Live coverage: ExoMars mission underway after Proton launch

China’s space agency said Friday the country’s first Mars rover safely touched down and began sending data back to Earth, joining the United States as the only two nations to successfully land and operate a spacecraft on the surface of the Red Planet.

Rocket Lab’s first mission since a failed launch in early July took off at 11:05 p.m. EDT Sunday (0305 GMT Monday) from New Zealand. The small satellite launcher carried into orbit a commercial radar remote sensing spacecraft for Capella Space.

United Launch Alliance and Boeing teams worked through the weekend on closeouts of the Starliner crew capsule, inspections and final outfitting of the Atlas 5 rocket. A launch readiness review Tuesday approved the continuation of final preparations for liftoff from Cape Canaveral Friday of the first Starliner spacecraft on an unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station.