Q&A with Eric Smith, JWST program director

Sporting a new blue and white paint scheme to mark the upcoming 60th anniversary of the first human spaceflight, a Russian Soyuz rocket loaded with 38 international satellites has rolled out to its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan ahead of a planned liftoff Saturday.

This photo gallery includes a series of spectacular pictures of the launch of an Atlas 5 rocket Nov. 13 from Cape Canaveral with a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.

An Ariane 5 rocket will make its fourth flight of the year Wednesday, hauling two communications satellites into orbit for Inmarsat, Hellas-Sat and India’s space agency.