Live coverage: SpaceX supply ship returns to Earth

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 1:50 a.m. EDT (0550 GMT) Sunday with the Telstar 19 VANTAGE communications satellite, a powerhouse spacecraft designed to beam broadband and in-flight WiFi signals across the Americas and the North Atlantic. The rocket’s first stage successfully landed at sea aboard SpaceX’s drone ship.

NASA has signed a $490 million agreement with the Russian government to ferry U.S. astronauts to and from the International Space Station in 2018 and 2019 as a hedge in case of delays to Boeing and SpaceX crew capsules.

The launch added another 13 satellites featuring Direct to Cell capabilities to SpaceX’s growing constellation. Liftoff happened at 5:07 a.m. PDT (8:07 a.m. EDT, 1207 UTC)