The launch takes place on a milestone date, marking 20 years since the STS-114 space shuttle mission took off from Kennedy Space Center Pad 39B. The launch of Discovery on the STS-114 mission on July 26, 2005, marked the return to flight for the space shuttle after the Columbia tragedy investigation.

Athena EPIC is poised to serve as a pathfinder for space startup NovaWurks and its sensorcraft architecture, demonstrating a more innovative method for placing remote sensing instruments into orbit faster and more affordably. This approach enables the opportunity to learn from commercial best practices and implement an “all-of-government” approach.

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket Saturday night from Vandenberg Space Force Base near Lompoc, Calif. It put 24 satellites into near Earth orbit in polar areas.

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch from Vandenberg in California on a NASA mission. Where are some spots to watch liftoff? Will there be a sonic boom?

The next satellites SpaceX helps to deliver to orbit from Vandenberg won't be its own, but rather two of NASA's on a scientific mission.

July 22 (UPI) -- NASA's TRACERS mission is set to launch on Tuesday on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California. The TRACERS mission aims to "help understand magnetic reconnection and its effects in Earth's atmosphere."