Live coverage of the countdown and flight of a Delta 4-Heavy rocket carrying NASA’s Orion space capsule on its first test flight in Earth orbit. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
Falcon 9
Live coverage: Falcon 9 rocket launches, and lands, at Cape Canaveral
In a fiery, dramatic comeback for SpaceX, a Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral, streaking into orbit as its booster stage returned to a historic landing on Florida’s Space Coast in a key achievement aimed at slashing the cost of space transportation. Eleven communications satellites for Orbcomm were deployed in orbit in the flight’s prime objective.
Mission Reports
Penultimate piece of NASA’s first SLS rocket arrives at Kennedy Space Center
One of the final pieces for the first test flight of NASA’s huge Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket recently arrived at the Kennedy Space Center, joining other elements already at the Florida spaceport awaiting shipment of the SLS core stage once it completes testing at a NASA facility in Mississippi.