Live coverage: Two satellites lift off aboard Ariane 5

Launch campaigns at the European-run spaceport in French Guiana — a home base for Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega rockets — have been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, Arianespace said Monday.

Alain Charmeau took charge of Airbus Safran Launchers when it formed in 2015 from the merger of Airbus and Safran’s rocket divisions, and his first major task is to spearhead development of Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket set for a debut launch in 2020.

South Korea’s Anasis 2 military communications satellite, built in Europe by Airbus, lifted off Monday from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on top of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Launch occurred at 5:30 p.m. EDT (2130 GMT).