Live coverage: Atlas 5 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral

Four satellites tucked inside the tip of a Soyuz rocket lifted off Thursday, heading for a 5,000-mile-high orbit to expand the reach of O3b’s broadband communications network. Liftoff from the European-run spaceport in French Guiana occurred at 1:37 p.m. EST (1837 GMT).

Canada’s three new Radarsat Earth observation satellites were encapsulated inside the payload fairing of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket ahead of their liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Two U.S. military satellite launches planned for this fall from Cape Canaveral are being delayed to 2018 due to separate factors, the Air Force says.