Live coverage: H-2A rocket lifts off from Japan with navigation satellite

An Indian satellite built as a technological testbed for mobile communications successfully launched Thursday on top of a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, one of 10 space missions planned by India by the end of the year.

A commercial robotic lander developed by the Japanese company ispace was supposed to land on the moon at 12:40 p.m. EDT (1640 UTC) Tuesday, attempting to make history as the first privately-funded enterprise to achieve a controlled touchdown on the lunar surface. But mission controllers lost contact with the spacecraft just before landing.

A Chinese-built telecom satellite for Algeria successfully launched Sunday aboard a Long March 3B rocket, heading toward a perch more than 22,000 miles over the equator to provide television broadcasts, broadband Internet, remote education and emergency communications services.