Video: Missile alert satellite launches atop Atlas 5

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine says he is “fairly confident” that astronauts can fly to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spaceship at the end of May or early June, pending final parachute tests, data reviews and a training schedule that can escape major impacts from the coronavirus pandemic.

Virgin Orbit could attempt its first orbital test launch later this month over the Pacific Ocean southwest of Los Angeles, capping a development program for an air-launched small satellite carrier that began in earnest eight years ago.

With eyes on Tropical Storm Eta approaching South Florida, the four astronauts set to launch next Saturday on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Sunday after flying from their home base in Houston.