Photos: Final ULA mission of the year blasts off successfully

A fourth trio of Chinese Yaogan military satellites with secret missions launched Thursday aboard a Long March 2C rocket from the Xichang space base in China’s Sichuan province.

Student-built miniature satellites to demonstrate 3D printing to make repairs in space, a mission to study solar explosions hitting the Earth, a technology test for deorbiting smallsats and a precursor to a commemorative time capsule have won free launches into space aboard Atlas 5 rockets in United Launch Alliance’s first-ever cubesat challenge.

A commercial Cygnus freighter made a science-enabling delivery to the International Space Station today, bringing about 7,500 pounds of cargo to the outpost under NASA’s privatized logistics shipment program.