Live coverage: Proton fires into space with Eutelsat 9B

An Ariane 5 launcher uniquely modified to loft four of Europe’s Galileo navigation satellites on one flight has received its payload for liftoff next week in French Guiana.

SpaceX successfully deployed 60 more Starlink satellites into orbit Wednesday following launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8:16 a.m. EDT (1216 GMT). One of the nine Merlin engines on the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage shut down prematurely during ascent, but the launcher was still able to reach the mission’s targeted orbit.

Making its third try after back-to-back aborts, a Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched the commercial Intelsat 35e communications satellite Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff from launch pad 39A occurred at 7:38 p.m. EDT (2338 GMT).