Chun Wang, a Chinese-born crypto entrepreneur, paid an undisclosed amount for the mission. Some satellites are already in polar orbit, and researchers called it a routine flight.

Planet Labs says its satellites — it has 15 of them orbiting the Earth — have now photographed roughly a dozen locations in Myanmar and Thailand since Friday's quake.

SpaceX's historic Fram2 mission, launched on March 31, marks the first-ever crewed journey to orbit Earth from pole to pole. The private astronaut crew will conduct 22 scientific experiments focused ...