Soyuz

A Russian Soyuz rocket launched Monday with 36 more OneWeb internet satellites, the 12th of 19 Soyuz missions needed to deliver into orbit the company’s first-generation network of nearly 650 spacecraft.

OneWeb, Roscosmos, and Arianespace closed out the year with the launch of a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with 36 more Florida-built satellites for OneWeb’s globe internet network. The mission took off at 8:10:37 a.m. EST (1310:37 GMT), or 6:10 p.m. local time at Baikonur.

Two Japanese space tourists and a veteran Russian cosmonaut departed the International Space Station and landed back on Earth Sunday, capping a 12-day mission with a parachute-assisted touchdown in frigid Kazakhstan.

Deployment of Europe’s independent Galileo navigation network resumed Saturday night with an on-target launch of two satellites aboard a Soyuz rocket, the final Arianespace mission from French Guiana before the historic liftoff of the James Webb Space Telescope later this month.

Two more European Galileo navigation satellites have launched from French Guiana aboard a Russian-made Soyuz rocket and Fregat upper stage. Arianespace called off a launch attempt Friday night due to the risk of lightning at the spaceport. Liftoff occurred for 7:19 p.m. EST Saturday (0019 GMT Sunday).

Two more Galileo navigation satellites are set for liftoff Friday night from French Guiana on a Soyuz rocket, the first mission in more than three years to add to Europe’s space-based positioning and timing network. The mission was delayed from Wednesday by bad weather, then from Thursday due to the unavailability of a downrange tracking station.