Live coverage: Japanese navigation satellite launches on H-2A rocket

The European-Japanese BepiColombo spacecraft flew by Venus late Wednesday, using the planet’s gravity to help redirect the probe toward its ultimate destination of Mercury.

Advancing the future of weather forecasting in the U.S., a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 6:42 p.m. EST (2342 GMT) today to deploy the GOES-R satellite, anext-generation geostationary observatory that promises unprecedented clarity and speed in tracking storms. Follow the ascent in our live journal.

Churning out the launches at a rapid pace, the Atlas 5 program sent another rocket soaring like clockwork Thursday for deployment of a national security satellite duo from California.