Photos: Atlas 5 powers NRO payload into the night

A Russian Progress freighter loaded with nearly three tons of supplies, water and fuel lifted off on top of a Soyuz rocket Friday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a two-day trek to the International Space Station, clearing the way for the next Soyuz launch Dec. 3 with the next station-bound crew.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the heaviest payload ever launched by SpaceX took off Monday morning from Cape Canaveral with 60 satellites for then company’s Starlink broadband network.

The Russian manufacturer of Angola’s first communications satellite announced Friday that it has reestablished contact with the spacecraft after engineers stopped receiving signals shortly after its launch earlier this week.