Q&A with Claire Leon, director of launch enterprise directorate at SMC

A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket lifted off Wednesday at 2:36 p.m. EDT (1836 GMT) from Cape Canaveral on a mission to place into orbit a fresh satellite for the Global Positioning System.

Riding into port aboard a floating platform before dawn, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket booster arrived back at Cape Canaveral early Tuesday after sticking a historic landing at sea last week, kicking off a series of inspections and tests before engineers ready it for launch again.

The penultimate satellite in the current generation of Global Positioning System spacecraft will be deployed Friday, capping a hectic four weeks with three launches from two coasts for the Atlas 5 rocket fleet.