Space

Space startup partners with SpaceX to launch commercial space station

By Joey Roulette WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reuters) - Vast, a startup backed by cryptocurrency billionaire Jed McCaleb, is aiming to launch a school bus-sized space station to orbit by late…

Read More Here

Mystery Chinese spacecraft returns to Earth after 276 days

BEIJING, May 8 (Reuters) - An experimental Chinese spacecraft returned to Earth on Monday after staying in orbit for 276 days, China's state media reported, completing a landmark mission to…

Read More Here

Japan’s ispace says bid to make first commercial moon landing failed

By Kantaro Komiya and Joey Roulette April 26 (Reuters) - Japanese startup ispace inc 9348.T said its attempt to make the first private moon landing had failed after losing contact…

Read More Here

Elon Musk’s SpaceX postpones debut flight of Starship rocket system

Elon Musk's SpaceX ha scalled off a highly anticipated launch of its powerful new Starship rocket, delaying the first uncrewed test flight of the vehicle into space. The two-stage rocketship,…

Read More Here

UPDATED: Lift off of ESA Jupiter mission postponed

The European Space Agency (Esa) posponed the a satellite to the planet Jupiter, one of the organisation's most ambitious missions ever. The satellite was to leave Earth on Thursday on…

Read More Here

Five planets to stage rare alignment

Five planets will stage a rare spectacular event in the night sky by lining up together starting March 27. The show is best seen at sunset. The planets are Jupiter,…

Read More Here

WATCH: Japan’s new rocket fails after engine issue, in blow to space ambitions

Japan's new medium-lift rocket failed on its debut flight in space on Tuesday after the launcher's second-stage engine did not ignite as planned, in a blow to its efforts to…

Read More Here

Astronomers target dark side of the Moon in search for alien life

Telescopes placed on the dark side of the Moon could pick up the first signs of intelligent alien life, and peer back in time to view the universe before even…

Read More Here

Newly discovered green comet comes close to Earth

A newly discovered comet will make its closest approach to our planet on Wednesday. Astronomers say the object's journey toward us took around 50,000 years. Photographs captured by astronomers show…

Read More Here

EU inaugurates first mainland satellite launch port

The European Union wants to bolster its capacity to launch small satellites into space with a new launchpad in Arctic Sweden. European officials and Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf inaugurated the EU’s first mainland…

Read More Here

Britain’s groundbreaking satellite launch ends in failure

Britain's attempt to become the first European nation to launch satellites into space ended in bitter disappointment early on Tuesday when Virgin Orbit said its rocket had suffered an anomaly that…

Read More Here

Unexplained leak from docked Soyuz spacecraft cancels Russian ISS spacewalk

By Steve Gorman (Reuters) - A routine spacewalk by two Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) was called off as it was about to begin after flight controllers…

Read More Here

Divers find Challenger space shuttle wreckage off Florida coast

Nov 10 (Reuters) - Divers from a documentary crew looking for the wreckage of a World War Two aircraft off the coast of Florida found a 20-foot section of the…

Read More Here

Richard Branson must face lawsuit in U.S. over Virgin Galactic space travel problems

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday said British billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson must face shareholder claims he concealed problems in Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc's spaceship program, and…

Read More Here

Asteroid’s path altered in NASA’s first test of planetary defense system

(Reuters) - The spacecraft NASA deliberately crashed into an asteroid last month succeeded in nudging the rocky moonlet from its natural path into a faster orbit, marking the first time…

Read More Here

Japanese space mission shows Earth’s water may be from asteroids

Water may have been brought to Earth by asteroids from the outer edges of the solar system, scientists said after analysing rare samples collected on a six-year Japanese space mission.…

Read More Here

Chinese rocket falls to Earth, NASA says Beijing did not share information

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Chinese rocket fell back to Earth on Saturday over the Indian Ocean but NASA said Beijing had not shared the "specific trajectory information" needed to know…

Read More Here

Fears over Chinese rocket debris falling to Earth, EASA predicts southern European most at risk

The remnants of a massive Chinese rocket are expected to fall to Earth on Saturday and may affect Maltese airspace, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency has warned. EU space…

Read More Here

Russia tells NASA space station pullout less imminent than indicated earlier

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - Russian space officials have informed U.S. counterparts that Moscow would like to keep flying its cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) until their own orbital outpost is built…

