<p>On June 25, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket blazed through the early morning skies above Cape Canaveral, Florida. Its payload—the U.S. Department of Defense's <a href="https://www.spacex.com/stp-2">STP-2 mission</a>—included NASA satellites, an experimental solar sail, and the cremated remains of more than 150 people.</p>

On June 25, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket blazed through the early morning skies above Cape Canaveral, Florida. Its payload—the U.S. Department of Defense's STP-2 mission—included NASA satellites, an experimental solar sail, and the cremated remains of more than 150 people.

Photograph by Zoe Thacker, U.S. Air Force

June's best space pictures: Volcano eruption from orbit, SpaceX launch

Also see the twisted magnetic fields at our galaxy's heart and the newest impact crater on Mars.

Feed your need for heavenly views of the universe with our picks of the most awe-inspiring space pictures from June 2019.

This month, space telescopes captured the fiery glow of distant galaxies, a satellite spotted a brand-new crater on the surface of Mars, and stunning images from Cassini reveal new details of Saturn's rings. Closer to Earth, the crew of the International Space Station watched a volcano erupt over the North Pacific Ocean, and firefighters' efforts to contain a major wildfire left marks visible from space.

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