Sea Launch places Japanese satellite in orbit
Posted: Thu, Apr 13 8:40 AM ET (1240 GMT)
A Zenit 3SL rocket successfully launched a US-built Japanese communications satellite Wednesday evening. The Zenit 3SL, operated by the multinational venture Sea Launch, lifted...

"Tenth planet" only slightly larger than Pluto
Posted: Wed, Apr 12 2:07 PM ET (1807 GMT)
New observations of an object that last year was unofficially proclaimed the solar system's tenth planet have revealed that the world is only slightly...

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...