Launch

A booster failure in early July threatened to derail Rocket Lab's momentum, but the company appears to have taken the setback in its stride with a successful return to the launchpad today that saw it deliver a 100-kg satellite into orbit.

SpaceX’s rocket landings have now become so routine that it’s easy to forget such a thing had never been accomplished five years ago. Today, it sent up and welcomed back the same refurbished Falcon 9 rocket for a record sixth time.

Rocket Lab experienced a notable hiccup in early July, when one of its Electron boosters was lost on its way to orbit, along with the seven satellites onboard. The company now claims to have pinpointed the source of the problem.

The United Arab Emirates has successfully launched its first interplanetary mission. This morning, Al Amal, or the Hope Probe, took off from Japan at 6:58 am Monday 20th July (local time), and is currently headed towards Mars.

NASA and ESA have announced that the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope has been delayed to October 2021. A recently-completed schedule risk assessment recommended the delay, due to challenges raised by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

A review team has concluded its investigation of NASA and Boeing’s failed Starliner launch last year. Some 80 recommendations for future missions were put forward across several categories. Both organizations also conducted internal investigations.

Rocket Lab has made some impressive gains lately as a relatively young space startup focused on launching small satellites to orbit, but the latest outing of its Electron booster hasn’t quite gone to plan, ending in the "safe loss" of the vehicle.

Virgin Orbit has come up short on its first attempt to reach orbit today after the mission was terminated soon after ignition of its LauncherOne rocket, with the team now working through the data and gearing up for its next attempt.

The US Space Force has delivered its first national security payload into orbit, with a satellite successfully lifting off atop a United Launch Alliance rocket today to complete a network of protected communications satellites for US armed forces.

SpaceX has successfully deployed 60 communication satellites to bolster the population of its Starlink megaconstellation. The launch saw the third landing of a Falcon 9 core stage, and the impressive catch of a fairing half as it fell to Earth.

Science stands still for no one, and with a new year comes a new calendar of exciting events in spaceflight and exploration. New Atlas rounds up some of the most important milestones to look forward to in 2020.

India's first lunar landing mission, Chandrayaan-2, lifted off at 2:43 pm IST on July 22 (July 21, 21:13 GMT) atop a GSLV MkIII-M1 rocket from the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Second Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota, India.