Photos: Predawn launch of Atlas 5

An Ariane 5 rocket lifted off at 2143 GMT (5:43 p.m. EDT) Thursday from French Guiana with a pair of commercial TV broadcasting satellites for AT&T and Eutelsat.

NOAA’s JPSS 1 weather satellite is enshrouded inside the nose fairing of a Delta 2 rocket, awaiting liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on a seven-year mission to collect data to improve global weather forecasts.

A new Russian navigation satellite lifted off Saturday on top of a Soyuz rocket, riding the three-stage booster and a Fregat upper stage into orbit to supplement the country’s Glonass network providing precise global positioning and timing services.