Video: Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from pad 39A (members only)

The SpaceX Dragon capsule is released from the International Space Station’s robotic arm to fly home Tuesday.

Rocket Lab’s first launch of the year lifted off Thursday at 7:27 p.m. EDT (2327 GMT) after a four-day delay to replace a video transmitter and wait for improved weather. The company’s Electron rocket launched from Mahia Peninsula on New Zealand’s North Island with a technology demonstration satellite for DARPA, the U.S. military research and development agency.

A Chinese Long March 3B rocket deployed the Tiantong 1-03 satellite to provide mobile communications services after a successful launch Tuesday, the first of more than 40 Chinese space missions set for liftoff in 2021.