Photos: America’s 100th EELV blasts off

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, equipped with four strap-on solid-propellant boosters for added performance, was transfered from its assembly building to the pad at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 to deliver the GOES-R weather satellite into space.

New satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network set for launch Monday from Cape Canaveral will debut several performance and safety upgrades, but they do not include changes to reduce the brightness of the satellites, a modification SpaceX says it will introduce on future Starlink craft to mitigate their impacts on ground-based astronomy.

Christina Koch, veteran of six spacewalks outside the International Space Station — including the first all-female excursion — joined a Russian commander and an Italian flight engineer for a fiery plunge to landing in frigid Kazakhstan early Thursday, setting a new record for the longest single flight by a female.