Live coverage: International crew lands in Kazakhstan

SpaceX’s fired the engines of its Falcon Heavy rocket at launch pad 39A at 12:30 p.m. EST (1730 GMT) on Wednesday. The crucial pre-launch engine test has been repeatedly delayed since the rocket returned to the launch pad earlier this month.

A long-delayed Russian science module was transported by train from Moscow to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan earlier this month for a final series of electrical tests and outfitting before launch to the International Space Station next year.

Watch the post-launch news conference from the Kennedy Space Center following the successful launch of an Atlas 5 rocket on December 6, carrying the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo ship bound for the International Space Station.