Video: Cygnus freighter arrives at orbital destination

A previously-flown Falcon 9 booster blasted off Friday from Vandenberg Air Force Base on California’s Central Coast with 10 new-generation communications satellites for Iridium. Launch occurred 8:27 p.m. EST (5:27 p.m. PST; 0127 GMT).

Russia plans to stay part of the International Space Station partnership until 2024, then undock its modules to create a standalone base in orbit, the Russian space agency announced Tuesday.

A Minotaur 4 rocket made up of five solid-fueled rocket motors delivered a U.S. military satellite tracking craft into an equatorial orbit early Saturday after lifting off from Cape Canaveral.