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

An International Launch Services Proton rocket launched at 7:16 p.m. EST Sunday (0016 GMT Monday) with the Yamal 401 communications satellite for Gazprom Space Systems. The rocket’s Breeze M upper stage will deploy the spacecraft into geostationary orbit about nine hours after liftoff.

The term “direct flight” will go to new heights Friday with a four-hour flight by a Soyuz rocket and its Fregat upper stage to deliver five satellites to three distinct orbital destinations hundreds of miles above Earth.

Russia says a design bug from the pairing of a Progress spacecraft with an upgraded version of the venerable Soyuz launcher led to the loss of a resupply mission bound for the International Space Station on April 28.