space exploration

Ganymede likely has some special characteristics. It isn’t just Jupiter’s biggest moon, but the biggest in the entire solar system by far—about the size of Mercury and our moon combined. It…

This is where Moonlight will come in. The system may involve three navigation satellites in lunar orbit plus one dedicated to communication. That way, multiple satellites can ping Earth at…

That said, he expects that the futuristic project could take more than a half-century to realize. It poses a few ambitious physics and engineering challenges, including the development of…

The moon is interesting because there are valuable resources people want, like the ice on the poles. But even though the moon hasn’t been mined yet, and it seems like a big pile of resources…

If the boxy Opportunity rover could elicit years of anthropomorphized love and goodwill, then surely Earthlings will warm to the idea of sending a snake-shaped robot to the moon. This…

Instead, with his “fluidic telescope” concept, one need only launch a frame structure—such as an umbrella-shaped satellite dish—and a tank of mirror liquid, like gallium alloys and ionic…

The space agencies for the U.S. and Russia agreed that a Russian spacecraft will fly next month to the International Space Station to retrieve three people, after a leak emerged on the…

The next generation of rockets built to launch U.S. spy satellites into orbit will have to be capable of fending off interference by China and Russia, according to people briefed on a coming…

LONDON—A Virgin Orbit VORB -8.53% Holdings Inc. rocket carrying satellites from the U.K. failed to reach orbit…

SpaceX is pushing to increase its flight rate this year as competitors work to debut new vehicles for the launch market. The rocket-and-satellite company Elon Musk…