Backed by a fresh capital infusion and regulatory rights to a valued slice of satellite communications spectrum, the space-based Internet company OneWeb has contracted with Arianespace and Virgin Galactic to deploy hundreds of refrigerator-sized spacecraft around Earth.

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft docked at the International Space Station early Friday, boosting the lab’s crew to nine for the next week and providing a ride home next March for two station crew members who are only halfway through a nearly yearlong stay aboard the lab complex.

An Ariane 5 rocket lifted off at 2143 GMT (5:43 p.m. EDT) Thursday from French Guiana with a pair of commercial TV broadcasting satellites for AT&T and Eutelsat.