Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Japanese H-2A rocket with the Telstar 12 Vantage communications satellite. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
Mission Reports
Japanese spacecraft snags second sample from asteroid
Scientists celebrated another success with Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft late Wednesday (U.S. time), when the robot explorer accomplished a second pinpoint touch-and-go landing on asteroid Ryugu, this time to collect a sample of pristine dust and rock excavated by an explosive impactor earlier this year.
Mission Reports
Live coverage: Soyuz capsule brings home three-man crew
A three-man crew departed the International Space Station on Sunday, concluding more than five months aboard the orbiting research complex and heading for landing in Kazakhstan. Undocking of the Soyuz MS-07 spacecraft occurred at 0916 GMT (5:16 a.m. EDT), and the trio landed on the Kazakh steppe at 1239 GMT (8:39 a.m. EDT).