Live coverage: Vega rocket blasts off from French Guiana on commercial flight

The planned launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Tuesday from Cape Canaveral of a South Korean military communications satellite has been delayed in order to address an issue on the launcher’s second stage, and potentially replace the hardware if necessary, officials said Monday.

A Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo craft departed the International Space Station Friday to close out a three-month stay, then raised its orbit to release multiple experimental nanosatellites for NASA, the U.S. military and research institutions, including one that was snap-assembled by astronauts using 3D-printed parts produced on the station.

Japan’s sixth automated logistics vehicle packed with 4.5 tons of supplies approached the International Space Station for a laser-guided rendezvous, culminating with grapple of the HTV cargo craft by the station’s robotic arm at 1037 GMT (5:37 a.m. EST) Tuesday.