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

After an exhaustive investigation, SpaceX engineers have identified the most likely cause of the spectacular explosion of a Falcon 9 rocket during a pre-launch test Sept. 1 that destroyed the booster and its $195 million satellite payload, the company announced Monday.

NASA has put off selecting the winners in a new competition for deals to resupply the International Space Station, prompting the agency to order two more commercial resupply missions from Orbital ATK to satisfy the orbiting lab’s cargo needs into early 2018, bringing the company’s total contract to 10 logistics flights.

For the final time, a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule was released from the International Space Station’s robotic arm Tuesday and splashed down hours later in Pacific Ocean southwest of Los Angeles. Beginning later this year, SpaceX will fly upgraded Dragon freighters that will dock automatically with the space station and parachute into the Atlantic Ocean east of Florida.