Photos: New GPS navigation satellite powered from Earth

A pioneering Northrop Grumman-built satellite designed to dock with an aging spacecraft more than 22,000 miles above Earth, then extend its life with the aid of solar-electric thrusters, is set for launch Wednesday from Kazakhstan aboard a Proton rocket.

China sent an Earth observation satellite and a university-built research payload into orbit Thursday aboard a Long March 2D rocket.

Days after launching astronauts for the first time, SpaceX is set to resume a speedy cadence of satellite launches Wednesday night with liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s next batch of Starlink broadband relay stations.