Live coverage: Falcon 9 disintegrates after launch

Two panels of managers and scientists presented details of SpaceX’s 16th operational resupply flight to the International Space Station on the eve of its launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral.

America’s most experienced astronaut says her fully commercial visit to the International Space Station this week is a critical stepping stone on the road to space tourism, private-sector orbital research and development of commercially operated space stations.

SpaceX’s second Falcon 9 flight of the year lifted off Jan. 31 from Cape Canaveral with GovSat 1, a U.S.-built satellite funded by SES and the government of Luxembourg to provide secure communications for military and civil defense authorities.