Live coverage: Vega rocket launches with LISA Pathfinder

Four astronauts flying on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon “Resilience” spacecraft reached the International Space Station late Monday, one day after launching from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The capsule autonomously docked with the space station at 11:01 p.m. EST Monday (0401 GMT Tuesday).

Two communications satellites owned by Saudi Arabian and Indian operators rocketed into orbit Tuesday on top of a European Ariane 5 rocket, the first of up to 13 launches planned from French Guiana this year.

The European Space Agency’s $550 million Aeolus science mission, the product of a drawn-out 16-year development effort that required engineers to master new technologies, is in the starting blocks on a launch pad in French Guiana awaiting liftoff Wednesday to monitor wind speeds from space for the first time on a global scale.