Live coverage: SpaceX supply ship returns to Earth

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sporting a fresh cleaning and several refurbishments took off Thursday from a seaside launch pad in Florida to send an SES communications satellite into space, then landed on a platform in the Atlantic Ocean to repeat a feat the same booster achieved nearly one year ago.

Carrying more science research gear to the International Space Station than ever launched before by U.S. commercial logistics vehicles, the next Orbital ATK Cygnus freighter takes flight Tuesday.

The Antares rocket, Orbital ATK’s medium-class booster now with modern RD-181 engines, launches at 7:45 p.m. EDT (2345 GMT) from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on the eastern shore of Virginia.