The Russian Soyuz MS-03 crew transport spacecraft is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with three passengers on a two-day trek to the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russia’s Oleg Novitskiy and Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency will join the station’s existing three-person Expedition 50 crew.
Atlas 5
Live coverage: Atlas 5 launches with missile warning satellite for U.S. military
United Launch Alliance launched the U.S. military’s SBIRS GEO 5 early warning satellite into orbit aboard an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. A launch attempt Monday was scrubbed during fueling preps due to a faulty temperature sensor. Liftoff of ULA’s workhorse rocket, fitted with two strap-on solid-fueled boosters, occurred at 1:37 p.m. EDT (1737 GMT).
Falcon 9
End to government shutdown should limit impact on space operations
NASA and the U.S. Air Force are expected to return to normal operations Tuesday after lawmakers passed a budget bill Monday evening, ending a government funding lapse that threatened to cut off live television coverage of an International Space Station spacewalk and interrupt SpaceX launch operations in Florida and California.
