Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an Ariane 5 rocket with the SES 14 and Al Yah 3 communications satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
Mission Reports
SpaceX nails Starship landing, but rocket explodes minutes later
The latest prototype of SpaceX’s Starship launch vehicle — Starship SN10 — took off from the company’s South Texas test site and flew to an altitude of more than 30,000 feet Wednesday, then descended to a controlled vertical landing after two previous test vehicles crashed at touchdown. Minutes later, the 16-story test rocket exploded in a fireball, but the test flight appeared to be a major step forward in the early stages of the Starship program.
Falcon 9
Live coverage: Falcon 9 rocket launch put on hold
SpaceX has postponed the launch of its next Falcon 9 rocket indefinitely. The rocket was originally scheduled take off Wednesday from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida with a top secret U.S. government payload named Zuma. A few minutes after launch, the Falcon 9’s first stage will return for a landing at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Antares Launcher
Space station resupply mission successfully launches from Virginia
A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket, upgraded to carry heavier payloads into orbit, lifted off Saturday from a launch pad on Virginia’s Eastern Shore with a Cygnus supply ship in pursuit of the International Space Station with fresh food, a collection of biological and technology demonstration experiments, a zero-g baking oven, and repair gear for an aging $2 billion particle physics experiment.