Live coverage: Two satellites lift off aboard Ariane 5

A European Vega rocket deployed six commercial satellites in orbit, including a new Airbus-built eye-in-the-sky for high-resolution Earth-imaging, on a successful launch from French Guiana on Wednesday night after two of the last three Vega missions failed.

After a brief delay to chase away a boat from offshore waters, Japan’s H-2A rocket launched at 0650 GMT (1:50 a.m. EST) with the Telstar 12 Vantage telecom satellite. The launch from marks the first flight of an H-2A rocket with an upgraded upper stage, and the launcher’s first dedicated commercial mission.

An International Launch Services Proton rocket lifted off with a communications satellite for Intelsat and DirecTV at 0710 GMT (3:10 a.m. EDT) Thursday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan after a one-day delay to resolve an issue with an electrical connector on the booster.