What are the best space news sites for following upcoming launches and mission coverage?

Here are some of the best space news sites for upcoming launches, mission updates, and broader space coverage:

Best all-around space news sites

• Spaceflight Now — Very strong for launch schedules, live coverage, and mission updates. Great if you want to track rockets and launch windows closely.
• NASA News / NASA Blogs — Best source for official mission updates, launch coverage, and science results directly from the agency.
• Space.com — Broad space-news site covering launches, missions, astronomy, and industry news in an accessible format.
• Ars Technica Space — Excellent analysis and detailed reporting on launches, spacecraft, policy, and aerospace industry developments.
• The Verge (Science / Space) — Good for major mission news and public-facing summaries of important events.

Best for launch tracking

• NextSpaceFlight — One of the best launch calendars around; useful for seeing upcoming launches, providers, payloads, and schedules.
• Spaceflight Now Launch Schedule — Reliable for near-term launch coverage and updates.
• Rocket Launch Live — Good for tracking launches, especially if you want a simple schedule with live launch viewing links.

Best for deep mission coverage

• The Planetary Society — Strong mission-focused reporting and commentary, especially for exploration and planetary science.
• Universe Today — Good for accessible updates on missions, astronomy, and discoveries.
• ESA / ESA Web Portal — Best official source for European Space Agency missions and launch coverage.
• ISRO / JAXA / CNSA official sites — Best if you want official coverage from India, Japan, or China.

Good niche/industry sources

• Payload — Focuses on the space industry, startups, funding, and commercial space developments.
• SpaceNews — Excellent for industry, policy, military space, and commercial space business news.
• NASASpaceFlight — Very strong community-driven coverage of SpaceX, Starship, NASA programs, and launch operations.

If you want the most useful combo

If I had to pick a small set:

1. NextSpaceFlight for launch schedules
2. Spaceflight Now for live launch coverage
3. NASA / ESA official sites for mission updates
4. Ars Technica or SpaceNews for deeper reporting

If you want, I can also make a curated list by category (launch calendars, live coverage, mission science, SpaceX/Starship, Artemis, or international agencies).