A private cargo spacecraft will leave the International Space Station (ISS) this morning (July 12), and you can watch the orbital action live. Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus vehicle is scheduled to undock from the ISS today at 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT), ending a 5.5-month orbital stay. You can watch it...

Joe Engle, the first astronaut to fly in space aboard two different winged vehicles, has died at the age of 91. Engle’s death on Wednesday (July 10) was announced in a note from his family shared publicly on Facebook. “Blessed with natural piloting skills, General Joe, as he was known to...

China is planning its first mission to impact an asteroid in the name of planetary defense. The mission will serve a dual purpose: One craft will impact the asteroid while its partner observes the space rock to learn more about the solar system and its formation. The China National Space...

Key Highlight Professor Sherif Sedky, CEO of the Egyptian Space Agency (EgSA), welcomed a delegation from Esri North Africa in the Republic of Chad at the agency’s headquarters. Professor Sherif Sedky, the Egyptian Space Agency (EgSA) ‘s chief executive officer (CEO), welcomed a delegation from the...

SpaceX plans to launch 20 more of its Starlink satellites on Thursday night (July 11), including 13 with direct-to-cell capabilities. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to lift off Thursday from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base, during a four-hour window...

SpaceX is gearing up for the fifth test flight of its Starship megarocket, which could take place in the next few weeks. The company just rolled Starship‘s giant first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, out to the launch pad at Starbase, its facility in coastal South Texas. SpaceX documented...

While NASA’s portion of the Mars Sample Return mission sits in budgetary limbo, the European Space Agency (ESA) continues to move forward with its piece of the Red Planet sampling puzzle: the Earth Return Orbiter (ERO). ERO will provide the crucial transport of Mars samples collected by...

SpaceX’s plans to launch its Starship–Super Heavy two-stage rocket 44 times per year from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida have come under fire from its two main rivals: United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. The Starship vehicle is the world’s...

Scientists may have solved a lingering mystery surrounding the ice giant Uranus and its weak radiation belts. It’s possible the belts’ weakness is linked to the planet’s curiously tilted and lopsided magnetic field; the field could be causing “traffic jams” for...