Live coverage: Ariane 5 blasts off with two Intelsat satellites

A steel tube built as a stand-in for the core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System has arrived at the Kennedy Space Center for a series of rehearsals to hone the skills of technicians before the real rocket reaches the spaceport, an oft-delayed milestone that could still be a year or more away.

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.

Spaceflight Now Members can watch a time-lapse replay of the Atlas 5 rocket’s rollout to pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station before the launch of the U.S. Air Force’s AEHF 5 communications satellite.