Live coverage: Vega rocket launches with LISA Pathfinder

Two days after launching from Cape Canaveral with nearly 5,500 pounds of supplies and experiments, an automated SpaceX Dragon cargo craft approached the International Space Station Monday. The Dragon supply ship was grappled by the station’s robotic arm at 7:01 a.m. EDT (1101 GMT).

Blasting into space atop an Ariane 5 launcher, two communications satellites started missions Sunday to beam broadband services to ships, airplanes and offshore oil rigs for a commercial Norwegian operator and relay signals for the Italian and French armed forces.

Follow the major events during the launch of Europe’s LISA Pathfinder gravitational probe testbed, from liftoff of its Vega rocket booster from French Guiana through deployment into its initial orbit.