Snapshots: Soyuz takes off

Five European satellites packaged inside an aerodynamic fairing have joined a Soyuz rocket its launch pad in the French Guiana jungle for a roaring ride into orbit Friday.

A solid-fueled small satellite launcher named Jielong 1 fired into orbit Saturday on its first flight from northwestern China, debuting a new rocket developed by a spinoff of China’s state-owned launch vehicle manufacturer using a “commercial business model.”

When the first Delta 2 rocket took off on Valentine’s Day 1989, ideas like navigating by smartphone and driving robots on Mars were science fiction. More than 150 launches over the last 30 years helped change all that.