Live coverage: Minotaur-C rocket launches with cluster of satellites

SpaceX and Arianespace recently announced plans to launch rideshare missions to sun-synchronous and geostationary orbit, dedicating big rocket capacity for small satellites as the U.S.-based launch broker Spaceflight committed to using a new Indian microsatellite launcher set to debut later this year.

A hefty communications satellite built by Boeing and launched by SpaceX Monday night from Cape Canaveral is on the way to a lofty perch more than 22,000 miles over the Pacific Ocean, where a startup named Kacific will use it to link remote populations seeking connectivity for health clinics, schools and other basic services.

SpaceX launched two Falcon 9 rockets in a span of a little more than four hours Friday, a record-setting day that began with the launch of 52 Starlink internet satellites from California and ended with the sunset liftoff of two SES television broadcast payloads from Florida.