Live coverage: SpaceX launches its fifth Falcon 9 flight of the year

The launch will be preceded by a company talk from Elon Musk, discussing SpaceX’s plans for developing the rocket for Mars exploration. Launch teams are targeting a liftoff from Pad A at Starbase, Texas, on Tuesday, May 27, at 6:30 p.m. CDT (7:30 p.m. EDT, 2330 UTC).

A previously-flown Falcon 9 booster blasted off Friday from Vandenberg Air Force Base on California’s Central Coast with 10 new-generation communications satellites for Iridium. Launch occurred 8:27 p.m. EST (5:27 p.m. PST; 0127 GMT).

After a two-day delay caused by unfavorable high-altitude winds, an Ariane 5 rocket lifted off Saturday at 3:40 p.m. EST (2040 GMT) from French Guiana with communications satellites for DirecTV and India.