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.

SpaceX launched 28 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Pad 40 in Florida at 5:01 a.m. EDT Saturday.

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.

See photos from the Starlink 10-26 mission, which launched 5:01 a.m. July 26 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

About 3,870 employees have applied to depart NASA over two rounds through the Trump administration's deferred resignation program, the agency disclosed.