Bidding farewell to the International Space Station today, the commercial Cygnus cargo ship separated to a safe distance before igniting an intentional fire in microgravity like never before, all in the name of science.

No one had ever lost 26 satellites at once until a launch failure bit Planet Labs last year, temporarily setting back the San Francisco startup’s ambition to map the globe every day.

The launch an Ariane 5 rocket with Brazilian and Korean communications satellites that was set for this week has been postponed indefinitely after protesters blocked access to the French Guiana spaceport.