Live coverage: NASA planet-hunting satellite launched by SpaceX

A solid-fueled Vega rocket has been stacked on a launch pad in French Guiana for liftoff Aug. 1 with two Israeli-built satellites — one developed in partnership with the French space agency for environmental research, and another to gather intelligence for the Italian military.

Two days after blasting off from Virginia’s Eastern Shore, Orbital ATK’s Cygnus supply ship reached its destination Tuesday. The automated spacecraft packed with 3.7 tons of supplies and experiments was captured by the International Space Station’s robotic arm at 5:04 a.m. EST (1004 GMT).

A new satellite built to extend a 24-year series of joint U.S.-European ocean observatories climbed away from a foggy California launch pad and sailed into orbit more than 800 miles above Earth on Sunday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.