Live coverage: Falcon 9 rocket lifts off with fifth set of Iridium Next satellites

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral early Tuesday, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the EchoStar 23 communications satellite into orbit 34 minutes later.

The owners of a Russian airline hope to revive the Sea Launch program, a major player in the commercial launch business for a decade, after purchasing the company’s ships and ground infrastructure from Russian aerospace contractor RSC Energia.

The four astronauts preparing to ride SpaceX’s Crew Dragon “Resilience” into orbit climbed aboard their spaceship Thursday at the Kennedy Space Center in a practice run for a launch to the International Space Station planned Saturday night, while mission managers monitored weather and sea conditions in recovery areas across the Atlantic Ocean.