Live coverage: Two-man crew departs space station, returns home

Ten new satellites joined Iridium’s global voice and data relay constellation Sunday after a successful launch, and landing, of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Liftoff occurred at 1:25 p.m. PDT (4:25 p.m. EDT; 2025 GMT).

Stymied by Russian government dithering that has indefinitely grounded a launch on a modified Soviet-era missile, Iridium officials say that SpaceX agreed to move up to July the first of seven Falcon 9 launches from California with the company’s next-generation mobile communications satellites.

This is the launch timeline to be followed by the Atlas 5 rocket’s ascent into orbit from Cape Canaveral with the commercial Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo freighter headed to the International Space Station. Launch is scheduled for Tuesday at 11:11 a.m. EDT (1511 GMT).