Robotic Spaceflight | Page 2 of 65 | Astronomy.com

An artist's illustration of two astronauts in white spacesuits working on the gray lunar surface beside a large cylindrical mobile habitat on wheels, with a smaller open surface vehicle to the right and equipment cases scattered between them, set against a black sky.

Human Spaceflight

How NASA plans to build a Moon Base

What's Launching This Week

SpaceX, China set for busy launch week

Today in the History of Astronomy

May 31, 1975: ESA begins operations

SpaceX's Starship rocket stands fully stacked on its launch mount at Boca Chica, Texas, with the towering mechazilla catch arm structure rising alongside it on the left. Thick white clouds of venting propellant or water vapor billow around the base and drift to the left, while a blue sky with scattered white clouds fills the background. A second launch structure is visible in the far left of the frame.

Space Exploration

FAA grounds SpaceX Starship after V3 debut

SpaceX's Starship rocket climbs away from its launch site shortly after liftoff, its white booster stage trailing a bright pink and white flame plume downward toward a coastal wetlands landscape below. A large billowing cloud of yellow-white exhaust smoke rises to the left of the vehicle, while winding waterways, sandy shores, and patches of green vegetation stretch across the terrain beneath a pale blue sky.

Space Exploration

What Starship Flight 12 means for SpaceX’s IPO

Robotic Spaceflight, Today in the History of Astronomy

May 20, 1990: Hubble’s first light

What's Launching This Week

SMILE to give Earth’s magnetosphere its first X-ray

What's Launching This Week

SpaceX’s most powerful Starship yet is cleared for launch

Robotic Spaceflight, Today in the History of Astronomy

May 9, 2003: Hayabusa launches

What's Launching This Week

SpaceX keeps the pace, China sends cargo to its space station

Robotic Spaceflight, Today in the History of Astronomy

April 29, 2003: BeppoSAX’s journey ends

Robotic Spaceflight, Today in the History of Astronomy

April 27, 2001: SOHO sees the farside of the Sun