Live coverage: Space station crew safely returns to Earth

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was poised for launch Wednesday at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad carrying more than 5,600 pounds of supplies and experiments to the International Space Station.

Entering the final months of a 12-year mission, Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft is again moving closer to the oddball comet that has engaged scientists since it arrived in 2014, heading for a controlled “smash” landing on the comet’s rugged charcoal-colored surface at the end of September.

Europe’s Sentinel 2A land imaging satellite designed to glimpse cities, farms and forests from orbit launched aboard a Vega rocket. The 2,500-pound satellite lifted off at 0151:58 GMT Tuesday (9:51:58 p.m. EDT Monday).