Live coverage: SpaceX Falcon 9 launches

Tracking information released by the U.S. military indicates two government payloads rode a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket into orbit Dec. 19 on the NROL-108 mission, a dedicated launch for the National Reconnaissance Office.

An Ariane 5 rocket fired into space from a tropical spaceport in French Guiana on Wednesday, successfully delivering two television broadcast satellites into high-altitude orbits for DirecTV and Sky Mexico.

The 10th dedicated cargo delivery mission by SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, and the first to liftoff from launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, will carry more than 5,000 pounds of equipment to the International Space Station.