Read More Here

Russia has not signaled space station withdrawal to NASA, U.S. official says

Russia's new space chief on Tuesday signaled his country's intent to withdraw from the International Space Station after 2024, but a senior NASA official told Reuters Moscow has not communicated…

Read More Here

China begins construction on radar system against near-Earth asteroid impact

China has recently begun constructing a new deep-space active observation facility in the Southwestern city of Chongqing, in order to boost its defence capability against near-Earth asteroids, the Global Times…

Read More Here

WATCH: First all-private astronaut team aboard space station heads for splashdown

The first all-private astronaut crew to fly aboard the International Space Station (ISS) headed for splashdown Monday off the coast of Florida, wrapping up a two-week mission that NASA has…

Read More Here

EU lays out $6.8 billion satellite communication plan in space race

The European Commission on Tuesday set out a 6 billion-euro ($6.8 billion) satellite communications plan, part of a push to cut the European Union's dependence on foreign companies and protect key communications…

Read More Here

International Space Station swerves to dodge space junk

MOSCOW, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The International Space Station performed a manoeuvre on Friday to temporarily swerve away from a fragment of a U.S. launch vehicle, the head of Russia's…

Read More Here

Citing debris risk, NASA delays spacewalk to fix space station antenna

A spacewalk planned for Tuesday to repair a faulty antenna on the International Space Station was postponed indefinitely, NASA said, citing a "debris notification" it received for the orbiting research laboratory. Two U.S.…

Read More Here

NASA launches test mission of asteroid-deflecting spacecraft

A spacecraft that must ultimately crash to succeed was launched late on Tuesday from California on a NASA mission to demonstrate the world's first planetary defense system, designed to deflect…

Read More Here

VIDEO: SpaceX crew splashes down after return from International Space Station

Four astronauts strapped inside a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule splashed down safely in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast on Monday, capping a six-month NASA science mission aboard the International…

Read More Here

South Korea’s Moon vows ‘Korea space age’ after rocket test falters

GOHEUNG, South Korea, Oct 21 (Reuters) - South Korea's first domestically built space rocket blasted off on Thursday, but failed to fully place a dummy satellite into orbit, delivering mixed…

Read More Here

Russian filmmakers land after shoot aboard space station

A Soyuz space capsule carrying a cosmonaut and two Russian filmmakers has landed after a 3 1/2-hour trip from the International Space Station. The capsule, descending under a red-and-white striped…

Read More Here

China launches second crewed mission to build space station

JIUQUAN, China, Oct 16 (Reuters) - China on Saturday launched a rocket carrying three astronauts - two men and one woman - to the core module of a future space…

Read More Here

UK’s Prince William says great minds should focus on saving Earth not space travel

Britain's Prince William has taken a thinly veiled swipe at the billionaires embroiled in a space tourism race, saying the world's greatest brains should instead be focused on solving the…

Read More Here

Launching into space? Not so fast. Insurers balk at new coverage

An ever-swelling amount of space debris is threatening satellites that hover around Earth, making insurers leery of offering coverage to the devices that transmit texts, maps, videos and scientific data,…

Read More Here

Slight chance of asteroid Bennu hitting Earth: NASA

An asteroid known as Bennu will pass within half the distance of the Earth to the Moon in the year 2135 but the probability of an impact with our planet…

Read More Here

Photo Story: The first Arab female astronaut Nora Al Matrooshi

Emirati astronaut Nora Al Matrooshi talks during an interview with EFE at Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in the Gulf emirate of Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. The 28-year-old…

Read More Here

Russia blames software glitch after space station briefly thrown out of control

A software glitch, and possible lapse in human attention, were to blame for throwing the International Space Station out of control, but work was proceeding to activate a newly attached…

Read More Here

Jeff Bezos, world’s richest man, carries out inaugural space voyage

Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man, and three crewmates soared high above the Texas desert aboard his space venture Blue Origin's New Shepard launch vehicle on Tuesday and returned to Earth,…

Read More Here

Galactic fireworks: new ESO images reveal stunning features of nearby galaxies

A handout photo made available by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) shows the nearby galaxy NGC 4254 taken with the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT).…

Read More Here

SpaceX’s Starlink expects it can provide global coverage around September

Starlink, the satellite internet unit of Elon Musk's SpaceX, expects to be able to provide continuous global coverage by around September but will then need to seek regulatory approvals, its…

