Mike Wall

San Francisco

Senior Space Writer at SPACE.com

Senior Writer, https://t.co/fPOvN0kmLq. Author of “Out There,” book about alien-life search that was published Nov. 2018. Former herpetologist.

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Articles

SpaceX fires up Starship spacecraft ahead of 9th test flight (photo)

1 week ago | yahoo.com | Mike Wall

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. SpaceX test-fires a Starship upper stage ahead of Starship's upcoming ninth test flight. SpaceX shared this photo via X on May 1, 2025. | Credit: SpaceXSpaceX continues to gear up for the ninth test flight of its Starship megarocket. The company performed a "static fire" test with the Flight 9 upper stage this week at its Starbase site in South Texas.
Will SpaceX's Starbase become a city? Voters will decide on May 3

1 week ago | space.com | Mike Wall

SpaceX could soon have its own city in South Texas. In December, Elon Musk's company submitted a petition requesting an election to potentially incorporate its Starbase site — the manufacturing and launch hub for its new Starship megarocket — as a city. And now the time has come: The election will be held on Saturday (May 3). If you're expecting some late-night vote-counting drama, you'll probably be disappointed.
Reshaping our return to the moon: Trump's 2026 budget gives Artemis a major facelift

1 week ago | space.com | Mike Wall

The Trump administration wants to give NASA's Artemis moon program a serious facelift. The White House's proposed 2026 "skinny budget," which was released today (May 2), would fundamentally reshape Artemis, which aims to establish a sustainable human presence on and around the moon by the end of the 2020s.
Trump administration proposes slashing NASA budget by 24%

1 week ago | space.com | Mike Wall

The rumors about impending NASA budget cuts were well-founded, it turns out. The Trump administration released its proposed 2026 "skinny budget" today (May 2), laying out in broad strokes how it plans to allocate funding across federal agencies in the coming fiscal year. Reports had suggested that NASA would take it on the chin, and that is indeed the case: The skinny budget slashes NASA funding by $6 billion compared to enacted 2025 levels, from $24.8 billion to 18.8 billion — a cut of 24%.
Trump administration proposes slashing NASA budget by 24%

1 week ago | yahoo.com | Mike Wall

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Headquarters is seen in Washington D.C., United States on September 15, 2023. | Credit: Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesThe rumors about impending NASA budget cuts were well-founded, it turns out.
SpaceX fires up Starship spacecraft ahead of 9th test flight (photo)

1 week ago | space.com | Mike Wall

SpaceX continues to gear up for the ninth test flight of its Starship megarocket. The company performed a "static fire" test with the Flight 9 upper stage this week at its Starbase site in South Texas. SpaceX ignited one of the171-foot-tall (52 meters) vehicle's six Raptor engines during the trial, "demonstrating an in-space burn," the company wrote via X on Thursday (May 1), in a post that shared a photo and a short video of the burn.
FAA grounds Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket until failure investigation is complete

1 week ago | yahoo.com | Mike Wall

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. View from the upper stage of Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket during its sixth-ever launch on April 29, 2025, which ended in failure. . | Credit: Firefly Aerospace/NSF via YouTubeFirefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket has been grounded until further notice.
NASA still trying to revive silent Lunar Trailblazer moon orbiter

1 week ago | space.com | Mike Wall

NASA hasn't given up on Lunar Trailblazer yet. The 440-pound (200-kilogram) probe went silent a day after its Feb. 26 launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Shortly after liftoff, the mission team determined that Lunar Trailblazer was spinning slowly and running low on power, as it could not orient itself to harvest enough sunlight to charge its batteries as planned.
FAA grounds Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket until failure investigation is complete

1 week ago | space.com | Mike Wall

Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket has been grounded until further notice. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is requiring an investigation into Alpha's latest flight, an April 29 launch from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base that ended in failure. "A return to flight is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety," the agency wrote in an update the day of the mishap.
Watch 2 NASA astronauts perform the 5th-ever all-female spacewalk today

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Mike Wall

Mike WallThu, May 1, 2025 at 4:01 AM UTC2 min readWhen you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: NASATwo NASA astronauts will conduct the fifth all-female spacewalk in history today (May 1), and you can watch the action live. Nichole Ayers and Anne McClain will head outside the International Space Station (ISS) today at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT), kicking off a spacewalk expected to last about 6.5 hours.