Live coverage: PSLV successfully launches from India

Seven Japanese and Vietnamese smallsats are set to ride Japan’s solid-fueled Epsilon launcher into orbit at 0050 GMT Friday (7:50 p.m. EST Thursday) on a mission that engineers say will demonstrate the light-class rocket’s ability to accommodate multiple payloads on a single flight.

Five years ago today — July 8, 2011 — Atlantis launched on the final space shuttle mission after 31 years as the centerpiece of America’s human spaceflight endeavors.

A Chinese-built communications satellite owned by Hong Kong-based operator launched Thursday aboard a Long March 3B rocket from the Xichang space base in southwest China.