Video: Falcon 9 test-fired before fourth Starlink launch (members only)

Closing out a banner year of launches, an Ariane 5 rocket thundered into space Wednesday from French Guiana with two commercial communications satellites manufactured in California to expand television and broadband access in Latin America and broadcast television programming in Japan.

Miss Monday night’s launch from Kennedy Space Center? Watch a replay of the Falcon 9 rocket taking off with the Inmarsat 5 F4 communications satellite, a heavyweight spacecraft designed to link airliners, ships and others on-the-go via broadband.

The Falcon 9 rocket launched an undisclosed number of satellites, which are believed to be Starshield satellites, a government variant of Starlink. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened Friday, June 19, at 1:50:45 a.m. PDT (4:50:45 a.m. EDT / 0850:45 UTC).