Photos: Atlas 5 rocket aims for International Space Station

SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy rocket is set for liftoff Tuesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and the heavy-lift launcher will head on an easterly course over the Atlantic Ocean atop nearly 5 million pounds of thrust.

SpaceX aims to launch a Falcon 9 rocket Monday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with 10 new satellites for Iridium’s tracking and message relay constellation in low Earth orbit.

Boeing and SpaceX hope to launch commercial crew ferry ships on long-awaited test flights later this year, but both companies face major challenges getting the spacecraft certified before late 2019 when seats aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft will no longer be easily available for NASA space station crews, officials told lawmakers Wednesday.