A Falcon 9 launched a batch of Starlink satellites on Feb.

New York NY (SPX) Feb 09, 2026
When Artemis II finally lights its engines and arcs away from Cape Canaveral, it will do more than send four astronauts on a ten-day loop around the Moon. It will fire the starting gun on a race that Washington and Beijing still insist does not exist and pull Elon Musk's SpaceX into the center of a contest that blends geopolitics, markets and myth. For two years, NASA has framed Artemis as

Join ESA teams to watch live the launch and docking of Crew-12, marking the beginning of a nine‑month mission to the International Space Station.  

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For its most powerful flight yet, Ariane 6 lifts off for the first time with four boosters.

Designed for versatility, Ariane 6 can adapt to each mission: flying with two boosters for lighter payloads, or four boosters when more power is needed.

In its four-booster configuration, Ariane 6 can carry larger and heavier spacecraft into orbit, enabling some of Europe’s most ambitious missions — from science missions like PLATO to exploration systems such as Argonaut.

Germany’s top intelligence officials made waves last year by calling for the creation of a European spy network to lessen Europe’s dependence on American intelligence.