Live coverage: Falcon 9 blasts off with X-37B mini-shuttle

A new communications spacecraft for Hispasat, a Spanish communications satellite operator, will get a boost from a Russian Proton rocket Monday toward an orbital position more than 22,000 miles above Earth.

Three space station residents launched Friday from Kazakhstan, kicking off a nearly yearlong expedition to help plan for future voyages to Mars. The crew blasted off on a Soyuz rocket heading for the International Space Station at 1943 GMT (3:43 p.m. EDT). Docking occurred at 0136 GMT (9:36 p.m. EDT).

The Falcon 9 rocket flew on a south-easterly trajectory upon launching from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Liftoff happened at 2:35 a.m. PDT (5:35 a.m. EDT / 0935 UTC).