Live coverage: Falcon 9 disintegrates after launch

A United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket climbed into space Sunday with NASA’s Parker Solar Probe on a daring mission to explore the atmosphere of the sun. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral occurred at 3:31 a.m. EDT (0731 GMT).

The launch comes as the commercial astronaut mission, Polaris Dawn, is preparing for an on-orbit demonstration of the satellite internet service. Liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 6:45 p.m. PDT (9:45 p.m. EDT, 0145 UTC).

A three-man crew led by six-time space flier Yuri Malenchenko rode a Soyuz rocket into orbit Tuesday, speeding away from a Kazakh launch pad on a six-hour chase of the International Space Station. Docking occurred at 1733 GMT (12:33 p.m. EST).