Live coverage: Vega rocket launches with LISA Pathfinder

A reconnaissance satellite built in secrecy in France for the Moroccan government launched Tuesday on top of a Vega rocket from the Guiana Space Center in South America.

An Ariane 5 rocket has blasted off from a tropical launch pad in French Guiana on nearly 3 million pounds of thrust, hoisting two U.S.-built communications satellites to orbit for commercial owners in Brazil and Japan.

Scientists have selected Oxia Planum, a shallow basin connected to dried up channels carved by ancient water flows, as the prime landing site for Europe’s first Mars rover set for launch in 2018.