Photos: Delta 2 rocket blasts off with SMAP satellite

A SpaceX Dragon capsule packed with more than 5,000 pounds of hardware, provisions and experiments launched July 25 from Cape Canaveral and arrived at the International Space Station two days later.

The U.S. Defense Department’s internal watchdog has opened a probe into whether the Pentagon’s contracts with United Launch Alliance were properly awarded after a former ULA executive implied the government rigged a recent procurement in favor of the company.

The NASA manager overseeing development of Boeing and SpaceX’s commercial crew ferry ships says the space agency has approved SpaceX’s proposal to strap in astronauts atop Falcon 9 rockets, then fuel the launchers in the final hour of the countdown as the company does for its uncrewed missions.