Video: Liftoff of Atlas 5 on NROL-61 satellite deployment

A Chinese Long March 7A rocket failed to place a secret payload into orbit Monday, casting doubt on planned flights by the country’s other launchers that use similar engines.

Dante Lauretta, a researcher based at the University of Arizona, leads the science team on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission scheduled for launch Sept. 8 on a round-trip journey to asteroid Bennu.

An Ariane 5 countdown in French Guiana was aborted Tuesday with the European-made rocket’s main engine already running, postponing the launch of two commercial communications satellites until engineers can resolve the problem.