SpaceX conducts engine test fire for communications satellite launch (members only)

Virgin Orbit, the satellite launch company founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, permanently ceased operations last month, following a major mission failure in January at a time when it was already facing financial headwinds.

Continuing a series of delays keeping NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer on Earth, NASA announced Tuesday that the satellite’s launch aboard an air-dropped Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket will not occur as scheduled Friday.

Billionaire Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and the surging space company Blue Origin, spoke with reporters at the 33rd Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.