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

A robotic lander and rover lifted off Friday (U.S. time) from China’s Xichang space center, kicking off a journey that will culminate in an attempt in early January to touch down on the far side of the moon for the first time.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will boost NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M, or TDRS-M, into space from Cape Canaveral on Aug. 18 at 8:03 a.m. EDT (1203 GMT).

SpaceX said Tuesday it won’t perform a final countdown dress rehearsal this week for the giant new Starship launch vehicle, and could send the rocket — standing nearly 40 stories tall on its Texas launch pad — on an around-the-world test flight as soon as next week.