Watch a replay of the Falcon 9 launch with Dragon

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket could blast off for the first time as soon as Feb. 6, company founder Elon Musk said Saturday, announcing the first official target launch date for the heavy-lifter’s maiden mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

A workhorse Soyuz booster thundered to life and climbed into a dark Kazakh sky Friday, carrying NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko on a four-orbit voyage to the International Space Station to kick off a marathon 342-day mission, the longest flight ever attempted by an American.

A communications satellite designed to deliver broadband services to rural China, airline passengers and maritime vessels suffered “abnormalities” after separating from its Long March 3B launcher Monday, Chinese state media confirmed Tuesday.