Live coverage: Ariane 5 soars into space from Kourou

An Ariane 5 rocket sent two Intelsat communications satellites into orbit Wednesday after liftoff from Europe’s space base in French Guiana at 2216 GMT (6:16 p.m. EDT; 7:16 p.m. local time).

A powerful new Indian launcher and a precursor to a future piloted space capsule flew to the edge of space on a 20-minute test mission Thursday. See photos of the rocket’s liftoff and the landing craft after splashdown in the Bay of Bengal.

A Japanese H-2A rocket launched at 5:58 p.m. EDT (2158 GMT) Sunday from the Tanegashima Space Center with the Emirates Mars Mission’s Hope orbiter, the UAE’s first probe to Mars.