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

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the Hispasat 30W-6 communications satellite into orbit around 33 minutes later.

The first in a planned multi-decade series of European land imaging satellites is fastened on top of a solid-fueled Vega launcher at a French Guiana space base for liftoff Monday, kicking off a mission to track everything from global crop growth to urban sprawl.

Nine Merlin main engines on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket ignited at 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT) Friday, April 17, during a hold-down test-firing on launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.