Q&A with Rolf de Groot, head of ESA’s robotic exploration office

Singed and blackened from three fiery trips to the edge of space and back, a Falcon 9 rocket returned to Cape Canaveral on Sunday after a mission last that week carried the Israeli Beresheet moon lander into orbit, ready for inspections before attempting a fourth — and likely final — launch this spring.

Arianespace delayed the launch of a Vega rocket from French Guiana Tuesday night due to a typhoon threatening a ground station in South Korea needed to track the vehicle as it deploys a cluster of more than 50 small satellites.

A Soyuz rocket took off from French Guiana on Friday with Hispasat 36W-1, a communications satellite designed to connect Latin America and Europe with video, data and cellular phone services.