Live coverage: SpaceX launches 60 more Starlink satellites

NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy’s family will be watching remotely from halfway around the world when he blasts off April 9 from Kazakhstan to begin a six-month expedition on the International Space Station.

Launching the Wideband Global SATCOM 8 satellite for the U.S. military, a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket thundered away from Cape Canaveral at 6:53 p.m. EST (2353 GMT).

An unmanned cargo freighter carrying nearly four tons of supplies and science, launched and operated commercially for NASA, blasted off from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday atop an Atlas 5 rocket bound for the International Space Station.