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

Six RD-276 engines powered a Russian Proton rocket off the launch pad Wednesday at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, boosting a television broadcast payload for Eutelsat and the first commercial robotic satellite servicing spacecraft into orbit.

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).

The launch of a Russian Soyuz rocket July 14 with more than 70 satellites was captured in multiple views from a sharp-eyed orbiting nanosatellite and cameras positioned around the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.