Live coverage: ExoMars orbiter steers into orbit around Mars, lander’s fate TBD

An Israeli-built spacecraft seeking to become the first privately-developed probe to land on the moon crashed on descent Thursday, but the mission was widely lauded as a breakthrough for the commercial space industry, and Israeli prime minster Benjamin Netanyahu said the country would try again.

Astrobotic, a Pittsburgh-based company developing a robotic lunar lander, will launch its first moon mission under contract to NASA on the debut flight of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket in 2021, officials announced Monday.

Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit with the third set of 10 next-generation satellites for Iridium’s voice and data relay fleet.