Miss Monday night’s launch from Kennedy Space Center? Watch a replay of the Falcon 9 rocket taking off with the Inmarsat 5 F4 communications satellite, a heavyweight spacecraft designed to link airliners, ships and others on-the-go via broadband.
NASA officials are waiting to see if Congress adds funding to the agency’s budget next year to kick-start development of a new four-engine upper stage for the Space Launch System, an upgrade that would allow the mega-rocket to loft heavier cargoes into deep space.
The step-by-step stacking of United Launch Alliance’s final Delta 2 rocket was completed in June at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for liftoff Sept. 15 with an Earth science satellite for NASA.