Video: Falcon 9 launch of DSCOVR

Lifting off in the predawn hours from India’s island spaceport, a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle added a new navigation satellite to the country’s space-based positioning network this week.

Rocket Lab’s first full-up commercial launch is set for April 19, U.S. time, from the company’s privately-operated launch base in New Zealand with three U.S.-owned satellites to collect weather data.

A Russian Proton rocket lifted off Thursday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with the AsiaSat 9 satellite destined to provide television broadcast, video networking and data delivery services over the Asia-Pacific region. Launch occurred at 1852:16 GMT (2:52:16 p.m. EDT), beginning a series of maneuvers expected to last nine hours before AsiaSat 9 is deployed from the rocket.