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

Rocket Lab launched an Electron rocket from New Zealand at 9:20 p.m. EST Thursday (0220 GMT Friday) carrying 30 small payloads into low Earth orbit. The company said the first stage of the Electron rocket splashed down in the Pacific Ocean under a parachute, a major step in Rocket Lab’s rocket reuse program.

Japan launched an optical reconnaissance satellite from the Tanegashima Space Center Sunday aboard an H-2A rocket after a 12-day delay caused by a nitrogen leak.

The tiny European Philae lander after its historic touchdown on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko has apparently ended as batteries depleted and the craft fell asleep Friday night.