Live coverage: Three-man station crew lands in Kazakhstan

Seven Japanese and Vietnamese smallsats are set to ride Japan’s solid-fueled Epsilon launcher into orbit at 0050 GMT Friday (7:50 p.m. EST Thursday) on a mission that engineers say will demonstrate the light-class rocket’s ability to accommodate multiple payloads on a single flight.

A commercial supply ship owned and operated by SpaceX arrived at the International Space Station on Saturday, delivering a pair of NASA experiments to demonstrate satellite refueling techniques and monitor changes in Earth’s forests, along with a special holiday menu of turkey, candied yams, cranberry sauce and shortbread cookies.

A commercial Dragon cargo craft launched June 29 departed the International Space Station and returned to Earth on Friday with nearly two tons of cargo and research samples.