Q&A with Steve Clarke, deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA’s science division (members only)

The launch of a light-class booster by Rocket Lab, a U.S.-New Zealand company aiming to provide rides to orbit for small satellites, has been delayed to early next year after technical reviews, repairs and unfavorable weather combined to keep the test flight grounded this week.

NASA ground controllers sent commands to the International Space Station on Thursday for release of a 2.9-ton cargo pallet loaded with old batteries, the most massive object ever jettisoned from the orbiting outpost. The garbage carrier is expected to remain in orbit for two-to-four years before re-entering the atmosphere.

The first images beamed back to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft after it briefly landed an asteroid buoyed expectations Wednesday that the probe collected enough samples to meet the mission’s minimum requirement for return to Earth.