STS-133 onboard camera launch video

Five satellites rode a Long March 2D rocket into orbit Monday from the Jiuquan launch base in northwestern China, including a pathfinder for a planned constellation of low-altitude relay satellites and a mysterious spacecraft ambiguously described by Chinese state media.

After a lull in launches from America’s primary West Coast rocket base, SpaceX is set to resume a regular cadence of missions from Vandenberg Air Force Base as soon as July to deploy hundreds of Starlink internet satellites into polar orbits, SpaceX’s president and industry officials said.

Soaring into a clear early evening sky, SpaceX’s second Falcon Heavy rocket lifted off from a seaside launch complex Thursday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida before a crowd of thousands of space enthusiasts.