EchoStar 19 launch seen from KSC Press Site

The SMAP observatory to map soil moisture distribution from 426 miles in space and its workhorse booster have been cleared for launch Thursday morning from California.

NASA has completed an exhaustive review of software problems and procedural oversights that prevented an unpiloted Boeing Starliner capsule from docking with the space station last year. The agency is implementing 80 recommendations to clear the way for a second test flight later this year and, if all goes well, Boeing’s first piloted flight next spring, officials said Tuesday.

SpaceX launched 60 more Starlink Internet satellites Wednesday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. Liftoff from pad 39A occurred at 3:30 p.m. EDT (1930 GMT), and the Falcon 9’s previously-flown first stage successfully landed on SpaceX’s offshore drone ship.