Q&A with Opher Doron, general manager of IAI’s space division (members only)

An Indian mapping satellite and 30 other payloads vaulted into space Friday aboard a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, arriving in an on-the-mark orbit more than 300 miles above Earth.

Flying on its 40th mission, a Japanese H-2A rocket lifted off at 0408 GMT (12:08 a.m. EDT) Monday from the Tanegashima Space Center carrying Japan’s GOSAT 2 satellite to measure greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere and the KhalifaSat Earth observation satellite for the United Arab Emirates.

SpaceX is targeting Saturday for launch of its next space station resupply mission from Cape Canaveral after a problem with an upper stage steering system actuator flared up during a countdown Tuesday.