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

SpaceX’s upgraded Dragon capsules will not return astronauts to Earth for powered landings as originally envisioned, company boss Elon Musk said Wednesday, a design change that raises questions about the space transport firm’s plans to send commercial landers to the surface of Mars.

Russia’s space agency says a Kazakh cosmonaut will fly to the International Space Station on 10-day mission in September, replacing British singer Sarah Brightman, who backed out of the mission in May.

After three frustrating days of weather delays, the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral at 4:44 p.m. EST (2144 GMT) today to send Orbital ATK’s commercial Cygnus cargo freighter to the International Space Station.