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

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 10:30 p.m. EDT Thursday (0230 GMT Friday). The 229-foot-tall launch vehicle delivered 60 satellites to orbit to begin the deployment of SpaceX’s Starlink Internet network, a fleet of spacecraft that may eventually number thousands.

Two U.S.-built communications satellites rode the 100th European-made Ariane 5 rocket into orbit Tuesday from the jungle of French Guiana. Liftoff occurred at 2238 GMT (6:38 p.m. EDT) after a 45-minute delay caused by a range technical problem.

Continuing support of the International Space Station amid the coronavirus pandemic, Russian teams transferred a Soyuz rocket to a launch pad in Kazakhstan on Wednesday in preparation for liftoff with a Progress resupply freighter.