Atlas/Cygnus pre-launch news conference

Onboard video cameras captured critical events during the 50th Atlas 5 rocket launch, beaming back views in stunning clarity of staging and spacecraft separation.

With a robot rather than a cosmonaut in the commander’s seat, a Russian Soyuz spacecraft rocketed into orbit from Kazakhstan late Wednesday (U.S. time) en route to the International Space Station on a critical test flight before crews begin riding an upgraded Soyuz booster next year.

Ten new satellites for Iridium’s $3 billion next-generation communications network are set for launch Monday from California’s Central Coast aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.