Live coverage: SpaceX grounds launch to wait for better recovery weather

SpaceX is still working on a new, safer helium tank design needed for launches with astronauts, and the debut of the company’s upgraded Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket earlier this month did not count as one of seven successful missions in “crew configuration” NASA says it requires before putting astronauts aboard the vehicle, officials said Thursday.

A commercial Dragon supply freighter built and owned by SpaceX rocketed into a clear blue sky over Florida’s Space Coast Thursday with a menagerie of research experiments and holiday surprises heading for the International Space Station.

The first Ariane 5 launch since a mission flew off course Jan. 25, deploying two communications satellites into an off-target orbit, is underway. Liftoff with the DSN 1/Superbird 8 and Hylas 4 communications satellites occurred on time at 2134 GMT (5:34 p.m. EDT).