Live coverage: Soyuz crew lands in Kazakhstan

Two NASA astronauts, a Japanese flier and a Russian cosmonaut plunged back to Earth Saturday, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego to wrap up a five-month mission.

NASA is announcing the astronauts who will fly the first crewed test flights of the SpaceX Dragon 2 and Boeing Starliner capsules next year. The event at the Johnson Space Center is due to get underway at 11am EDT (1500 GMT).

A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket lifted off Wednesday at 2:36 p.m. EDT (1836 GMT) from Cape Canaveral on a mission to place into orbit a fresh satellite for the Global Positioning System.