Meanwhile, the EU celebrated a successful satellite deployment on the second launch of its Ariane 6 rocket from French Guiana. The project had cost overruns and years of delays, but the successful mission on Thursday was a huge victory for Europe as it seeks to become more independent from the United States on space missions.

A SpaceX rocket exploded during a test flight Thursday night, causing debris to rain down from Florida to Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean.

Less than ten minutes after it took off, the spacecraft lost contact with control teams and exploded in the sky. A series of failures for the company has hampered progress.