Video: Soyuz MS-01 leaves the space station for landing

SpaceX is on schedule to fly two NASA astronauts on a test flight to the International Space Station by the end of 2017, but there is a lot of work to do to ensure the company’s new Crew Dragon spaceship is up to the task and ready in time, a SpaceX manager said Tuesday.

America’s most experienced astronaut says her fully commercial visit to the International Space Station this week is a critical stepping stone on the road to space tourism, private-sector orbital research and development of commercially operated space stations.

Two more satellites joined Europe’s Galileo navigation fleet in orbit Thursday after launch from French Guiana aboard a Soyuz rocket, giving the system a dozen of its planned 30 members as the European Commission begins ordering eight more satellites to complete construction of the multibillion-dollar network.