Live coverage: NASA confirms successful first flight of Mars helicopter

NASA has awarded Masten Space Systems, a small company based in Mojave, California, a $75.9 million contract to deliver nine science and technology instruments to the moon’s south pole in 2022 with its XL-1 robotic lunar lander.

An air-launched rocket built by Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit reached orbit Sunday for the first time, delivering 10 experimental CubeSats for NASA and positioning the company for the start of commercial operations.

A four-man crew led by a former NASA astronaut intends to blast off early next year aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule for a flight to the International Space Station, the first such purely commercial, non-government flight to orbit in space history, officials said Tuesday.