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

A Mars orbiter developed by the United Arab Emirates in partnership with U.S. scientists has been mounted on top of a Japanese H-2A rocket and its battery charged for liftoff Tuesday from the Tanegashima Space Center.

Maintaining a rapid-fire launch cadence to close out the year, China added two more Beidou satellites to its independent positioning, navigation and timing fleet Saturday with a successful launch aboard a Long March 3B rocket.

A commercial Dragon cargo craft launched June 29 departed the International Space Station and returned to Earth on Friday with nearly two tons of cargo and research samples.