Video: Delta 4 launch highlights

Five years ago today — July 8, 2011 — Atlantis launched on the final space shuttle mission after 31 years as the centerpiece of America’s human spaceflight endeavors.

The launch of 10 more upgraded spacecraft aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Friday will complete the build-out of Iridium’s modernized $3 billion global communications network, setting up for the debut of new broadband and aircraft tracking services in the coming months.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket that will boost NASA’s latest communications relay satellite into space is targeting an Aug. 20 liftoff at 7:56 a.m. EDT (1156 GMT).