Live coverage: Ariane 5 blasts off with two Intelsat satellites

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral today at 7:42 p.m. EST (0042 GMT) to deploy the U.S. military’s SBIRS GEO Flight 3 observatory, equipped with advanced telescopic infrared vision to spot enemy missile launches, for early warning surveillance.

Inverted cables on the Vega rocket’s upper stage control system apparently caused the launcher to tumble minutes after liftoff Monday night, a failure that resulted in the loss of a Spanish Earth observation satellite and a French research probe, Arianespace officials said Tuesday.

SpaceX’s next launch with a European-built communications satellite has been delayed to no earlier than March 28 to study a problem with a helium pressurization system on the Falcon 9 rocket, officials said Tuesday.