Live coverage: Vega rocket launches with LISA Pathfinder

Check out photos of a solid-fueled Vega launcher as it zipped away from its launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana, with Europe’s IXV mission Wednesday.

Technicians transferred an Ariane 5 rocket loaded with two DirecTV broadcasting satellites to a launch pad in French Guiana on Tuesday, one day before the European launcher is set for liftoff.

SpaceX’s Dragon supply ship reached the International Space Station on Wednesday, with astronaut Jeff Williams grappling the unpiloted spacecraft with the research lab’s robotic arm at 6:56 a.m. EDT (1056 GMT) after an automated rendezvous.