Live coverage: Soyuz rocket lifts off with new Galileo satellites

An Ariane 5 rocket is poised for a rare overnight launch early Wednesday, and these photos show the 180-foot-tall launcher on the eve of liftoff with a multi-mission Eutelsat communications satellite.

United Launch Alliance called off the planned launch of an Atlas 5 rocket Wednesday at Cape Canaveral to resolve a problem with valves at the launch pad, while a SpaceX team a mile-and-a-half to the south readied a Falcon 9 rocket for liftoff Thursday evening with a GPS navigation satellite for the U.S. military.

A mysterious small satellite built by the German company OHB, purported to be a pathfinder for a Chinese-owned communications constellation, took off from New Zealand Wednesday and soared into orbit on top of a Rocket Lab Electron launcher.