Live coverage: Atlas 5 blasts off with Navy satellite

SpaceX and NASA launched a planet-hunting satellite Wednesday from Cape Canaveral, two days after calling off a launch attempt to conduct additional guidance, navigation and control analyses. Liftoff occurred at 6:51 p.m. EDT (2251 GMT), and the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket successfully landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

The unpiloted Russian Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft docked with the International Space Station on its second try at 11:08 p.m. EDT Monday (0308 GMT Tuesday), three days after aborting an approach due to a problem with the Kurs automated rendezvous system.

The escalating wildfire at Vandenberg Air Force Base grew even larger Monday despite the round-the-clock efforts of firefighters trying to bring the blaze under control before it threatens United Launch Alliance and SpaceX launch pads used by Atlas 5, Delta 4 and Falcon 9 rockets.