Live coverage: Ariane 5 rocket deploys satellites for Australia, India

A 229-foot-tall (70-meter) SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stood on launch pad 39A on Monday afternoon on the eve of a scheduled blastoff with the EchoStar 23 television broadcast satellite.

A Dragon supply ship owned and operated by SpaceX departed the International Space Station early Monday and returned to Earth for a predawn splashdown in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Los Angeles with scientific specimens and other equipment. Astronaut Jack Fischer released the Dragon cargo capsule from the station’s robotic arm at 2:41 a.m. EDT (0641 GMT), and splashdown occurred around 8:12 a.m. EDT (1212 GMT).

The Israeli company which owned a commercial communications satellite destroyed in an explosion last week at SpaceX’s launch pad in Florida will receive more than $200 million in payouts stemming from the incident, and hopes to purchase a replacement, officials said Monday.