Q&A with Heino Falcke, principal investigator of the Netherlands-China Low-Frequency Explorer (members only)

NASA has selected a space telescope named SPHEREx for launch in 2023 on a mission to survey the sky in near-infrared wavelengths, collecting spectral data to study the origins of the universe and ices in our own galaxy that could help seed life on planets.

A small communications satellite built by the German company OHB — a payload so secret that no one has officially disclosed its name or end user — is set to ride a Rocket Lab Electron launcher into orbit Saturday from New Zealand.

SpaceX and NASA launched a planet-hunting satellite Wednesday from Cape Canaveral, two days after calling off a launch attempt to conduct additional guidance, navigation and control analyses. Liftoff occurred at 6:51 p.m. EDT (2251 GMT), and the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket successfully landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.