WASHINGTON — A radar antenna on a European mission to Jupiter has yet to fully deploy after launch, although project officials say they still have plenty of options to fix the problem.

TAMPA, Fla. — SpaceX launched the Americas-focused ViaSat-3 broadband satellite on a Falcon Heavy rocket April 30 following delays partly caused by severe weather that included lightning and tornado warnings.

The vast, swirling ocean within Jupiter’s moon Europa may be affecting the rotation of its icy crust, scientists say.

The newfound asteroid 2023 FW13 circles the sun in sync with Earth, making it our planet’s “quasi-moon.” The space rock is in an orbit so elaborate that “it sweeps out halfway to Mars and in halfway to Venus,” Sky & Telescope’s David Chandler reported (opens in new tab) Friday (April 7).

WASHINGTON — SpaceX offered its strongest signals yet that it is nearing the first full-scale launch of its Starship vehicle, now expected for later this month.

WASHINGTON — Thule Air Base, a U.S. military installation in Greenland where Space Force units conduct missile warning operations, has been renamed Pituffik Space Base. 

TAMPA, Fla. — A second pair of O3b mPower satellites for upgrading SES’ medium Earth orbit (MEO) broadband network are due to arrive at their SpaceX launchpad in Florida this week, Boeing announced April 11.

WASHINGTON — A new report recommends that current restrictions on the Federal Aviation Administration’s ability to regulate safety for people flying on commercial spacecraft be allowed to expire later this year.

WASHINGTON — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is once again requesting a significant budget increase for future weather satellite programs after Congress cut its funding request for 2023.

WASHINGTON — Virgin Orbit is proposing a rapid sale of the company or its assets in bankruptcy, hoping to conclude the process before the end of May.

The first-ever 3D-printed rocket is being retired after a single flight. That vehicle, Relativity Space’s Terran 1, launched on its debut test flight on March 22. The rocket performed well initially, surviving Max-Q, the part of flight during which the structural loads are highest on a vehicle. But something went wrong shortly after the Terran 1’s two stages separated, and the rocket failed to reach orbit.

The Starship vehicle lifted off from SpaceX’s Starbase test site at Boca Chica, Texas, at 9:33 a.m. Eastern. The liftoff took place after a brief hold at T-40 seconds to clear final issues pressuring the rocket’s propellant tanks.

Japan’s Hakuto-R spacecraft is preparing to make a historic lunar landing attempt on April 25.

“Satellite and orbital debris rules” will be one of the primary responsibilities of the newly created Space Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The regulator announced (opens in new tab) the new bureau on Tuesday (April 11).

Even after Europe’s Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE) concludes its mission more than ten years from now, we are unlikely to know for sure whether life might be thriving in the vicinity of the solar system’s largest planet.

HELSINKI — China has selected near-Earth object 2019 VL5 for a combined asteroid deflection and observation test to launch 2025.