The first all-private astronaut team ever flown aboard the International Space Station (ISS) safely splashed down in the Atlantic off Florida’s coast on Monday, concluding a two-week science mission hailed as a landmark in commercialized human spaceflight. The SpaceX crew capsule carrying the four-man team, led by a retired NASA astronaut who is now vice…

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—SpaceX launched three rich businessmen and their astronaut escort to the International Space Station on Friday for more than a week’s stay, as NASA joins Russia in hosting guests at the world’s most expensive tourist destination. It’s SpaceX’s first private charter flight to the orbiting lab after two years of carrying astronauts there…

Russia’s space agency Roscosmos will halt its cooperation with international partners like NASA on the International Space Station (ISS), citing crippling sanctions designed to “kill” the Russian economy. Dmitry Rogozin, the chief of Roscosmos, made the announcement in a series of statements on Twitter, in which he said that collaboration on joint projects like the…

Russia’s space agency Roscosmos will halt its cooperation with international partners like NASA on the International Space Station (ISS), citing crippling sanctions designed to “kill” the Russian economy. Dmitry Rogozin, the chief of Roscosmos, made the announcement in a series of statements on Twitter, in which he said that collaboration on joint projects like the…

NASA will keep operating the International Space Station (ISS) until the end of 2030, after which it could be taken out of orbit in January 2031 and crashed into a remote part of the Pacific Ocean known as Point Nemo, officials have said. According to newly published plans (pdf) detailing the next decade of goals for ISS operations,…

TOKYO—“Space now,” was what Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa wanted to writer on Twitter for years. He finally really did it, from the International Space Station. “The space market holds so much potential,” he said Friday at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Tokyo, his first news conference in Japan after returning to earth before Christmas. Maezawa,…

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—SpaceX launched Christmas gifts, goodies, and supplies to the International Space Station on Tuesday and got a present in return: the company’s 100th successful rocket landing. The predawn liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center was barely visible in the fog and clouds, as the Falcon rocket hoisted a Dragon capsule loaded with more…

The Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) mission successfully launched Tuesday before sunrise at 5:19 a.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. LCRD is a technology demonstration that will pave the way for future optical communications missions. Future missions that decide to use optical communications could potentially use LCRD as their relay. One of…

Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk’s SpaceX has secured three more commercial crew flights to the International Space Station as part of its contract with NASA, the U.S. space agency said on Friday. The additional crew flights would allow the U.S. space agency NASA to maintain an uninterrupted human access to the space station every now…

MOSCOW—A Russian cargo craft carrying a new docking module successfully hooked up with the International Space Station Friday after a two-day space journey. The new spherical module, named Prichal (Pier), docked with the orbiting outpost at 6:19 p.m. Moscow time (1519 GMT). It has six docking ports and will allow potential future expansion of the…