Un groupe d'ingénieurs et d'historiens propose un projet surprenant : récupérer Vanguard 1 et le ramener sur Terre. Il s'agit du plus vieux satellite encore en orbite terrestre. Il avait été lancé dans l'espace en 1958.

Launched by Nasa and SpaceX, the Falcon 9 is picking up Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, whose eight days on board the International Space Station became nine months

A long-awaited mission to return stranded US astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station has been launched by Nasa and SpaceX.

The pair were due to spend eight days on the ISS in June, but technical problems with the experimental spacecraft that took them there have left them stuck on the orbital laboratory for nine months.

A SpaceX mission was launched to replace two Nasa astronauts who have been stuck at the International Space Station for nine months. The stuck astronauts are scheduled to depart the station on 19 March after the Crew-10 astronauts arrive on 19 March

• Crew lifts off on SpaceX mission to replace stuck Nasa astronauts

A Falcon 9 rocket launched four astronauts safely into orbit on Friday evening, marking the official beginning of the Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station.

Although any crew launch into orbit is notable, this mission comes with an added bit of importance as its success clears the way for two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, to finally return home from space after a saga spanning nine months.

Friday's launch came two days after an initial attempt was scrubbed on Wednesday evening. This was due to a hydraulic issue with the ground systems that handle the Falcon 9 rocket at Launch Complex 39A in Florida.

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Falcon 9 rocket takes off on journey to replace duo who have been at International Space Station since June

The replacements for two Nasa astronauts who have been stuck at the International Space Station for nine months launched on Friday evening, paving the way for the pair’s long-awaited return.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 7.03pm ET (11.03pm GMT) in Florida carrying the four astronauts who will take over from Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stuck on the orbital lab since June.

La mission SpaceX Crew-10 doit partir en principe dans la nuit du 14 au 15 mars, à 00h03, heure de Paris. L'équipage de quatre personnes viendra notamment remplacer les deux astronautes coincés dans la Station spatiale internationale depuis la mi-juin 2024. Le départ pourra être suivi en direct.

Exclusive: It’s imperative we expand our understanding of space and the possibility of life elsewhere, argues Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock

Life must exist beyond Earth, a leading space scientist has said, adding it is yet another example of our own pride to suppose otherwise.

The British space scientist Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock , who will be delivering the Royal Institution Christmas lecture this year, said that while science has made giant leaps in our understanding of space, including the sheer size of the universe, there is still much to learn – not least whether we are alone.

The Christmas Lectures from the Royal Institution supported by CGI will be broadcast on the BBC and iPlayer in late December

Welcome to Edition 7.35 of the Rocket Report! SpaceX's steamroller is still rolling, but for the first time in many years, it doesn't seem like it's rolling downhill. After a three-year run of perfect performance—with no launch failures or any other serious malfunctions—SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket has suffered a handful of issues in recent months. Meanwhile, SpaceX's next-generation Starship rocket is having problems, too. Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX's vice president of launch, addressed some (but not all) of these concerns in a post on X this week. Despite the issues with the Falcon 9, SpaceX has maintained a remarkable launch cadence. As of Thursday, SpaceX has launched 28 Falcon 9 flights since January 1, ahead of last year's pace.

As always, we welcome reader submissions . If you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

Alpha rocket preps for weekend launch. While Firefly Aerospace is making headlines for landing on the Moon, its Alpha rocket is set to launch again as soon as Saturday morning from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The two-stage, kerosene-fueled rocket will launch a self-funded technology demonstration satellite for Lockheed Martin. It's the first of up to 25 launches Lockheed Martin has booked with Firefly over the next five years. This launch will be the sixth flight of an Alpha rocket, which has become a leader in the US commercial launch industry for dedicated missions with one-ton-class satellites.

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As Barry Wilmore and Suni Williams prepare to come home after their unexpected nine-month ISS stay, here is what they may experience

Gravity may seem like a drag, but spending long periods of time without its grounding force can wreak havoc on your body. On Friday, Nasa and SpaceX will launch the space agency’s Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station to retrieve astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams, after what was meant to be an eight-day stay turned into nine months.

While it is not the most time a human has spent as an extraterrestrial – Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub hold the record, with 374 days – most long space missions are a maximum of six months.