Q&A with Emiliano Kargieman, founder and CEO of Satellogic (members only)

The Falcon Eye 1 military reconnaissance satellite for the United Arab Emirates is set to ride a Vega launcher into a 379-mile-high (611-kilometer) orbit Wednesday night from French Guiana on a mission that will take less than one hour from liftoff until spacecraft separation.

SpaceX test-fired a Falcon Heavy rocket Wednesday night at the Kennedy Space Center in preparation for launch June 24 with a stack of weather observation and technology demonstration satellites.

Making its first flight, a privately-funded air-launched rocket developed and built by Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit failed to reach space Monday after release from the company’s modified 747 carrier airplane over the Pacific Ocean.