Live coverage: Soyuz crew capsule departs station, lands in Kazakhstan

An Ariane 5 rocket has blasted off from a tropical launch pad in French Guiana on nearly 3 million pounds of thrust, hoisting two U.S.-built communications satellites to orbit for commercial owners in Brazil and Japan.

Departing Expedition 49 Commander Anatoly Ivanishin hands over International Space Station command to NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough.

Two days after a successful launch from California, SpaceX fired off another Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Wednesday, this one carrying a Dragon cargo ship loaded with 5,660 pounds of equipment and supplies bound for the International Space Station.