Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Vega rocket with the European Space Agency’s Intermediate Experimental Vehicle. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
Atlas 5
Decades in the making, Solar Orbiter finally meets launcher at Cape Canaveral
The European-built Solar Orbiter spacecraft was installed on top of its United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 launcher Friday at Cape Canaveral, ready for final charging and checkouts before liftoff Feb. 9 to finally begin a more than $1.5 billion science mission first approved by the European Space Agency nearly 20 years ago.
H-2A
Live coverage: Launch of Emirates Mars Mission rescheduled for Sunday
The launch of a Japanese H-2A rocket with the Emirates Mars Mission, a Mars orbiter developed in partnership between Emirati and U.S. scientists, was delayed Tuesday due to poor weather at the H-2A’s launch site on Tanegashima Island in southern Japan. Officials later announced that liftoff would not occur Thursday, again citing bad weather at the launch site. A new launch attempt is scheduled for Sunday, weather permitting.
