Photos: Atlas 5 rolls out for launch

The first satellite in a new class of ultra-powerful communications satellites for Intelsat lifted off Wednesday aboard the first Ariane 5 flight of the year. Launch from French Guiana occurred at 2320 GMT (6:20 p.m. EST).

NASA expects to spend some $5 billion underwriting development of commercial spacecraft built by Boeing and SpaceX to carry astronauts to and from the space station, ending reliance on the Russians for crew flights and lowering the average cost per seat to around $58 million.

A U.S. military satellite that will fortify the “anytime, anywhere” communications infrastructure used by soldiers, ships, aircraft and drones was launched into orbit Thursday to improve the global connectivity that encompasses the planet.