Live coverage: 400th Proton rocket takes off with Russian satellite

The second of three robotic resupply ships going to the International Space Station in two weeks has arrived at its launch pad in Kazakhstan for liftoff Thursday aboard a Soyuz rocket.

Europe’s MetOp-C weather satellite launched aboard a Russian-built Soyuz rocket toward polar orbit Tuesday night from French Guiana, joining an international fleet of meteorological observatories critical for global weather forecasting. Liftoff occurred at 7:47 p.m. EST Tuesday (0047 GMT Wednesday).

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and two Russian cosmonauts will ride a Soyuz ferry ship to the International Space Station early Friday, the first step in a record crew rotation requiring two launches and two landings with four different spacecraft in just three weeks.