Photos: Cygnus goes from Cape Canaveral to the space station

Watch a replay of the Atlas 5 rocket launch with the GOES-S weather satellite from Cape Canaveral, as seen from the Kennedy Space Center press site around 4 miles from the launch pad.

Despite a growing number of rocket options, the availability of on-time launch services remains a key factor in getting BlackSky’s constellation of Earth-imaging smallsats into orbit. SpaceX’s rideshare launch service will give BlackSky a chance to add two more spacecraft to its fleet on a Falcon 9 rocket with the next batch of Starlink Internet payloads.

The composite structure of Sierra Nevada Corp.’s first space-rated Dream Chaser space plane has arrived at the company’s Colorado factory for integration with computers, a heat shield and mechanical systems before launch to the International Space Station in late 2021.