Live coverage: SpaceX supply ship returns to Earth

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasted off at 6:18 a.m. EDT (1018 GMT).to deploy the Navy’s fourth MUOS satellite that will expand coverage to encompass the globe with mobile communications.

European engineers who developed a small satellite hitching a ride to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX supply ship Monday are gearing up for a first-of-a-kind experiment to examine ways to snare a chunk of space junk and tug it back to Earth.

The overnight launch marked the second Falcon 9 flight since the July 11 mishap that grounded the rocket. Liftoff happened at 1:09 a.m. EDT (0509 UTC).