Live coverage: International crew lands in Kazakhstan

After a two-day delay caused by unfavorable high-altitude winds, an Ariane 5 rocket lifted off Saturday at 3:40 p.m. EST (2040 GMT) from French Guiana with communications satellites for DirecTV and India.

Final preparations began this weekend at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi to load super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the massive core stage of the Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket for the first time as soon as Monday.

This time-lapse video shows a view of launch pad 39A as SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft were raised vertical at the historic seaside complex Thursday, May 21, in preparation for liftoff on a piloted test flight to the International Space Station.