Photos: Atlas 5 rocket aims for International Space Station

Seeking to become the fourth nation to successfully land on the moon, India launched an ambitious robotic lunar mission named Chandrayaan 2 on Monday, targeting a touchdown near the lunar south pole Sept. 6.

An Orbital Sciences Antares rocket exploded seconds after launch from the Virginia coast Tuesday, erupting in a spectacular fireball and destroying the company’s third operational Cygnus cargo ship in a disheartening failure for NASA’s commercial space station resupply program.

SpaceX test-fired a Falcon 9 rocket Friday in preparation for launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying 60 more Starlink satellites into orbit.