Launch of the Curiosity Mars rover

NASA has selected Blue Origin, Dynetics and SpaceX to move forward with development of human-rated lunar landers, committing nearly $1 billion in funding for a range of moonship concepts that include a variant of SpaceX’s next-generation Starship vehicle, officials announced Thursday.

SpaceX and United Launch Alliance expect to resume launches with little or no delay after Hurricane Irma veered west of Cape Canaveral last weekend, sparing the launch base from the storm’s most extreme damage.

The Russian Soyuz MS-03 crew transport spacecraft is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with three passengers on a two-day trek to the International Space Station.