NASA astronaut Rex Walheim excited about Orion test flight

Space missions dispatched into the solar system often have journeys lasting years before reaching a scientific payoff, but NASA’s Parker Solar Probe launched last weekend on a speedy departure from planet Earth is already getting ready to sweep closer to the sun than any spacecraft in history during a flyby later this year.

The next satellite for the U.S. military’s communications network, this one purchased by five international allies, has arrived in Florida for its launch in March atop a Delta 4 rocket.

The nation’s existing Atlas and Delta launch sites are vying for a future when United Launch Alliance completes its modernization with a new rocket system and downsizing to one pad on each coast.