See inside Russia’s Soyuz capsule

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.

A Russian-made Soyuz rocket was launched from Europe’s space base in French Guiana on Monday at 2102 GMT (6:02 p.m. local; 5:02 p.m. EDT) with the Sentinel 1B environmental satellite.

Four days before its scheduled blastoff on a resupply run to the International Space Station, a Falcon 9 rocket ran through a countdown rehearsal and engine test Sunday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.