Take a walk around the Ariane 5 launch pad in French Guiana after the 16-story rocket arrived at the complex for liftoff Thursday with four European Galileo navigation satellites.
Read our launch preview for more information on the mission.
Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – G. BarbasteCredit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – G. BarbasteCredit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – G. Barbaste
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will go from Cape Canaveral to low Earth orbit in less than 10 minutes Friday night with a Dragon capsule heading for the International Space Station carrying more than 4,300 pounds of supplies and experiments.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket deployed South Korea’s first dedicated military satellite into orbit Monday a half-hour after a fiery launch from Cape Canaveral, helping fulfill an agreement between Lockheed Martin and the South Korean government in exchange for Korea’s purchase of F-35 fighter jets six years ago.
The Airbus-built Solar Orbiter spacecraft has been closed up inside the payload fairing of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket in preparation for liftoff from Cape Canaveral in February on a joint mission between the European Space Agency and NASA.