Read More Here

Bid of $28 million wins a rocket trip to space with Bezos

A seat on a spaceship ride with billionaire Jeff Bezos went for $28 million during a live auction on Saturday, concluding the month-long bidding process for the sightseeing trip on…

Read More Here

Photo Story – Malta from Space as probably never seen before

The Space Shuttle Atlantis on the Mediterranean Sea with Sicily and the island of Malta in plain sight. The photo is taken from the International Space Station (ISS). The image…

Read More Here

UPDATED: China says Martian rover takes first drive on surface of Red Planet

China says Martian rover takes first drive on surface of Red Planet A remote-controlled Chinese motorised rover drove down the ramp of its landing capsule on Saturday and onto the…

Read More Here

Chinese rocket debris lands off the Maldives, in Indian Ocean

Remnants of China's biggest rocket landed in the Indian Ocean on Sunday, with most of its components destroyed upon re-entry into the atmosphere, ending days of speculation over where the debris would hit but drawing U.S. criticism over lack…

Read More Here

UPDATED: China says its rocket debris unlikely to cause any harm

Most debris from a large Chinese rocket expected to plunge back through the atmosphere this weekend will be burned up on reentry and is highly unlikely to cause any harm,…

Read More Here

Blue Origin opens up bidding for first ‘spectacular’ space tourism trip in July

Blue Origin, billionaire Jeff Bezos' rocket company, said it is targeting July 20 for its first suborbital sightseeing trip on its New Shepard spacecraft, a landmark moment in a competition…

Read More Here

U.S. tracking China rocket debris heading to Earth

Remnants of a large Chinese rocket launched last week are expected to plunge back through the atmosphere this weekend in an uncontrolled re-entry being tracked by U.S. Space Command, the…

Read More Here

Space entrepreneur Max Polyakov acquires South Africa’s Dragonfly satellite maker

Max Polyakov, an ultra-wealthy entrepreneur with ambitions of building a space transportation empire, has acquired South African satellite maker Dragonfly Aerospace, he told Reuters. The deal gives Polyakov an anchorpoint in the booming…

Read More Here

Astronauts arrive at International Space Station

(Reuters) - A four-astronaut team arrived at the International Space Station on Saturday aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule Endeavour, NASA said, after becoming the first crew ever to be…

Read More Here

Sperm bank on the moon necessary to keep world going – scientists claim

Newscom AU - The Australian news portal and American website New York Post report that scientists have begun to lay plans for repopulation, starting with a sperm bank — on…

Read More Here

Russia, China agree to build lunar station together

Russia has signed a memorandum of understanding with China to construct a joint lunar space station, the national space agency, Roscosmos, announced. The station is envisioned as a "complex of experimental…

Read More Here

UAE’s Hope Probe enters orbit in first Arab Mars mission

DUBAI, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates' first mission to Mars reached the red planet and entered orbit on Tuesday after a seven-month, 494 million-km (307 million-mile) journey,…

Read More Here

Russia successfully test launches heavy lift space rocket after long hiatus

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Monday successfully test launched its heavy lift Angara A5 space rocket after a six-year hiatus in a project President Vladimir Putin describes as having huge…

Read More Here

China moon probe begins journey back to Earth

(Reuters) - A Chinese spacecraft carrying rocks and soil from the moon has begun its journey back to Earth, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday, putting China on…

Read More Here

Capsule with clues about solar system’s origins tumbles towards Earth

A spacecraft has sent a capsule tumbling towards earth, carrying samples from an asteroid that could contain clues to the origin of the solar system, Japan's space agency has said.…

Read More Here

China sets launch window for mission to moon

China plans to launch an unmanned spacecraft to the moon between 4 am and 5 am Beijing time on Tuesday (2000-2100 GMT on Monday), the official Xinhua news agency said,…

Read More Here

China to launch moon probe, seeking first lunar rock retrieval since 1970s

China plans to launch an unmanned spacecraft to the moon this week to bring back lunar rocks in the first attempt by any nation to retrieve samples from Earth's natural…

Read More Here

SpaceX Dragon capsule docks with the International Space Station

Four astronauts riding a newly designed spacecraft from Elon Musk's SpaceX docked with the International Space Station Monday night, in the first crewed mission on a privately built space capsule purchased by…

Read More Here

Astronomers discover most inhospitable planet ever

Astronomers have discovered the most inhospitable planet ever that rains rocks, with 60 mile deep lava seas and winds of more than 3,000 mph. The Earth size planet has winds…

Read More Here