Q&A with Emiliano Kargieman, founder and CEO of Satellogic (members only)

Ground teams are evaluating a payload failure on a Maxar-built SiriusXM radio broadcasting satellite that launched from Cape Canaveral in December on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, officials said Wednesday.

It’s Steve Clarke’s job to merge the goals of space scientists with NASA’s strategic plans for exploring the solar system, two factors which are not always in lock-step, as the space agency seeks to return humans to the moon, and eventually send astronauts to Mars.

On its first nighttime launch, Rocket Lab’s Electron booster climbed into orbit Sunday from New Zealand with a trio of small U.S. military payloads, demonstrating the privately-developed rocket’s ability to help meet the Air Force’s growing demand for smallsat launches.