The Space Launch System rocket that will launch humans back to the moon for the first time since 1972 began its journey to the launch pad on Jan. 17, 2026 with its rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch window open on Feb. 6. | Space.com

Elon Musk's SpaceX on Tuesday, August 26, launched its giant Starship rocket for a tenth test flight aiming to overcome development setbacks and clinch long-sought technical milestones key to the Mars rocket's reusable design. The towering 403-foot-tall Starship system lifted off around 7:30 PM from SpaceX's Starbase facilities in south Texas on a mission to test the ship's new heat shield tiles and satellite deployment abilities, among hundreds of other upgrades from past iterations. The rocket