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Live coverage: Soyuz lifts off from French Guiana
A Soyuz rocket lifted off Friday from a jungle spaceport in South America with two satellites for Europe's Galileo navigation network. The four-hour launch sequence began with blastoff at 2146 GMT (5:46 p.m. EDT).
VideoSoyuz/Galileo launch timeline
Follow the key events of the Soyuz rocket’s ascent into orbit from the Guiana Space Center with two satellites for Europe's Galileo navigation system.
Photos: Galileo navigation satellites added to Soyuz rocket
Twin satellites for Europe's Galileo navigation system were raised on top of a Russian-made Soyuz rocket late Tuesday and installed for Friday's launch from French Guiana to expand the growing network of spacecraft nearly 15,000 miles above Earth.
Photos: Soyuz rocket transferred to jungle launch pad
Russian technicians rolled a Soyuz rocket from its integration hangar to the launch pad in French Guiana on Tuesday morning, positioning the booster to receive two Galileo navigation satellites ahead of liftoff Friday.
Soyuz launch double-header set for Friday
Russian launch crews on two continents are putting the final touches on a pair of Soyuz rockets scheduled to blast off less than two hours apart Friday -- one carrying a three-man crew to the space station, and another boosting two European navigation satellites into orbit from the Amazon jungle.
Arianespace on pace for one launch per month in 2015
Last week's successful launch of a Vega rocket with a European re-entry technology demonstrator marked the first of at least 11 flights planned this year by Arianespace to put communications satellites, Earth observatories and research probes into space.
Fire in the hole! Vega fires away from jungle spaceport
Check out photos of a solid-fueled Vega launcher as it zipped away from its launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana, with Europe's IXV mission Wednesday.
European space plane flies around the world on test flight
Europe launched a sleek space plane more than 250 miles above Earth on Wednesday, testing its maneuverability, on-board guidance systems, and a next-generation heat shield as the experimental vehicle glided through the atmosphere toward a pinpoint splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
Live coverage: European mini-shuttle back on Earth
A European re-entry demonstrator launched aboard a solid-fueled Vega rocket at 1340 GMT (8:40 a.m. EST) from French Guiana, kicking off a whirlwind 102-minute around-the-world test flight to validate technologies that could be used on future reusable launchers and spaceships.
ESA re-entry vehicle could pave way for reusable launcher
European engineers are eager to test an experimental re-entry demonstrator Wednesday to validate technologies for future robotic exploration probes, winged space planes, and reusable rocket boosters.