Live coverage: NASA replaces failed power distribution unit on space station

Mike Laidley leads development of Orbital ATK’s Next Generation Launch system, a rocket the commercial space company hopes will provide a foothold in the lucrative market to launch U.S. military satellites, a business currently dominated by SpaceX and United Launch Alliance.

A Russian Soyuz rocket blasted off and shot into orbit Wednesday, carrying a Russian cosmonaut and two NASA astronauts, all veteran space fliers, on a two-day flight to the International Space Station.

Driven by three RS-68A main engines, a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket lifted off early Sunday from Cape Canaveral carrying NASA’s Parker Solar Probe on a historic mission to study the sun.