Live coverage: Two satellites blast off on Ariane 5

Two U.S.-built Intelsat communications satellites destined for different missions fired into space from French Guiana just after sunset Wednesday, vaulting due east over the Atlantic Ocean before separating from their Ariane 5 launcher right on target in geostationary transfer orbit.

An Indian rocket lifted off with two British-built Earth-imaging satellites at 1638 GMT (12:38 p.m. EDT) Sunday — one developed with the financial backing of the UK government to demonstrate radar reconnaissance technology, and another destined for use by a commercial imaging company in Asia.

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft made a touch and go landing on asteroid Bennu at 6:12 p.m. EDT (2212 GMT) Tuesday. The craft aimed to collect samples from the asteroid’s gravely surface for return to Earth in 2023 for scientists to search for clues about the origins and evolution of the solar system.