Q&A with Elon Musk after SpaceX’s first rocket landing

The U.S. Air Force has committed $109 million in funding to advance development of new rockets designed by United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman, leaving out SpaceX in a government investment round that will lead to the military’s selection of two long-term launch providers in late 2019 or 2020.

An experimental solar wing sent to the International Space Station earlier this month was jettisoned from the orbiting lab’s robotic arm after engineers were unable to fully retract the array.

SpaceX technicians are attaching a Japanese communications satellite to the top of a Falcon 9 rocket ahead of a planned launch Thursday morning from Cape Canaveral.