The aging NEOWISE space telescope, which seeks out asteroids and comets including the many undiscovered objects that could pose an impact threat to the Earth, has had its life extended for two more years.

SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket one day after the mission was delayed because a helicopter was flying in restricted airspace.

This year’s International Asteroid Day, the annual June 30 observance instituted by the United Nations to promote global awareness of asteroid threats, arrives with NASA on the verge of launching a first-ever mission to demonstrate a potential defense.

Virgin Orbit delivered seven satellites into orbit on June 30, including cubesats for the U.S. Defense Department’s Rapid Agile Launch Initiative (RALI), a Polish-based startup planning to sell optical imagery to agricultural and energy customers and the first military satellite for the Royal Netherlands Air Force.

Russia’s Progress MS-17 cargo capsule, filled with 3,600 lb. of food, crew supplies and propellant, was on course for an automated docking with the International Space Station late July 1 following a successful launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

With sights on lunar and deep space missions, China has firmed up its road map to develop heavy-lift rockets based on the Long March 5 and the new Long March 9.

Northrop Grumman’s 15th Cygnus resupply mission spacecraft departed the International Space Station on June 29 filled with trash and prepared for an orbit-raising maneuver for five small satellite deployments prior to making a destructive re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.

SpaceX has delayed its Transporter-2 mission to allow for more prelaunch checkouts, the company announced on Twitter.