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First German commander among astronauts named for station flights
International Space Station managers have named crew members to future expeditions to the research lab in 2017 and 2018, including the first German commander of a space mission and Canada's third astronaut to fly a long-duration residency on the complex.

Upgraded Antares rolls out to launch pad for tests
An Antares booster emerged from its hangar on Virginia's Eastern Shore and rolled out to its launch pad Thursday for the first time since a rocket failure grounded Orbital ATK's cargo launcher in 2014.

Shuttle skipper, mountaineering spacewalker going into Hall of Fame
Commander of the 100th space shuttle flight and a spacewalker who later climbed Mount Everest will be inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame at the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday.

Cargo-carrying Dragon spaceship returns to Earth
SpaceX's Dragon supply ship departed the International Space Station on Wednesday, fired rocket thrusters to brake out of orbit, and parachuted to a picture-perfect splashdown in the Pacific Ocean with approximately 3,461 pounds of experiment samples and equipment.

Live coverage: Dragon supply ship back on Earth
SpaceX's Dragon cargo craft departed the International Space Station on Wednesday at 9:19 a.m. EDT (1319 GMT), concluding the commercial spaceship's eighth visit to the complex. Splashdown in the Pacific Ocean occurred at 2:55 p.m. EDT (1855 GMT).
VideoCompanies offer fresh perspectives on recent rocket landings
In case the the sight of a large rocket plummeting back to Earth, only to be slowed in the last seconds by a puff of thrust, hasn't lost its novelty yet, SpaceX and Blue Origin have released dramatic videos showing their recent powered rocket landings from new angles.

Key return to flight milestone looms for Antares rocket
Targeting a resumption of Antares cargo launches to the International Space Station as soon as July, Orbital ATK plans to roll out an upgraded Antares rocket to a launch pad in Virginia this week for a 30-second firing of the booster's new engines.

Photos: Falcon 9 streaks into space, lands on drone ship
SpaceX achieved a double success Friday with the launch of a Japanese communications satellite from Cape Canaveral, followed minutes later by the touchdown of the Falcon 9 rocket's 15-story first stage booster on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

Falcon 9 succeeds in middle-of-the-night launch and landing
A Japanese communications satellite rode a Falcon 9 rocket into space from Cape Canaveral early Friday, reaching an on-target orbit as the launcher’s first stage booster nailed a high-speed landing on a platform in the Atlantic Ocean, logging another achievement for SpaceX’s cost-cutting reuse initiative.

Photos: SpaceX’s Falcon 9 on the pad at Cape Canaveral
Crowned with a Japanese telecommunications satellite, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket sits atop its Cape Canaveral launch pad hours before its scheduled blastoff Friday.