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

A United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 8:09 p.m. EST Thursday (0109 GMT Friday). The long-delayed mission is carrying a classified spy satellite into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office.

The first in a new constellation of Russian Arctic weather satellites is poised for launch on top of a Soyuz rocket Sunday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

With a robot rather than a cosmonaut in the commander’s seat, a Russian Soyuz spacecraft rocketed into orbit from Kazakhstan late Wednesday (U.S. time) en route to the International Space Station on a critical test flight before crews begin riding an upgraded Soyuz booster next year.