Live coverage: Atlas 5 blasts off from California

Ground crews at Vandenberg Air Force Base on California’s Central Coast hoisted NASA’s InSight Mars lander atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket Monday, kicking off nearly two weeks of integrated tests and checkouts before the probe’s interplanetary launch window opens May 5.

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.

A sophisticated combat-ready U.S. military missile warning satellite moved to its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Saturday on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, ready for liftoff Monday afternoon.