Live coverage: European mini-shuttle back on Earth

An Ariane 5 rocket took off on a rare morning launch Thursday with four Galileo navigation satellites, the heavy-lifter’s first flight in support of the European positioning and timing fleet. Liftoff from French Guiana occurred at 1306 GMT (8:06 a.m. EST).

A Japanese H-2A rocket launched the fourth satellite for the country’s regional navigation network Monday. Liftoff from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan occurred at 2201:37 GMT (6:01:37 p.m. EDT).

A powerhouse communications satellite owned by Inmarsat has been fueled for liftoff on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Monday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a mission to provide broadband links for passengers and crews aboard ships and airplanes, while technicians are loading space station-bound supplies into a commercial Dragon cargo capsule and preparing a Bulgarian telecom for launch on two other SpaceX boosters by mid-June.