EchoStar 19 launch seen from KSC Press Site

In a mission marking the end of an era, NASA astronaut and former virus hunter Kate Rubins, using NASA’s last currently contracted seat on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, rocketed into orbit Wednesday with two cosmonaut crewmates on a record-setting flight to the International Space Station.

A Falcon 9 rocket powered by a first stage booster recovered after a launch in July is being readied for another flight Thursday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The announcement was made by Robert Lightfoot, the ULA Lockheed Martin Board Chair, in a statement on Monday. The board now begins a search for his permanent replacement.