Live coverage: Space station crew safely returns to Earth

The United Launch Alliance flight highlights reel for the Delta 2 rocket and NASA’s SMAP observatory from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Europe launched a sleek space plane more than 250 miles above Earth on Wednesday, testing its maneuverability, on-board guidance systems, and a next-generation heat shield as the experimental vehicle glided through the atmosphere toward a pinpoint splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

A Japanese H-2A rocket launched the fourth satellite for the country’s regional navigation network Monday. Liftoff from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan occurred at 2201:37 GMT (6:01:37 p.m. EDT).