Photos: Atlas 5 rocket soars from West Coast

Two Chinese Beidou navigation satellites successfully launched Monday on top of a Long March 3B rocket, completing the core of China’s independent positioning and timing network ahead of the start of global service next year.

For the third time in three weeks, SpaceX is preparing to launch a batch of satellites for the company’s Starlink Internet network from Florida’s Space Coast. Liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket is set for Thursday afternoon from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, weather permitting.

An innovative commercial Capella radar observation spacecraft with night vision and a small payload from the California-based smallsat manufacturer Tyvak are set to ride into orbit from Florida’s Space Coast Saturday with 52 more Starlink internet satellites on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.