Photos: Atlas 5 launches SBIRS GEO Flight 3

Astra officials said Saturday a software fix will likely resolve a guidance system problem that caused the company’s first orbital-class rocket to begin drifting off course soon after liftoff from Alaska Friday night, prompting a range safety officer to terminate the mission.

Ten Iridium communications satellites rode a Falcon 9 rocket into orbit Friday from California in the eighth and final launch for Iridium’s upgraded network over the last two years, and the first of around 18 predicted SpaceX missions planned in 2019.

The Orion spacecraft slated to fly around the moon on an unpiloted mission next year has arrived back at the Kennedy Space Center following an environmental test campaign in Ohio, ready for a series of final checkouts before officials pause launch preparations this summer to await readiness of NASA’s Space Launch System.