Live coverage: Proton rocket blasts off with Astra 2G

Four satellites tucked inside the tip of a Soyuz rocket lifted off Thursday, heading for a 5,000-mile-high orbit to expand the reach of O3b’s broadband communications network. Liftoff from the European-run spaceport in French Guiana occurred at 1:37 p.m. EST (1837 GMT).

Veteran cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and rookie flight engineer Jack Fischer streaked into orbit aboard a Russian Soyuz ferry craft Thursday, chased down the International Space Station and glided to a smooth docking to complete a six-hour rendezvous.

Russia’s Progress MS-03 cargo crafted rode a Soyuz rocket into orbit Saturday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, beginning a two-day pursuit of the International Space Station.