Live coverage: Ariane 5 blasts off with two Intelsat satellites

A NASA spacecraft set to explore a metallic asteroid for the first time will launch in 2022, a year earlier than originally planned, and reach its destination in 2026, four years ahead of schedule, giving ground teams a shorter wait for the mission’s scientific payoff and shaving $100 million off the project’s total cost, officials said Wednesday.

The first Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket goes upright at launch pad 39A soon after sunrise on 10 May 2018. The rocket is due to launch the Bangabandhu 1 communications satellite for the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.

Russian officials could complete their investigation of a rocket failure Tuesday by mid-December, and multiple Russian news reports suggest the probe has narrowed to focus on the guidance computer on the Soyuz launcher’s Fregat upper stage.