Live coverage: Soyuz crew launches from Kazakhstan, docks with space station

After considering canceling a planned full-duration test-firing of the Space Launch System’s core stage in Mississippi ahead of the heavy-lift rocket’s first flight, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced this week that the agency will press ahead with the test next year, citing safety and reliability benefits for future astronauts riding on the launcher on missions to the moon.

SpaceX teams working at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California were finalizing preparations Tuesday ahead of the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday carrying a trio of Canadian-built radar observation satellites into orbit.

Virgin Galactic launched its suborbital spaceplane “Unity” on its first crewed flight in two years Thursday, carrying two pilots and four company astronauts to the edge of space in a final test flight before paying customers begin suborbital jaunts in June.