The maker of inflatable technology for a commercial space station will use a top-of-the-line Atlas 5 rocket with a stretched nose cone to hoist the first habitat into Earth orbit in 2020.
After an up-and-down week of intermittent contact with the LightSail satellite, the tiny spacecraft radioed home Saturday, giving engineers hope to deploy the experiment’s solar sail as soon as Sunday.
Taking delivery of the Atlas 5 rocket that will boost an advanced weather observatory into space next month, United Launch Alliance and the Air Force are back at work following disruptions from Hurricane Matthew.