Q&A with Keith Gendreau, principal investigator of the first X-ray space communications experiment (members only)

NASA announced Friday a mix of spaceflight veterans and rookie astronauts who will launch on the first flights of new Boeing and SpaceX commercial spaceships starting as soon as next spring, several months later than previously scheduled.

SpaceX’s ocean-going rocket landing pad — dubbed the autonomous spaceport drone ship — is back in port after a Falcon 9 rocket booster crashed on the platform during an experimental flyback maneuver following Saturday’s successful liftoff with supplies for the International Space Station.

The Starlink 17-4 mission adds another 24 satellites to the growing megaconstellation in low Earth orbit. Liftoff occurred Wednesday, August 13, at 10:05 p.m. PDT (1:05 a.m. EDT / 0505 UTC).