Q&A with John Elbon, VP and general manager of Boeing’s space exploration division

An Ariane 5 rocket lifted off Thursday at 2345 GMT (7:45 p.m. EDT), flying from a French Guiana launch pad to geostationary transfer orbit with the ViaSat 2 and Eutelsat 172B communications satellites.

This is the ascent timeline to be followed by the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket in launching NASA’s MMS mission on March 12 at 10:44 p.m. EDT.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket fired into the night sky over Cape Canaveral just after midnight Wednesday, carrying the U.S. Air Force’s fourth AEHF communications satellite designed to enable secure voice, video and data links between U.S. and allied forces.