Photos: Atlas 5 on the pad at sundown

Blue Origin has conducted the first hotfire test of its BE-4 rocket engine in West Texas, a powerplant fueled by liquified natural gas and liquid oxygen that will power the company’s heavy-lift New Glenn rocket and perhaps United Launch Alliance’s next-generation Vulcan launcher, officials announced Thursday.

DigitalGlobe’s 360 virtual reality preview of Friday’s WorldView 4 satellite launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

Carrying more science research gear to the International Space Station than ever launched before by U.S. commercial logistics vehicles, the next Orbital ATK Cygnus freighter takes flight Tuesday.