Photos: Delta 4 lights up the sky for night owl launch

Arianespace’s launch team in French Guiana rolled an Ariane 5 booster to its launch pad Tuesday and readied the rocket for liftoff Wednesday with an Inmarsat satellite to connect airline passengers over Europe and an Indian communications craft.

Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket will deliver a Cygnus supply ship into orbit Wednesday to begin a day-and-a-half pursuit of the International Space Station.

A Japanese H-2A launcher blasted off from an idyllic island spaceport Tuesday, dispatching a daring six-year expedition to bring a piece of an asteroid back to Earth.