Live coverage: Ariane 5 blasts off with two Intelsat satellites

A Russian Soyuz rocket lifted off Friday from French Guiana with four broadband satellites for the O3b network, which provides high-speed connectivity to developing countries, ships and other customers who lack a reliable Internet link.

An Ariane 5 rocket is counting down to a second launch attempt Saturday to carry two communications satellites into space for DISH Network and Indonesian banking customers, taking the heaviest payload ever launched into geostationary transfer orbit.

The launch of a Japanese H-2A rocket with the Emirates Mars Mission, a Mars orbiter developed in partnership between Emirati and U.S. scientists, was delayed Tuesday due to poor weather at the H-2A’s launch site on Tanegashima Island in southern Japan. Officials later announced that liftoff would not occur Thursday, again citing bad weather at the launch site. A new launch attempt is scheduled for Sunday, weather permitting.