Venus Express enters orbit
Posted: Tue, Apr 11 6:24 PM ET (2224 GMT)
Venus Express, ESA's first mission to the planet Venus, entered orbit around the cloud-enshrouded world Tuesday. The spacecraft, launched in November 2005, fired...

NASA to send impactor probe to the Moon
Posted: Mon, Apr 10 8:45 PM ET (0045 GMT)
NASA will fly a small spacecraft designed to crash into the lunar surface in search of water ice, the space agency revealed Monday. The Lunar...

Ariane to launch Superbird 7
Posted: Mon, Apr 10 8:24 PM ET (0024 GMT)
Arianespace has won a contract to launch a Japanese communications satellite in 2008, the launch services company announced Monday. An Ariane 5 will launch the...

Soyuz returns to Earth
Posted: Sat, Apr 8 10:36 PM ET (0236 GMT)
A Soyuz spacecraft carrying three astronauts from the International Space Station safely landed in Kazakhstan early Sunday. The Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft undocked from the...

Processing error doomed Falcon 1 launch
Posted: Fri, Apr 7 8:38 AM ET (1238 GMT)
A procedural error during launch preparations, not a design flaw, is the likely cause of the loss of a Falcon 1 rocket on its maiden...

Spitzer sees protoplanetary disk around dead star
Posted: Thu, Apr 6 8:31 AM ET (1231 GMT)
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has detected potential evidence of planets forming around a supernova remnant, which may indicate that planet formation processes are "universal"....

Thales to buy Alcatel satellite unit
Posted: Wed, Apr 5 8:05 PM ET (0005 GMT)
French defense electronics company Thales has agreed to purchase the satellite manufacturing division of Alcatel, the two companies announced Wednesday. Thales will spend €1.74...

Former Microsoft exec signs up for ISS flight
Posted: Mon, Apr 3 7:34 PM ET (2334 GMT)
A former Microsoft software developer who led the development of some of that company's biggest programs has signed a deal to fly to the...

Alcatel-Lucent merger raises questions about satellite unit
Posted: Mon, Apr 3 2:06 PM ET (1806 GMT)
A merger announced Sunday between telecom equipment manufacturers Alcatel and Lucent has left unresolved for now the fate of Alcatel's satellite manufacturing division, which...

Soyuz docks with ISS
Posted: Sat, Apr 1 8:53 AM ET (1353 GMT)
A Soyuz spacecraft carrying a relief crew and the first Brazilian cosmonaut docked with the International Space Station late Friday night. The Soyuz TMA-8...