TOKYO (AP) — A rocket touted as Japan’s first from the private sector to go into orbit exploded shortly after takeoff Wednesday, livestreamed video showed. Online video showed the rocket called Kairos blasting off from Wakayama Prefecture, in central Japan, a mountainous area filled with trees, but exploding midair within seconds. A huge plume of […]
Lighting up the deep overnight sky, a Falcon 9 rocket thundered away from Florida early Thursday, boosting a commercially built robotic lander on a flight to the moon. If successful, it will become the first American spacecraft to reach the lunar surface in more than 50 years. It was SpaceX’s second flight in less than […]
After months of training and detailed planning, the most international crew yet to visit the International Space Station was cleared to blast off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Thursday to kick off a two-week research mission, the third fully commercial flight to the orbital outpost. With retired NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría and Italian co-pilot […]