Video: Time lapse of ATV’s final departure from ISS

Five satellites rode a Soyuz booster into orbit Monday from French Guiana, and these spectacular photos from Europe’s tropical spaceport show the legendary rocket’s fiery departure from the edge of the lush Amazon jungle.

SpaceX’s Dragon spaceship, carrying more than 4,100 pounds of cargo and research specimens, descended to a predawn splashdown Monday in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Los Angeles, completing the first re-flight of one of SpaceX’s unpiloted supply ships to the International Space Station.

An Ariane 5 rocket launch Tuesday added four more navigation satellites to Europe’s Galileo network with an on-target deployment following liftoff from a jungle spaceport on the northeastern coast of South America.