Live coverage: Falcon 9 rocket test-fired in Florida

Joining other established commercial geostationary satellite operators looking at fleets of communications platforms in low Earth orbit, Eutelsat announced Thursday it will launch a small testbed next year as a precursor to a potential network of data relay craft flying a few hundred miles above the planet.

An Ariane 5 rocket ignited its hydrogen-fueled Vulcain 2 main engine and two solid rocket boosters to send two Intelsat communications satellite into orbit this week, casting a brilliant glow across its launch base carved from the jungle of French Guiana.

A novel NOAA climate observatory with a unique past arrived at Cape Canaveral to begin two months of launch preparations, testing, and fueling before liftoff aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.