Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Japanese H-2A rocket carrying Hayabusa 2, a robotic spacecraft designed to collect samples from an asteroid and return the material to Earth. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
Falcon 9
Live coverage: Falcon 9 launches with TV satellite
SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket at 2 a.m. EDT (0600 GMT) Thursday, two days after high winds prevented liftoff. The nearly 23-story booster carried the EchoStar 23 communications satellite into orbit from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to provide broadcast television programming across Brazil.
Antares Launcher
Live coverage: Cygnus supply ship captured by space station’s robotic arm
Three days after launching from the Virginia coastline, an Orbital ATK Cygnus supply ship completed its final approach to the International Space Station on Thursday with more than 7,000 pounds of cargo and experiments. The automated freighter was captured by the station’s robotic arm at 5:26 a.m. EDT (0926 GMT).