Photos: Delta 4 lights up the sky for night owl launch

A Falcon 9 rocket ignites its nine Merlin first stage engines on June 24 for a routine static test fire ahead of the planned launch of the tenth batch of Starlink broadband internet satellites.

The ubiquitous Global Positioning System that ties the space program to everyday life on Earth, providing precise navigation to the world through a constellation of orbiting satellites, will be strengthened courtesy of a new craft launched Wednesday.

In a major shift, NASA is considering using two commercial launchers to send an unpiloted Orion crew capsule and its European-built service module on a test flight around the moon next year, maintaining the lunar test flight’s schedule despite fresh delays in the development of the multibillion-dollar Space Launch System that jeopardize the heavy-lifter’s 2020 inaugural flight, the agency’s administrator said in a congressional hearing Wednesday.