#spaceflight

SpaceX has stacked and fueled its new 408-foot Starship Version 3, a launch candidate designed to push the program toward in-orbit refueling and operational lunar missions.

A commercial spacecraft built to save NASA’s aging Swift observatory has completed environmental testing, putting a high-risk orbital servicing mission on track as the telescope’s orbit continues to decay.

Following Artemis II’s successful splashdown, NASA engineers have started analyzing data from Orion, SLS, and related systems to inform future missions.

Blue Origin achieved its first reflight and landing of an orbital-class New Glenn booster, a major step for reusability, before an upper stage problem undercut the mission’s overall success.

Blue Origin achieved a major reusable-launch milestone with a second successful New Glenn booster landing, but the mission still fell short after AST SpaceMobile’s satellite was left in an unusably low orbit.

One week after splashdown, Artemis 2 is shifting from flight milestone to research engine, with scientists focusing on astronaut-derived tissue chips, standardized health data, and lessons from Orion’s first crewed deep-

NASA’s Artemis 2 mission is set to end with an Orion splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, bringing home the first crewed moon mission since Apollo 17.

As Artemis II closes out its 10-day mission, NASA’s Orion capsule is set to hit Earth’s atmosphere at more than 25,000 mph, with reentry and heat-shield performance now the mission’s most closely watched risk.

As the Artemis II astronauts head back toward Earth, they say the meaning of their lunar flyby has yet to fully register even after thousands of photographs and extensive observations in deep space.

NASA says Orion remains in good condition on its return from the moon, while scientists begin reviewing imagery and observations collected during the crewed lunar flyby.

NASA has released the first downlinked images from the Artemis II crew, including a photograph of Earth taken from Orion after the mission's translunar injection burn.

Artemis 2 astronaut Victor Glover says the moon mission should engage people who do not usually follow spaceflight, framing the program as a public-facing effort rather than a milestone exercise alone.

NASA astronaut Christina Koch says Artemis 2 is moving ahead with urgency as she prepares to become the first woman to travel beyond low Earth orbit on the mission’s round-the-moon flight.