Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an International Launch Services Proton rocket with the Astra 2G communications satellite for SES of Luxembourg. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
News
Launch failure probe prompts engine swap on Soyuz crew’s rocket
Russian engineers will replace rocket engines on two Soyuz rockets assigned to send a batch of supplies and the next crew to the International Space Station after an investigation revealed foreign objects or a manufacturing defect led to the crash of a Progress cargo craft on launch in December, according to Russian media reports and a statement from the Russian space agency.
Mission Reports
Live coverage: Arianespace declares success on first flight of the year
A Russian Soyuz rocket lifted off Friday night from a tropical spaceport in French Guiana with a commercial communications satellite setting off on a dual mission to demonstrate new space technologies and bridge the Atlantic with data, video and voice relays. Launch occurred at 0103:34 GMT Saturday (8:03:34 p.m. EST Friday).
Mission Reports
Live coverage: Three-man crew, including first UAE astronaut, lands in Kazakhstan
A Russian commander, his NASA co-pilot and the first Emirati to fly in space returned to Earth Thursday with a fiery re-entry inside the Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft on the way to an on-target parachute-assisted landing in Kazakhstan at 6:59 a.m. EDT (1059 GMT), a few hours after undocking from the International Space Station.