Space: Launch Phase — 2017 Photo Contest

The SpaceX Transporter-Erector (T-E) moves out of the way of the Falcon 9 rocket in the first few seconds after liftoff. This minimizes damage to the T-E and allowed SpaceX to achieve a faster launch cadence in 2017. Shot at Kennedy Space Center Pad 39A on Aug. 14, 2017.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching the Echostar 23 satellite from Kennedy Space Center Pad 39A on March 16 marks the first night launch off the old Apollo/Shuttle pad in seven years.

This long-exposure photo depicts the first 3 min. of the SpaceX Falcon 9's flight from liftoff to the boundary of space. This is the second journey to space for the rocket, which previously lifted a resupply mission to the International Space Station in February 2017.

The Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with Expedition 53 crewmembers Joe Acaba of NASA, Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos and Mark Vande Hei of NASA, on Sept. 13, 2017. Acaba, Misurkin, and Vande Hei will spend approximately 5.5 months on the International Space Station.

At 2:04am (ET) on Aug. 26, 2017, Orbital ATK successfully launched the ORS-5 satellite from Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The satellite was launched atop a Minotaur IV missile/rocket. Many Space Coast residents stayed up late (or got up early) to watch the event. This was the first time since 1999 that SLC-46 has been used.

A Falcon 9 rises through the fog at Vandenberg AFB, California, as seen from an altitude of about 12,500 ft. This was the second in a series of launches carrying the Iridium NEXT satellites.

Through the giant arms of the Mobile Service Tower (MST), one of the world's largest movable structures, a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket roars off Complex 37B at Cape Canaveral with the WGS-8 satellite for the U.S. Air Force.

Silhouetted against the winter afternoon Sun, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 carrying Echostar 19 into orbit.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket blasts off Pad 41 at Cape Canaveral carrying NROL-52 for the National Reconnaissance Office.

In this 1 sec.-exposure photograph, the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft is seen launching from  Baikonur Cosmodrome with Expedition 50 crewmembers NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet on Nov. 18, 2016.

In this long-exposure photograph, the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft is seen launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with Expedition 50 crewmembers NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet on Nov. 18, 2016.

The Orbital ATK Antares rocket, with the Cygnus spacecraft onboard, launches from Pad-0A, on Oct. 17, 2016, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

A close-up of the Falcon 9 engines as SpaceX lifts SES-10 at KSC Pad 39A on March 30, 2017.

United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Medium+ (5,4) rocket lifts the Wideband Global SATCOM-9 payload to orbit on March 18, 2017. This mission was featured by the U.S. Air Force as part of their year-long birthday celebration honoring 70 years of "Breaking Barriers."

Delta IV Medium+ (5,4) rocket carrying WGS-8 to orbit. This variant of the Delta IV uses a 5-m (13-ft.) payload fairing and four Orbital ATK GEM-60 solid rocket boosters assisting the Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68A main engine.

Standing rainwater at Space Launch Complex 41, dumped by Hurricane Irma, reflects the brilliance of an Atlas V rocket's liquid- and solid-fueled rocket engines as it carries a classified payload to orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office.

One of SpaceX's flight-proven Falcon 9 rockets lifts off from historic Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center on Oct. 11, 2017. LC-39A was host to the majority of NASA's Saturn V and Space Shuttle launches, and will be used by SpaceX for their upcoming Falcon Heavy rocket as well as crewed Dragon missions to the International Space Station.  

Launch of the United Launch Alliance's Atlas V with GOES R.

A United Launch Alliance's Atlas V launches World View 3.

A United Launch Alliance's Delta 4 launches WGS 9.

The SES10 Falcon9 launch by SpaceX with the "flight-proven" CRS8 first stage, seen from the pad. 

This is actually two frames, both of them 20-sec. exposures shot through a 10-stop ND filter. I'm using two frames to bring out some of the detail that was obscured in the first (the launch) frame; by the time the second exposure fired, much of the cloud had dissipated. Initial edits were done in Lightroom, the composite was done in Photoshop and then final edits were done (again) in Lightroom. 

A test launch of an unarmed Minuteman III ICBM from Vandenberg AFB, California, was conducted on 12:03 a.m. on May 3, 2017. By sheer coincidence from my vantage point atop Santa Inez Peak, the trajectory of the ICBM intersected the Moon giving a starburst at the end of my exposure.  

Ariane 5 VA233 with Galileo satellite launch from helicopter.

Ariane 5 VA233 with Galileo satellite launch photographed from a helicopter.

Ariane 5 VA233 with Galileo satellite launch photographed using a remote camera.

Ariane 5 VA233 with Galileo satellite launch photographed using a remote camera.

Ariane 5 VA233 with Galileo satellite launch photographed using a remote camera.

Ariane 5 VA233 with Galileo satellite launch photographed using a remote camera.

Vega VV09 with Sentinel-2B liftoff photographed by remote camera at Europe's Space Port.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off on its maiden voyage from Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 19, 2017. The CRS-10 mission was the company's 10th commercial resupply service mission to the International Space Station.     

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket lifts off from Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force station in Florida at 8:18 pm on March 18, 2017. The 217-ft. tall Delta 4 rocket, flying in the Medium+ (5,4) configuration, with four solid rocket boosters and a 5-m (16-ft.) payload fairing, placed the U.S. Air Force's WGS-9 communications satellite into a geostationary orbit.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on Nov. 19, 2016, carrying GOES-R, the most advanced U.S. weather satellite ever made.