Spacecraft

It has been revealed today that planetary scientist Alan Stern will be among the first humans to be carried into space by Virgin Galactic's spaceplane, where he’ll take a hands-on approach to a pair of high-altitude experiments.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has passed a major milestone, completing its prelaunch environmental testing after being subjected to weeks of acoustic and sine-vibration tests to determine whether it can withstand the rigors of a rocket launch.

Flight controllers and station crew have isolated an air leak to the Russian-built Zvezda Service Module of the ISS, but have yet to pinpoint the breach ahead of the arrival of an uncrewed cargo spacecraft later this week.

Virgin Galactic has revealed the cabin interior design for the first of its SpaceshipTwo vehicles – the VSS Unity, which will allow would be astronauts and space enthusiasts explore the edge of space in style and comfort.

Virgin Galactic today completed the second successful glide test of its VSS Unity spaceplane since relocating there earlier in the year. It saw the spacecraft hit new speeds as the company presses ahead with its testing program at Spaceport America.

ESA’s Solar Orbiter is set to have a chance encounter with the tails of a disintegrating comet. The probe is currently en route to the inner solar system and has had instruments rushed through commissioning to be ready for the unexpected rendezvous.

This week Earth will be visited by a spacecraft that has traveled 1.4 billion km to get here. But no, it’s not aliens – it’s BepiColombo, just slingshotting around our planet for a gravitational speed boost on its roundabout journey to Mercury.

The radio antenna that acts as Earth’s sole transmitter to Voyager 2 will soon undergo important upgrades, so for the next 11 months we won’t be able to send commands to The Little Spacecraft That Could.

Virgin Galactic has come one step closer to full commercial operations as it relocates its SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity, from the company's manufacturing facility in Mojave, California, to its Spaceport America’s Gateway to Space building in New Mexico.

Preliminary results of an inquiry into the malfunctions that forced the CST-100 Starliner to return to Earth early on its first Orbital Flight Test indicate only intervention by ground control kept the unmanned capsule from being destroyed.

Voyager 2 has been going strong for over 40 years, but it’s beginning to show signs of its age. NASA is reporting that a fault has caused the spacecraft to lock itself down in safe mode, as engineers work to get it back up and running again.

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.