Live coverage: Atlas 5 countdown and launch journal

An Ariane 5 rocket launched Tuesday at 2101 GMT (4:01 p.m. EST) from French Guiana with a communications satellite to provide broadband and television services for the government of Saudi Arabia and commercial clients across Europe and the Middle East, and an Indian payload to help bridge the digital divide in South Asia.

An Atlas 5 rocket lifts off in the early morning Sun from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral carrying a top secret satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. (Membership required)

The most powerful Atlas rocket to ever fly from the West Coast is poised for launch Thursday to deliver a secret payload into orbit while debuting a new upper stage engine.