Live coverage: Orion lands in Pacific

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasted off at 6:18 a.m. EDT (1018 GMT).to deploy the Navy’s fourth MUOS satellite that will expand coverage to encompass the globe with mobile communications.

A Russian Soyuz rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 2:07 a.m. EDT (0607 GMT) Monday with 38 small and medium-size satellites for customers in 18 countries.

Japan’s third navigation satellite rode an H-2A rocket into orbit Saturday from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan, one week after officials aborted a countdown to resolve a helium leak in the vehicle’s first stage. Liftoff occurred at 0529 GMT (1:29 a.m. EDT) Saturday.