The spacecraft landed in New Mexico early Saturday morning leaving two astronauts behind on the International Space Station. The crew members will return to earth in February aboard a SpaceX craft.
SpaceX
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NASA’s long-awaited decision on Starliner is imminent
Boeing’s troubled Starliner remains docked at the International Space Station as NASA determines how and when to send its astronauts back. Now, the agency is poised to announce its decision.
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Civilian Polaris Dawn spacewalk mission is set to make history next week
The planned spacewalk — a first for a private mission — will rely on simply opening the spacecraft’s hatch.
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SpaceX rocket accident leaves the company’s Starlink satellites in the wrong orbit
A SpaceX rocket has failed for the first time in nearly a decade, leaving the company’s internet satellites in an orbit so low that they’re doomed to fall through the atmosphere and burn up.
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Private mission to save the Hubble Space Telescope raises concerns, NASA emails show
When a private space traveler said he wanted to take a SpaceX capsule on a mission to improve the aging Hubble telescope, NASA studied the options. Internal emails show concern about the risk.
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Taxing the final frontier
Launches by commercial space companies are becoming more frequent. Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration licensed 117, an all-time high. But these spaceflight companies aren’t paying for all of the FAA’s services that they use.
Today, we explore why the government is looking to change that and dig into the larger debate over whether human activity in space is a public or private project.
Related episodes:
Economics in space
Planet Money goes to space
Space economics
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A new satellite will track climate-warming pollution. Here’s why that’s a big deal
A satellite with a climate solutions mission blasted off on a SpaceX rocket Monday. It’s on a mission to detect planet-heating methane pollution from the oil and gas sector.
