Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with the Jason 3 ocean altimetry mission. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
Falcon 9
End to government shutdown should limit impact on space operations
NASA and the U.S. Air Force are expected to return to normal operations Tuesday after lawmakers passed a budget bill Monday evening, ending a government funding lapse that threatened to cut off live television coverage of an International Space Station spacewalk and interrupt SpaceX launch operations in Florida and California.