Live coverage: 400th Proton rocket takes off with Russian satellite

A Russian Proton rocket topped with a commercial U.S.-built communications satellite for AsiaSat is standing on a launch pad in Kazakhstan for liftoff Thursday.

Cape Canaveral was the departure point for more space launches in 2015 than in any year since 2003, with 17 takeoffs by Atlas, Falcon and Delta rockets hoisting U.S. military satellites, commercial payloads and cargo for the International Space Station.

SpaceX test-fired a Falcon 9 rocket for the second time Saturday after replacing a valve following an earlier static fire test Wednesday. The move has postponed the Falcon 9 rocket’s launch with the Amos 17 commercial communications satellite to no earlier than Tuesday.