESA's Rosalind Franklin Mars Rover, Falcon Heavy Launch Set for 2028

NASA has officially approved its support for the European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosalind Franklin Mars rover mission, slated for launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in late 2028. This renewed collaboration will see the advanced rover search for signs of past or present life by drilling deeper into the Martian subsurf

Ryan BaleApr 17, 20263 min

Starship Super Heavy Ignites All 33 Raptor 3 Engines in Ground Test

Apr 17, 2026 · 2 min read

Blue Origin's New Glenn Completes Hot Fire Ahead of Third Mission, Featuring Reused Booster and Upgraded Engines

Apr 16, 2026 · 3 min read

Cygnus NG-24 Lifts Off Aboard Falcon 9, Bound for the International Space Station

A SpaceX Falcon 9 carried Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft to orbit Saturday morning, beginning a two-day journey to the ISS. Named for Space Shuttle veteran Steven R. Nagel, the S.S. Steven R. Nagel is delivering approximately 11,000 pounds of supplies and science hardware, including a new upgrade module for NASA's Cold Atom Laboratory.

Ryan BaleApr 11, 20265 min

Featured

Artemis II: A Complete Mission Review

From rollout to splashdown, a full account of NASA's first crewed lunar mission in more than 50 years — the rocket, spacecraft, crew, launch, lunar flyby, eclipse, reentry, and recovery.

Ryan BaleApr 10, 202620 min

Featured

Artemis II Launches: Humanity Returns to Deep Space

On April 1, 2026, NASA’s Space Launch System roared to life at Kennedy Space Center, sending four astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit for the first time in more than half a century. Liftoff occurred at 6:35p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 39B, marking a defining moment in the Artemis program and a return to human exploration of the Moon.Crew Walkout: A Historic DepartureHours before launch, the Artemis II crew emerged from the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building in a moment reminiscent

Ryan BaleApr 2, 20263 min

Upcoming Launches

Full Schedule

Long March 2D

Next Launch

GOLong March 2D

Long March 2D | Unknown Payload

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation·Long March 2D

Launch Area 94 (SLS-2 / 603), Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Details TBD.

Launch Time

Local Pad · Fri, Apr 17 · 12:10 PM GMT+8 // 04:10 UTC

Launch Window

Window not open

Open

12:02 PM GMT+8

Target

12:10 PM GMT+8

12:24 PM GMT+8

Estimated GO

100%

Hourly forecast: clear · precip 0% · clouds 0% · wind 10 mph · gusts 15 mph · vis 24.1 km

As of 2026-04-17 · Source

Live Countdown

Mission Clock

--:--

View Mission Details

Falcon 9 Block 5

Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 17-22

SpaceX·Falcon 9 Block 5

Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg SFB, CA

Local Pad · Sat, Apr 18 · 7:00 AM PDT // 14:00 UTC

--:--

Launch Window

Window not open

Open

7:00 AM PDT

Target

7:00 AM PDT

11:00 AM PDT

New Glenn

New Glenn | BlueBird Block 2 #2

Blue Origin·New Glenn

Launch Complex 36A, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL

Local Pad · Sun, Apr 19 · 6:45 AM EDT // 10:45 UTC

--:--

Launch Window

Window not open

Open

6:45 AM EDT

Target

6:45 AM EDT

8:45 AM EDT

Falcon 9 Block 5

Falcon 9 Block 5 | GPS III SV10

SpaceX·Falcon 9 Block 5

Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL

Local Pad · Mon, Apr 20 · 2:57 AM EDT // 06:57 UTC

--:--

Launch Window

Window not open

Open

2:57 AM EDT

Target

2:57 AM EDT

3:12 AM EDT

Electron

HASTE | Bubbles

Rocket Lab·Electron

Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 (Launch Area 0 C), Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia

Local Pad · Tue, Apr 21 · 8:00 PM EDT // 00:00 UTC

--:--

Launch Window

Window not open

Open

8:00 PM EDT

Target

8:00 PM EDT

1:00 AM EDT

View All Upcoming Launches

Photo Gallery

Original aerospace photography by Ryan Bale

View All Photos

Featured

533A1156

533A1221

IMG 8637

IMG 8651

533A6593

Explore Full Gallery

Free Newsletter

Never Miss a Launch

Get original reporting, photography, and launch alerts delivered directly to your inbox. No spam — just aerospace journalism done right.

Join thousands of aerospace enthusiasts. Unsubscribe anytime.

Independent Journalism

Original Reporting. Original Photography.

Spaceflight News is an independent aerospace journalism platform dedicated to original launch coverage, mission reporting, and professional launch photography — by a reporter who is actually on the pad.

About Spaceflight News