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

The U.S. military said this week it plans to award rideshare small satellite launch contracts to six U.S. companies using funds appropriated to help stabilize the defense industrial base amid the coronavirus pandemic.

SpaceX’s second Falcon Heavy, outfitted to produce more thrust than the heavy-lifter’s debut flight last year, was raised vertical at launch pad 39A in Florida on Wednesday ahead of a launch attempt with the Arabsat 6A communications satellite.

The last planned batch of high-resolution SkySat commercial Earth-viewing reconnaissance satellites owned by Planet will accompany 58 Starlink broadband relay stations on a climb into orbit Tuesday from Cape Canaveral on top of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, adding to the world’s two largest commercial satellite fleets.