Video: Progress launches and docks

SpaceX is still working on a new, safer helium tank design needed for launches with astronauts, and the debut of the company’s upgraded Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket earlier this month did not count as one of seven successful missions in “crew configuration” NASA says it requires before putting astronauts aboard the vehicle, officials said Thursday.

NASA and SpaceX have delayed the launch of the Crew Dragon “Resilience” spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Center until 7:27 p.m. EST Sunday (0027 GMT Monday) to wait for improved downrange weather and sea conditions, and better onshore winds at the launch site.

The attachment of a mounting bracket for Virgin Orbit’s smallsat launcher under the wing of a modified passenger jetliner portends the start of a series of captive carry tests with a full-scale model of the rocket, culminating in a drop of the vehicle before the first orbital launch attempt.