Watch the Falcon 9 launch from pad 39A

Carrying three space station crew members back home after 173 days in orbit, the Russian Soyuz MS-02 landing craft touched down in Kazakhstan on Monday after a parachute-assisted descent through clear skies.

A hold-down test-firing of a Falcon 9 rocket Friday at Cape Canaveral marked a major step in preparations for SpaceX’s 13th mission of the year, scheduled for liftoff Monday with a commercial communications satellite.

After years of anticipation, SpaceX launched the first test flight of its full-scale Starship rocket Thursday from South Texas, but the mission ended four minutes later as the vehicle veered out of control and self-destructed over the Gulf of Mexico following multiple engine failures.