Live coverage: Soyuz rocket lifts off with new Galileo satellites

One job deemed essential by the European Space Agency coronavirus pandemic involves shepherding the BepiColombo spacecraft through a high-speed flyby of planet Earth next month, an immovable event on the $1.8 billion mission’s seven-year journey to Mercury.

A Soyuz rocket streaked into sunny skies over a new multibillion-dollar Siberian spaceport Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin watching from a nearby viewing stand, opening another gateway to space for satellites, and eventually cosmonaut crews.

A communications satellite to broadcast high-speed Internet to remote parts of Australia and a new platform to beam television and multimedia programming across India are fastened to the top of an Ariane 5 rocket for launch Wednesday.