Live coverage: Ariane 5 launches for DirecTV

A Proton rocket launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with the EchoStar 21 communications satellite Thursday, the heaviest commercial payload ever flown aboard a Russian booster.

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle lifted off at 2234 GMT (6:34 p.m. EDT) Wednesday with the country’s ninth navigation satellite, bolstering a regional positioning and timing network after the loss of a navigation craft on a previous PSLV mission last year.

A Chinese Kuaizhou 1A rocket launched Tuesday with the first two spacecraft for China’s planned 80-satellite Xingyun communications and data relay constellation.