ESA Timelapse video showing Soyuz TMA-13M liftoff - video

This time-lapse video shows the Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft during roll out from the MIK preparation building, raise into vertical position on the launch pad, and lift off on 28 May 2014 from the Russian Baikonour cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

After their launch, on board this Soyuz, Expedition 40/41 flight engineer Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency, Soyuz commander Max Suraev of the Russian Federal Space Agency and flight engineer Reid Wiseman of NASA, made their way to the International Space Station.

SpaceX F9R Reusable rocket first test flight: Video

SpaceX's F9R reusable rocket prototype launches on its first test flight, a vertical liftoff and landing test that carried the rocket 250 meters above a test pad in McGregor, Texas.

SpaceX Grasshopper Scares Cows

SpaceX currently uses a non-reusable version of the Falcon 9 to launch its Dragon capsules into low-Earth orbit, on commercial resupply missions to the International Space Station.

Making its Falcon 9 a reusable launch vehicle capable of vertical takeoff/vertical landing will save the company a lot of time, money and resources in the long run, and represents a major step on the company's path to commercial spaceflight supremacy.

ESA Vega VV02 Launcher: Ready for liftoff

ESA’s Vega VV02 rocket is ready for liftoff, 4 May, 2013 (GMT). 

Vega VV02 is the first of the five flights scheduled in ESA’s Vega Research and Technology Accompaniment – VERTA – programme, which aims to demonstrate the flexibility of the launch system. 

At a minimum rate of two launches per year, the programme will allow the smooth introduction of Vega for commercial exploitation. 

VV02 will loft Proba-V, the first of four ESA missions, into space. 

Proba-V carries a reduced version of the Vegetation instrument currently flying on the Spot satellites to provide a daily overview of global vegetation growth. 

This first VERTA flight will also demonstrate Vega's capability to launch multiple payloads into two different orbits. 

Proba-V, the prime payload, will be released first. The remaining two payloads: Vietnam Natural Resources, Environment and Disaster Monitoring Satellite (VNREDSat-1) built by Astrium for the Vietnamese government and the Estonian cubesat (ESTCube-1) will be released later, into a different orbit. 

Credit: ESA–S. Corvaja, 2013