Live coverage: 400th Proton rocket takes off with Russian satellite

South Korea’s space agency has signed a contract to launch an Earth observation satellite into orbit in 2020 aboard Russia’s Angara rocket, giving the new booster its first commercial customer, International Launch Services announced Monday.

NASA commander Mike Hopkins, pilot Victor Glover, astronaut Shannon Walker, and Japanese mission specialist Soichi Noguchi wrapped up a 167-day mission early Sunday with a splashdown at sea aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule at around 2:56 a.m. EDT (0656 GMT).

It will take more than 12 hours from liftoff of the European Space Agency’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter until engineers verify the mission is on track for Mars after a series of critical in-space maneuvers by the Proton rocket’s Breeze M upper stage.