Time-lapse: Falcon 9 goes upright at launch pad 39A (members only)

Three Chinese military surveillance spacecraft and an experimental nanosatellite rode a Long March 4C rocket into orbit Tuesday.

A propulsive kick stage designed to expand the performance envelope of Rocket Lab’s light-class Electron satellite launcher and a spacecraft that will grace nighttime skies for the next nine months flew into orbit on the company’s test flight earlier this month.

NASA has delayed the award of new contracts for cargo transportation services between Earth and the International Space Station, and eliminated an uncrewed version of Boeing’s human-rated CST-100 Starliner capsule from the competition, officials said Thursday.