Live coverage: Ariane 5 successful in middle-of-the-night launch

Carrying the ambition of an entrepreneur with a passion for connecting the world, a half-dozen satellites lifted off Wednesday aboard a Soyuz rocket from the edge of the Amazon jungle in South America to kick off a series of at least 21 planned launches to deploy OneWeb’s global Internet network.

Blasting off shortly before sunset in French Guiana, an Ariane 5 rocket delivered two communications satellites to orbit Wednesday for the Indian space agency and companies based in Greece and the United Kingdom.

India’s GSLV Mk.3 rocket took off Monday on its first full-scale orbital test flight, delivering the GSAT 19 communications satellite to an on-target orbit after successfully demonstrating new solid rocket boosters, a twin-engine core stage and an upgraded cryogenic upper stage engine.