Live coverage: Mission control loses contact with Indian moon lander

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.

The powerful Space Launch System rocket being built for NASA’s Artemis moon program by Boeing, using solid-propellant boosters from Northrop Grumman and main engines from Aerojet Rocketdyne, will have cost more than $18 billion by the time it blasts off on its maiden flight in 2021, NASA’s Office of Inspector General reported Tuesday.

An Israeli spacecraft has one shot Thursday to swing into orbit around the moon with a six-minute engine firing, a critical maneuver that will set up for the privately-funded probe’s historic landing attempt April 11.