Spacecraft

It's been six decades since NASA first touched down in outback WA, and it's given current and former residents of Carnarvon plenty of reasons to celebrate.

What began as a static test of a new "Sky Dragon 3" rocket by a private Chinese space company ended in a fiery explosion following the rocket's accidental launch. 

It's now three weeks in space and counting for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, as NASA and Boeing troubleshoot problems with their space capsule. Three potential landing dates have so far been called off, and their flight home is now on hold.

It might sound like science fiction but wars involving space are already becoming a reality with conflicts like Ukraine showing how important infrastructure in orbit can be on the ground.

The space capsule's first crewed flight has experienced five failures of its 28 manoeuvring thrusters, five leaks of helium and a slow-moving propellant valve that signal unfixed issues from past flights.

A pair of NASA test pilots blasted off aboard Boeing's Starliner capsule for the International Space Station, belatedly joining SpaceX as a second taxi service for the US space agency.

The uncrewed spacecraft, the Chang'e-6, touched down on the dark side of the moon.

Footage of China's uncrewed spacecraft landing on the far side of the Moon has been released by Chinese media. 

The Chinese lander will use a mechanical arm and a drill to gather up to 2 kilograms of surface and underground material from the Moon to send back to Earth.

Chinese astronauts have completed 16 spacewalks since 2008, the Chinese manned spaced agency says. 

North Korea has tried and failed to launch a military satellite into space — a move that had threatened to violate United Nations conventions and further inflame tensions in the region.

By 2030, the world's largest radio telescope will be operational in remote Western Australia, but by then tens of thousands of satellites will be orbiting Earth, blanketing it with radio noise.

Ed Dwight was in the same class as Apollo 11's Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, but NASA did not select black astronauts until 1978. On Sunday, aged 90, he finally experienced zero gravity.

Satellites are under threat like never before and more countries are preparing for wars in space. So, what exactly is going on above the atmosphere? And should we be worried?

Journalist Alex Barwick has lived in Alice Springs for 16 years but she's only recently dared to investigate Pine Gap, the ultra-secretive US spy base in her own backyard. 

A tiny Aboriginal community and former mission town in South Australia launches jobs and dreams as a rocket site, but one elder is concerned the burgeoning industry could destroy significant sites and dreaming stories.

Boeing badly needs a space win for its Starliner venture, a years-delayed program with more than $US1 billion in cost overruns.

Humanity's most distant spacecraft — which fell silent in November — is once again sending status reports after NASA engineers working with a two-day communication delay devised a software fix for a failed computer chip.

The helicopter, called Ingenuity, has transmitted its final message to Earth and will now serve as an immobile data-gathering unit on the red planet's surface, the space agency says.

The 'Eris' rocket is awaiting final approval from the Australian Space Agency, as it prepares to blast off from a small North Queensland town.

It's taken the Gilmour brothers nearly 10 years to build and design a locally made orbital rocket. Space enthusiasts are set to flock to north Queensland to see it lift off.

Gilmour Space Technologies is readying the 'Eris' rocket for launch next month. The vessel has been put vertical for the first time on the launchpad in north Queensland.

After millions of people looked up to the sky to view Monday's total solar eclipse, NASA has shared incredible images of what the event looked like for those in space.  

The White House directs the space agency to create a time standard by 2026, as it sets the stage for future Mars missions and growing lunar competition. 

Les Schultz remembers the day America's first space station, Skylab, crashed near WA's south coast. Now, he has another reason to tip his head skywards, as a plan to reduce the impacts of climate change takes flight.