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

A souped-up version of the Israeli Beresheet moon lander built in Texas could be ready to carry NASA science and technology payloads to the lunar surface before the end of 2022, according to officials from Firefly Aerospace.

On the eve of liftoff with a Korean communications satellite, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was lifted upright Sunday at launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The first 10 satellites in Iridium’s next-generation mobile voice and data network could head into orbit from California as soon as Dec. 16 on SpaceX’s first Falcon 9 flight since a booster exploded on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral in September, grounding the commercial launcher more than three months.