Live coverage: Proton soars into space with Inmarsat satellite

Check out photos of Wednesday’s launch of a Russian Rockot booster, derived from a decommissioned Soviet-era nuclear missile, with Europe’s Sentinel 3B Earth observation satellite.

Russia’s next Progress cargo freighter rolled out to its launch pad in Kazakhstan on Tuesday in a final move before blasting off Thursday at the tip of a Soyuz rocket to resupply and refuel the International Space Station.

A Falcon 9 launcher bolted into the sky over Florida’s Space Coast on Friday, adding the brilliant orange glare of rocket exhaust to a spectacular sunset as the 229-foot-tall booster propelled the SES 9 communications satellite into orbit to serve the Asia-Pacific with high-definition television programming and connectivity on-the-go.