Live coverage: H-2A rocket delivers on 30th flight

NASA’s Kepler spacecraft is stable and out of emergency mode, officials said Monday, and the observatory is downlinking data to help engineers determine what caused it to suspend science operations last week.

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral at 4:10 p.m. EDT (2010 GMT) Tuesday on the company’s first mission dedicated to the newly-established U.S. Space Force. The Falcon 9 carried a GPS navigation satellite into orbit.

SpaceX is preparing this week for the second flight of the upgraded “Block 5” version of the company’s Falcon 9 rocket, and a hold-down firing of the booster was accomplished Wednesday at Cape Canaveral ahead of a middle-of-the-night launch this weekend with a Canadian-owned commercial communications satellite. The static fire test occurred at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) Wednesday.