Live coverage: Space station crew back on Earth

Topped with Australian and Indian communications satellites, an Ariane 5 rocket successfully flew into orbit from the jungle of French Guiana on Wednesday. Liftoff occurred at 2030 GMT (4:30 p.m. EDT).

A 139-foot-tall Antares rocket is slated for a predawn launch Monday from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, carrying a Cygnus supply ship heading for the International Space Station.

A European Vega rocket deployed six commercial satellites in orbit, including a new Airbus-built eye-in-the-sky for high-resolution Earth-imaging, on a successful launch from French Guiana on Wednesday night after two of the last three Vega missions failed.