Launch seen from the International Space Station

Have you ever watched a rocket launch from space? A close look at this time-lapse video reveals a rocket rising toward Earth’s orbit, as seen from the International Space Station (ISS). The Russian Soyuz-FG rocket was launched in November 2018 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying a Progress MS-10 module to deliver needed supplies to the ISS. Highlights of the 90-second video (condensing about 15 minutes) include city lights and clouds visible on Earth in the lower left, blue and gold bands of atmospheric glow running diagonally across the center, and distant stars at the top right which lie behind the Earth. A lower stage can be seen falling back to Earth as the robotic resupply ship ignites its thrusters and begins to approach the ISS, a space laboratory that celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2023. The astronauts who live aboard the ISS orbiting Earth conducts, among other practical tasks, numerous scientific experiments that expand humanity’s knowledge and allow future industries to develop in low orbit.