Atlas 5 launch as seen from the KSC Press Site (members only)

A Soyuz rocket carrying a military spy satellite for the United Arab Emirates lifted off from French Guiana at 8:33 p.m. EST Tuesday (0133 GMT Wednesday). A launch attempt Sunday night was scrubbed due to the risk of lightning, and a countdown Monday was called off due to a telemetry issue associated with the range safety system at the Guiana Space Center.

A heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket propelled China’s first Mars landing mission toward the Red Planet on Thursday after launching from a seaside spaceport on Hainan Island, the second of three international Mars probes expected to depart planet Earth this month.

NASA will say goodbye to the Spitzer Space Telescope this week after more than 16 years observing the most distant galaxies ever detected, planets orbiting other stars, and star-forming clouds of dust and gas.