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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches a Dragon cargo mission for NASA from the historic Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on Feb. 19, 2017.  Original Image Credit: SpaceX CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. —  SpaceX has launched the first private rocket from the same historic site that saw some of NASA's greatest space missions, then landed a booster nearby in a resounding success. The California-based company's  Falcon 9 rocket launched a robotic Dragon cargo capsule  toward the International Space Station today (Feb. 19) at 9:39 a.m. EST (1439 GMT) from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center — the same pad that once hosted Apollo moon missions and space shuttle launches. "Liftoff of the Falcon 9 to the space station on the first commercial launch from Kennedy Space Center's historic Pad 39a!" said NASA commentator George Diller. [ In Photos: SpaceX's 1st Launch from NASA's Historic Pad 39A ] A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocke...

PLATO is a European Space Agency telescope set to launch in 2024. The name is an acronym for "PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars." The overall goal of the mission is to figure out under what conditions planets form and whether those conditions are favorable for life.  To do this, PLATO will seek out and investigate Earth-size exoplanets, especially planets that orbit in the habitable zone around sun-like stars. (The habitable zone is usually defined as the area around a star where there is enough energy for liquid water on a planet's surface, although habitability also depends on other factors such as star variability.) It will determine how big their radii are; verify the mass of the planets from ground-based observatories; use astroseismology or "starquakes" to learn about a star's mass, radius and age; and identify bright targets for atmospheric spectroscopy along with other telescopes. If all goes to plan, the mission should be able to provid...

India has successfully launched 104 satellites from a single rocket, setting a world record. Most of the orbiting hardware was made up of nano-satellites; the smallest weighing just over a kilogram India has successfully launched 104 satellites from a single rocket, Scientists  at India's southern spaceport of Sriharikota applauded as the head of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that all the satellites had been deployed into orbit on Wednesday. "My hearty congratulations to the ISRO team for this success," the agency's director Kiran Kumar said to those tracking the progress of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his congratulations on the launch and ejection of satellites, which was covered live on national television channels. The rocket was launched at 9:28 a.m. (0358 UTC), releasing all 104 satellites into orbit about 30 minutes later. Its main cargo was a 714 kilogram Indian satellite to be us...