Live coverage: Ariane 5 rocket deploys satellites for Australia, India

SpaceX’s fifth launch of replacement spacecraft for Iridium’s global voice and data communications network is set for March 29 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a flight that Iridium hopes will signal the start of a brisk pace of West Coast missions to complete deployment of the telecom company’s initial 75-satellite constellation this summer.

Skywatchers and early risers across Florida enjoyed dazzling views of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket climbing into space Thursday morning from Cape Canaveral with a U.S. military communications satellite.

SpaceX and the Egyptian satellite operator Nilesat have signed a contract to launch the Nilesat 301 communications craft on a Falcon 9 rocket in 2022, SpaceX confirmed this week.