Live coverage: Dragon cargo capsule returns to Earth

In a reshuffling of SpaceX’s launch schedule, a Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff no earlier than Dec. 8 on a mission to deliver several tons of supplies and experiments to the International Space Station and return to service a Cape Canaveral launch pad damaged in a catastrophic rocket explosion last year.

A Russian-built satellite hosting an array of X-ray telescopes is awaiting launch Friday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a mission to measure the mass and distance of colossal clusters of galaxies throughout the universe.

Putting on a holiday light show for Southern California and much of the desert southwest, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket fired into a twilight sky from the Pacific coastline Friday night to add 10 new satellites to Iridium’s upgraded communications network.