NASA

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the uptick in activity, including launches from private sector companies, will usher in a "whole new era of space activity."

The Inspiration4 crew safely returned to Earth Saturday evening after three days of orbiting the planet. It is the first all-civilian mission to orbit.

Marking the latest step in the commercialization of space, the SpaceX mission has launched four civilians, including a billionaire CEO, a physician assistant and a geoscientist.

A crew of four civilians will hitch a ride from SpaceX, spending three days in orbit inside their spaceship.

NASA propellent management Eric Dirschka says the agency doesn't have an issue but is "sensitive to what’s going on in the marketplace and with the COVID in the hospitals. So it could become a problem.”

The Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage is responsible for giving an in-space boost to the astronauts and sending them on a precise trajectory to the moon.

Boeing engineers continue to troubleshoot an issue with its Starliner's propulsion system that delayed an uncrewed launch of the space capsule last week.

Boeing and NASA are calling off a launch attempt Wednesday of the Starliner capsule after engineers discovered an issue with the spacecraft's propulsion system.

NASA picked SpaceX for the original contract awarded back in April, only picking one company due to budget constraints.

Said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson: “I’ve talked to those Navy pilots. They know that they saw something.”

The Cargo Dragon capsule is carrying dozens of new science experiments to help researchers understand the biological challenges of spaceflight.

The two space probes will study Venus, a scorching hot world that may have once been like Earth. NASA chose the Venus missions over other candidates, such as trips to the moons of Jupiter and Neptune.