Falcon 9 launches TESS as seen from KSC Press Site (members only)

Ten more satellites for Iridium’s commercial communications network flew into orbit Friday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, raising the total number of upgraded Iridium spacecraft launched to 50 and clearing the way for liftoff of a SpaceX supply ship Monday from Cape Canaveral to the International Space Station.

Fresh off a major design review, SpaceX’s human-rated Dragon spaceship has received the first of up to six firm mission orders from NASA under the company’s $2.6 billion commercial crew contract.

A sharp-eyed Chinese Earth-imaging satellite rode a Long March 4B booster into orbit Tuesday, tying the record for the highest number of space launches China has achieved in a single year.