Snapshots: Soyuz takes off

Juggling simultaneous launch campaigns on both coasts, a team of SpaceX engineers put a Falcon 9 rocket through a customary countdown rehearsal and hold-down firing Tuesday at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California ahead of a scheduled liftoff Sunday.

An Ariane 5 rocket launch Tuesday added four more navigation satellites to Europe’s Galileo network with an on-target deployment following liftoff from a jungle spaceport on the northeastern coast of South America.

A sharp-eyed Chinese Earth-imaging satellite rode a Long March 4B booster into orbit Tuesday, tying the record for the highest number of space launches China has achieved in a single year.